Berlin registry offices (Standesämter) refuse to issue a birth certificate if the parents cannot submit an official proof of identity.

Since refugees and asylum seekers are often forced to depart their homeland or leave their countries in a hurry, it is mostly not possible to carry with them the necessary papers. In addition, many persecutor states refuse as a matter of principle the issue of the appropriate documents. In regions affected by war state structures are frequently no longer existant or miss the necessary capacities for the appropriate official acts. Thus asylum seekers often do not have the possibility of obtaining the appropriate papers.

International organisations and committees, such as the UNHCR and the ECRI, have explicitly pointed out several times that the Federal Republic is obliged to register children even when the identity of the parents is not sufficiently assured. The legal basis for the issuing of documents is justified among other things by treaties in international law, such as ‘The International Agreement on Civil and Political Rights’ or through ‘The European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Basic Liberties’.

Some provinces (Länder) of the Federal Republic nevertheless register newborn children, regardless of whether their parents can prove their identity clearly.