Since 1 September 2011, the residence permit for people living in Germany who come from countries outside the EU has generally taken the form of an electronic residence permit, an electronic residence card or an electronic permanent residence card.

These documents are issued in credit-card format and contain an embedded chip. In most cases, the eID function is enabled within this chip.

To identify yourself for everyday administrative purposes such as at the Residents' Office, at the bank or in dealings with other authorities, you can use your electronic residence permit together with your passport.

To identify yourself for online services, you can use the eID function of your electronic residence permit, your electronic residence card or your electronic permanent residence card.

Find out what you need to identify yourself online here.

After applying for your electronic residence permit, you will receive a PIN letter from the authority responsible for your application. The PIN letter contains important information about the eID function of your electronic residence permit.

Please keep this letter for future reference.

In the letter, you will find two concealed areas (scratch fields) containing

• your one-time PIN (or transport PIN) and
• your personal unblocking key (PUK).

This information is for your eyes only.