I am thinking about getting a second passport. Of course, I already have one but for some reasons it might be good to have a 2nd one.
Do we just need to show up and apply for a second one? Do we need to tell reasons?
I was just thinking about the way it works and had no clue. Maybe anybody has some advice.

Thanks guys

Very unlikely they'd let you have two passports at the same time.

I had two diplomatic passports, but was only permitted access to one at a time (while I travelled on one, the other could be in the visa mill getting prepped for my next trip.)

Most countries I would think would not let you be in posession of two valid passports at the same time.

If you have dual citizenship, that's another issue, having a passport of an other country would be fine.

Two passports are no longer uncommon. Usually you have to proof your need. The UK are very happy to issue two, Germany is warming up to the idea, but if oyu live in Germany it will be more difficult, than living abroad .. Embassies usually understand those needs better.

If you tell them that you have two trips coming up, let's say Lybia and the US? Is that enough? Do you need to prove that?

The U.S. embargo on travel to Libya has been lifted, and I doubt it's a good reason. Maybe if you say you are going to Israel then an Arab country other than Jordan and Egypt......

I don't think it's just a case of embassies understanding those needs better.

If you're a German living in Germany you normally have two official ID documents - your national ID card (Personalausweis), and your passport. The ID can be used for travel within the EU.

If you're a German living abroad you normally only have one official ID document - your passport. This means that you're a lot more dependent on it, and if you have to send it off (e.g., to get a visa) you are trapped in your country of residence and if there is a family emergency back home you're stuck.

I have met Germans with two passports, so I know it's possible - but they were all living outside Germany. For UK nationals, as a previous poster said, having a spare passport is fairly normal (my partner has always had two)

A good reason is work-related need and/or foreign assignment.

This is anything but uncommon since the passport issuing authorities in a good number of countries realize that people may have to constantly travel overseas but also that travel requires sending in a passport to embassies that might take a few days or weeks to issue a visa during the very time the person would need to travel.

It's fairly easy to get a secondary passport (Zweitpass) in Germany. You need to give them a good reason, and they are very likely to request something in writing (from your employer/school/some fancy letterhead you printed on your cool new laser color printer). I doubt that the whole Cuban/US etc argument would impress a skilled Einwohnermeldeamt bureaucrat, but I've used the following for over a decade: I live abroad and need to have my (main) passport with me at all times. While abroad, I also need to apply for visas for other countries, so I need to send my (second) passport away. If I only had one passport I would violate the laws/ID requirements of the country I live in, hence I need a second passport. Never had any problems with this argument, and it worked well for countless friends/colleagues.

I still think they will look at me funny if I have been to an Arabic country like that shortly before and they might do some "special" immigration treatment to me. I do not really need that all though I have nothing to fear.

Why do you always need your passport with you while you are in the US? Don't you have an US DL? Isn't that ID enough? I never had my passport with me while I was living in the US.



Is the second passport more expensive than the regular one? How about expiration? I also think this made be a good idea for the time while you renew the regular one or are you allowed to keep the old one while the new one gets issued? Sorry, I don't remember the last time but I need to get a new one soon enough.

The way it works with the German Embassy in London is...:

- You go to see them with your old passport and whatever other paperwork they require
- You go home with your old passport while the application form, photo etc get sent off to Berlin
- When the new passport arrives from Berlin they write to you
- You either go to see them again to swap the old passport for a new one, or you post off the old one, with a prepaid Registered Post envelope, and they send you the new one more or less by return

Don't know how it works at the Einwohnermeldeamt as I haven't renewed a passport in Germany in about 30 years.

same way at the german consulate in strasbourg. just a small difference: they send it to you and you're required to send the old one asap. if you don't do it, they start calling you and sending you emails

uuuhhh! what a threat

I have 2 passports for many years now - absolutely no problem. Best reason is a official statement from your employer, that you need to travel to Isreal and Iran frequently. Got my second passport without any question asked - although my real reason is, that I often have one passport in a visa-process, while I need to travel to another country outside the EU at the same time. But as this is not an officially qualifying reason - just get the letter. It will work fine.

The Einwohnermeldeamt doesn't know about my residency status in the US. They want a paper that explains why I need a second passport, and the explanation I provide is satisfactory.

The Zweitpass expires after 5 years. The price is the same, and the usual surcharges apply (e.g., Jumbopass with extra pages). A skilled Einwohnermeldeamt employee will check the expiration date of your current passport; if it's valid for less than 5 years, the current passport will become your secondary passport, and your new passport will have a 10-year validity.

I got my second passport after I submitted a letter from work (signed by my colleague) that I need a second one due to my work related travel and the related visa application process.

The second one cost the same as the first one, but is only valid for 5 years.

(OK that was more or less a repeat of the details in the above posts)

The true value of my second passport is that my primary passport is now my 'clean' NAFTA passport. No stamps from the middle east,south asia, china etc that raise silly questions while immigrating into the US. (example: why do you travel so much? Work? for which company? Do you own the company (my company is a publicly traded corp))

Besides that I have my German residence documented in one passport, my US residence in another. I always carry both with me when travelling and would be happy to show any immigration officer both, may I add. Sadly the german authorities no longer endorse the second passport as such, so if an officer who is not to familiar with german passport conventions comes across my two documents, I may be in for some strange questioning. Cest la vie.


IMPORTANT NOTE: Germany is moving forward with adding fingerprint data to the biometric data in your passport this winter. So get you r application in by Nov 1:

http://www.konsularinfo.diplo.de/Ver...eAusweise.html