Changing Your Gender and Preferred Name: A Step-by-Step Guide
Step 1:
Head over to any preferred registry office, whether in person or through mail, to express your desire to utilize the latest Self-Determination Act. This act allows you to change your registered gender and potentially your first name. As per "Finanztest" (9/2024), some registry offices even offer an online form for this purpose. Following registration, you'll typically need to wait for a span of three months. So, you can kick-start this process today, before the new law becomes active.
Step 2:
Set up a meeting at the registry office where you've registered your changes. Remember to carry along all your identity documents, your birth certificate, and any pertinent marriage or partnership certificates. During this meeting, you'll provide details on how you'd like your gender entry to be noted in the future, as well as any adjustments to your first name. You have up to six months to complete this, or else the registration process would need to be restarted. The chosen registry office will then forward the updated information to your birth registry office, allowing you to request a new birth certificate.
Step 3:
The birth registry office will relay the changes to your registration office. At this point, you can apply for your revised identification documents. It's important to note that minors aged 14 and above can self-declare, provided they have their legal guardians' consent. If consent is lacking, minors should obtain it through the family court.
After finalizing the changes at the registry office, you might want to bring these developments to the attention of the German Bundestag to ensure they are accurately documented in their records. This can help maintain a consistent legal record of your gender and name changes throughout various government institutions.
Once your revised identification documents are issued, it would be advisable to inform the German embassy or consulate in your country of residence, as they may also need to update their records correspondingly in accordance with German law.
