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Type: Article , Main focus: Citizens
If your ID card is lost, you should report the loss immediately for your own protection and have the online ID card function blocked.
Source: Federal Ministry of the Interior and Home Affairs
If your ID card has been lost or stolen? Then, for your own protection, please report the loss to a citizens’ registration office or the police immediately. According to § 27 paragraph 1 number 3 of the identity card law you are obliged to do the following. If you do not report the loss, you are acting irregularly according to § 32 number 7 of the identity card law.
Block the online ID function
You can report the loss or theft of your ID card either at a citizens’ registration office or a police station. The employees of the respective authorities immediately arrange for the online ID card to be blocked and inform each other (the police and the citizens’ registration office) about the loss or theft of the ID document.
If you need to have your online ID card blocked for any other reason, you can also call the blocking hotline to have it blocked.
Blocking the function ensures that any attempt at misuse is detected immediately. Online identification and on-site readout are no longer possible after blocking.
Telephone revocation hotline
- The telephone blocking hotline is available seven days a week, 24 hours a day, on the toll-free number 116 116 accessible.
- From abroad, please dial +49 116 116 or +49 30 40 50 40 50 (chargeable). Please note that some countries use a different country code for Germany. A list of international prefixes can be found on the website of the association SPERR-NOTRUF 116 116 e. V.
- Please have your blocking password ready for the call, which was provided to you in the PIN letter.
- The online ID card will be blocked immediately.
- As long as the online ID card is blocked, it cannot be used.
How to block the signature function
You can have the signature function blocked by the provider of your signature certificate. Neither the blocking emergency number nor the citizens’ registration office can block the signature function.
ID card recovered?
In the event that you should find your ID card and wish to continue using it, please report the recovery in person to your citizens’ registration office. Only when you have officially reported your ID card as "found" will a corresponding entry at the police be deleted. After that, you can continue to use your recovered ID card in Germany without restriction until the end of its validity.
Please note: Germany cannot influence whether and how other countries set up their national police information systems or whether and how frequently they are updated.
For this reason, it can happen in individual cases that foreign authorities do not recognize your recovered ID card for use abroad or even confiscate it.
If you want to avoid such potential inconveniences, for example during your vacation or business trip abroad, we recommend that you apply for a new document at your local citizens’ registration office if your ID card is lost or stolen, and that you refrain from using your ID card after it has been found.
How to unblock the online ID card function
If you find your badge again, you can also have the locked online badge function unlocked again. This can only be done in person at your local citizens’ registration office. Unlocking is not possible by telephone.
The Citizens’ Advice Bureau then arranges for the card to be unblocked and, if necessary, informs the police that the ID card has been recovered.