A birth certificate is the document that proves the birth of the child in Germany and proves its identity. Without a birth certificate, the child is not registered with the authorities and no state benefits or benefits of the health insurance for the child can be claimed.
If a birth certificate is lost, parents should immediately apply for a second copy of the birth certificate at the registry office, where the child is registered after birth and entered in the birth register.
If a birth certificate cannot be issued by the civil registry office because parents' documents (ID documents, birth certificates of parents, marriage certificate) are missing, parents must ensure that these documents are subsequently submitted. Usually, parents who cannot be issued with a definitive birth certificate at first receive a provisional certificate (an excerpt from the birth register) that they can submit to other authorities or the health insurance fund.
Often the submission of the necessary documents of the parents is difficult if the parents come from abroad and a copy of the missing documents must first be requested in the home country. Especially for refugee parents from a crisis area, this is a difficult hurdle. Often, they have to wait months for these documents from their country of origin