Leistungen A-Z

Police clearance certificates provide information as to whether the person named in the certificate has a criminal record or not. Employers therefore often require the presentation of a certificate of good conduct before hiring a new employee.

There are two types of certificates of good conduct:

• Private conduct certificate (N) for private purposes
• Certificate of conduct of the authority (O) for submission to a German authority
  The data of the certificate of good conduct come from the Federal Central Register. The Federal Central Register contains, for example, criminal convictions, decisions of administrative authorities and courts or notes on incapacity for guilt.
  Private conduct certificates list the most important information from final criminal convictions. For example, the offence and the amount of the sentence imposed are noted. Criminal court convictions of minor importance are not included if no further penalty is entered in the Federal Central Register. This is the case, for example, with fines of no more than 90 daily rates or imprisonment of no more than three months.
  The certificate of good conduct for submission to an authority also contains further information. For example, it lists certain decisions of administrative authorities, such as the revocation of the gun license or a business license. As a rule, all convictions for offences related to the exercise of a trade are also reported.
  The entries do not remain permanently in the register. After certain deadlines, they will be deleted. If the Federal Central Register does not contain any data relevant to the certificate of good conduct, the certificate of good conduct states "Content: no entry". The person concerned may then call himself or herself not against anyone with a criminal record.

If you are a national of another EU member state and live in Germany, you can also apply for a European Certificate of Good Conduct. Such a certificate of good conduct shall include an additional notification of entries in the criminal record of your Member State of origin.

Minimum age: 14 years

• valid identity card or passport
• additionally in the case of an authority certificate of good conduct (O): address of the authority and file number or purpose there

If you would like to submit your certificate of good conduct on the Internet via the online portal directly to the Federal Office of Justice, you will also need:

• New electronic identity card or electronic residence permit each with activated online ID function
• Card reader for reading the identity document
• AusweisApp2

if applicable, digital capture device such as scanner or digital camera so that you can upload evidence.

EUR 13.00

You can submit the application:

• personally at the registration office of your municipality (Citizens' Office)
• in writing, also at the registration office of your municipality, stating the personal data (birthday, birth name, possibly different surname, first name(s), place of birth, nationality, address). In this case, the signature on the application letter must be officially or publicly certified. If not already apparent from the certification of the signature, the correctness of the data must be proven. Please also contact the competent registration authority about the payment of fees before submitting a written application.
• via an online portal directly at the Federal Office of Justice
  This is particularly useful if you live outside the Federal Republic of Germany.

The following applies to each form of application:

The application can also be made by a legal representation such as.B. the parents for minors. You cannot authorize another person.
When you submit the application, you must indicate whether you need the certificate for private purposes (N) or for submission to an authority (O). If you need the certificate for private purposes, you can receive it by post directly from the Federal Office of Justice.
A certificate for submission to an authority is sent directly to them. Therefore, when submitting the application, indicate the address of the authority and, if possible, the file number. You can request that you wish to view the certificate of conduct of the authorities in advance. It will then only be sent to a district court named by you if it contains entries. There you can see it. The district court then forwards the certificate of good conduct to the authority. You can object to the disclosure. Then the certificate of good conduct will be destroyed.

Registration authority of your municipality