(1) Passports shall be issued in accordance with standard specimens; they shall be given a serial number. In addition to a photograph of the passport holder, his/her signature, details of the issuing authority, the date on which it was issued and the last date of its validity, each passport shall contain only the following information about the passport holder:
1. surname and name at birth,
2. forename(s),
3. doctoral degree,
4. religious name, pseudonym,
5. date and place of birth,
6. sex,
7. height,
8. eye colour,
9. place of residence,
10. country of citizenship, and
11. serial number.
The indicated sex shall be the same as that entered in the official civil register. In derogation from the third sentence, a passport applicant whose forename(s) have been changed by court decision in accordance with Section 1 of the Act on Transsexuals shall be issued a passport in which the indicated sex differs from the one entered in the official register at birth.
(2) The passport shall contain a machine-readable zone. This zone may contain only
1. the following abbreviations:
a) “P” for passport,
b) “PC” for child’s passport,
c) “PP” for temporary passport,
d) “PO” for official passport and temporary official passport, and
e) “PD” for diplomatic passport and temporary diplomatic passport,
2. the abbreviation “D” for the Federal Republic of Germany,
3. the holder’s surname,
4. forename(s),
5. the passport’s serial number; for passports, official passports and diplomatic passports, the serial number shall consist of the passport authority’s code number and a randomly assigned passport number and may contain both numerals and letters; for children’s passports, temporary passports, temporary official passports and temporary diplomatic passports, the serial number shall consist of a series letter and seven numerals,
6. the abbreviation “D” to indicate German citizenship, or the appropriate abbreviation for other citizenship in case of official passports issued to non-Germans,
7. date of birth,
8. the abbreviation “F” for female passport holders and “M” for male passport holders,
9. the passport’s length of validity,
10. the check digits, and
11. blank spaces.
(3) In accordance with Council Regulation (EC) No 2252/2004 of 13 December 2004 on standards for security features and biometrics in passports and travel documents issued by Member States (OJ L 385 p. 1), passports, official passports and diplomatic passports shall include an electronic storage medium which shall contain a facial image, fingerprints, information on which fingers were used for fingerprinting, the quality of the prints and the information listed in (2) second sentence. The stored data shall be secured against unauthorized reading, alteration and deletion. No nation-wide database of the biometric data referred to in the first sentence shall be established.
(4) Flat prints of the passport holder’s left and right index fingers shall be stored on the passport’s electronic storage medium. In case of a missing index finger, injured fingertip or poor-quality print, a flat print of the thumb, middle or ring finger shall be stored instead. Fingerprints shall not be stored if it is not possible to take prints for medical reasons of a more than temporary nature.
(4a) Children under the age of 12 shall be issued a child’s passport without an electronic storage medium upon request; issuing a passport shall be permitted. In derogation from (3) first sentence, no fingerprints shall be stored on passports of passport applicants under the age of 6. A child aged 10 or over at the time the passport application is made shall sign his/her own passport.
(5) The specimens of passports, temporary passports and children’s passports and the requirements for passport photographs shall be determined by the Federal Ministry of the Interior in consultation with the Federal Foreign Office, via statutory instruments with the approval of the Bundesrat. The same shall apply to passport substitutes, unless such specimens are defined in other regulations or intergovernmental agreements.
(6) The specimens of official passports, the requirements for passport photographs and the definition of persons referred to in Section 1 (4) second sentence shall be determined by the Federal Ministry of the Interior in consultation with the Federal Foreign Office, via statutory instruments not requiring Bundesrat approval. Official passports may contain information about the passport holder’s employment status. The statutory instrument may also contain provisions concerning the passport issuance, withdrawal, confiscation and length of validity as well as obligations of the holder which differ from those of this Act.