All foreign nationals must have a recognised and valid passport or passport substitute.

German passport substitutes may only be issued to non-German nationals in special exceptional cases, as this interferes with the passport sovereignty of another country.

The travel document for foreigners is such a passport substitute. It may only be issued to you under certain conditions if you are a citizen or national of a non-EU country and can prove that you do not have a passport or passport substitute and cannot reasonably obtain one.

If you are not in possession of a passport or passport substitute, you must therefore first apply to the competent authorities of your country of origin, e.g. the diplomatic mission abroad, for the issue of a passport or passport substitute. When applying for a travel document for foreigners, you should, if possible, provide evidence of your efforts in this regard.

There is no entitlement to the issue of a travel document for foreigners. It is always a case-by-case decision that is only made in special exceptional cases. Only the formal framework conditions are listed here.

Note: You will not receive a travel document if the country you come from does not issue you a passport or passport substitute for reasons that also exist in German passport law.

Please note: You can also obtain a travel document as a

• Refugee on the basis of the Geneva Refugee Convention or
• Stateless person or a stateless person on the basis of the Stateless Persons Convention

Note: As a national or citizen of the countries listed in Annex II of Regulation (EU) 2018/1806, you can obtain an emergency travel document under certain conditions. You can find detailed information on this in the text"Applying for a passport replacement for foreign nationals (emergency travel document)".