I just got my Niederlassungserlaubnis and it came with instructions and a PIN to setup my eID. More on the eID here: https://www.personalausweisportal.de/Webs/PA/EN/citizens/electronic-identification/electronic-identification-node.html

My question is, is this a useful thing to setup and have? I haven’t yet encountered any situations where I would need an eID in real life, but maybe it’s just not something an Aüslander would come across often.

13 comments

  1. I set it up but never used it. You can get an app on your phone now that lists a bunch of services you can use it with (usually getting various documents from various agencies) but I’ve never had to do that.

    App is called AusweisApp2.

  2. I’ve never used it or even activated it on my German ID card. So far I have used it to identify myself at a vaccination centre and to store and restaurant staff checking my vaccination status, always just by showing them my card.

    There are possible security concerns (people have succeeded in demonstrating that contactless debit cards and biometric passports with RFID chips are not as secure as the manufacturers claim and can be easily read by concealed devices, so the same is likely true of eID cards), although they might be more theoretical at this point.

  3. Used it several times with the phone app to verify my identity to online services when ordering documents, mostly for state websites.

  5. Postident is easy with that, tax submission are also easier, and a few other mostly government agency related things. Nothing that’s useful in day to day life, but considering setting it up takes literally a minute it’s worth it.

  6. I’ve used to get a certificate of conduct (required by my workplace) and to setup elster.

  8. My German wife has never activated hers. I used mine for the first time last week to change our tax classes on ELSTER. The software didn’t work on my Mac, or my windows pc. But it did with on my wife’s windows laptop.

  9. It is very useful, for example I used it several times to register vehicles because going to the zulassungsstelle while you are working is impossible.

  11. It saved my ass when I switched jobs and a week before starting the new one I got around to preparing the paperwork they want, then saw that they require a “polizeiliches Führungszeugnis”. Getting that requires either going in person with an appointment, which was not available on short notice, or authentication via eID, which worked easily and quickly.

    That was the first time I used it, though. One more time since then.

  13. My general rule is – never overwhelm German authorities with any sort of technology. Even if/ especially if they themselves have introduced them!

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