Signatures: Certification
The official certification of signatures is used to check identity. The competent authority may certify signatures if:
- the signed document is required for submission to a German authority or other body to which the signed document is to be submitted on the basis of a legal provision, and
- the signature is made in the presence of the certifying employee.
Signatures may not be officially certified if:
- they require public certification by a notary (§ 129 of the German Civil Code (BGB)), e.g.
- certification of signatures under contracts or declarations in the field of family and inheritance law;
- in matters relating to associations and commercial registers;
- they are submitted without accompanying text (blank signatures),
- the document submitted is not required for submission to an authority or other body to which the signed document is to be submitted on the basis of a legal provision (e.g. so-called "Reich citizen declarations and documents") or is refused to read through,
- documents are written in a foreign language.
The responsibility lies with the municipality, the joint municipality and the city, as well as with each authority within the scope of its material competence.
- Proof of the applicant's identity (e.g. identity card or passport)
- Document on which the signature to be produced is to be certified
Fees may apply, please contact the competent authority.
There are no deadlines to be observed.
Citizens' Advice Centre, Citizens' Advice
Text checked by the Lower Saxony Ministry of the Interior and Sport
The text was automatically translated based on the German content.
