Last Updated on July 4, 2021 by LawEuro
Federal Act on Registration. German law
Chapter 4
Special registration requirements
Section 28
Special registration requirements for sailors on inland waterways and the high seas
(1) Anyone who moves to an inland vessel which is entered in a register of ships in Germany shall register with the registration authority of the place where the vessel’s home port is located. The provisions on the general requirement to register shall apply accordingly. Registration and deregistration may be done at a different registration authority or with the water police, which shall forward the data to the responsible registration authority.
(2) The owner of a seagoing vessel authorized to fly the federal flag shall register the captain and the crew of the vessel at the start of employment or training. The owner shall deregister these persons when the employment or training ends. Section 24 (1) shall apply accordingly. The registration authority at the owner’s headquarters shall be responsible. The persons to be registered shall provide the owner with the necessary information.
(3) The requirement to register pursuant to subsections 1 and 2 shall not apply to persons who are registered at a residence in Germany pursuant to Section 17 (1).
(4) The registration authority may ask vessel owners for information about persons currently or previously residing on their vessels.
Section 29
Special registration requirement for commercial accommodations
(1) Anyone staying in institutions for the purpose of commercial reception of persons (commercial accommodations) for longer than six months shall be subject to the requirement to register pursuant to Section 17 or 28. Anyone who is not registered at a residence in Germany shall register with the registration authority within two weeks as soon as his or her stay exceeds three months.
(2) Persons staying in commercial accommodations shall sign a special registration form on the day of their arrival which contains the data listed in Section 30 (2). The number of accompanying family members shall be given on the registration form. In the case of groups of more than ten persons travelling together, the requirement in the first sentence shall apply only to the group leader, who shall give the number of persons in the group and their nationalities.
(3) Foreigners staying in commercial accommodations shall be listed by name on the registration form pursuant to subsection 2 and shall verify their identity by presenting a valid identity document (recognized and valid passport or passport substitute) to the management of the commercial accommodation when registering.
(4) Persons spending the night in tents, caravans, motor caravans or water vessels at commercially operated sites shall not be subject to the requirement to register pursuant to Section 17 (1) and (2) as long as they are registered in Germany pursuant to Section 17 or 28. Anyone who is not registered pursuant to Section 17 or 28 shall register with the registration authority within two weeks as soon as his or her stay exceeds three months. Subsections 2 and 3 shall apply accordingly.
(5) Subsections 2 and 3 shall not apply to
1. residential institutions providing youth or adult education, basic or advanced training if persons are accommodated for those purposes;
2. company or club accommodations if only company employees or club members and their family members are staying there;
3. youth hostels and mountain huts, institutions of public or publicly recognized youth work providers in temporary use; or
4. institutions of religious communities under public law.
Section 30
Special registration forms for commercial accommodations
(1) The management of commercial accommodations or institutions pursuant to Section 29 (4) shall have on hand a supply of special registration forms and shall see to it that the persons concerned meet their obligations pursuant to Section 29 (2) to (4).
(2) Subject to subsection 3, the registration forms shall contain only the following data:
1. date of arrival and planned departure,
2. surname,
3. given names,
4. date of birth,
5. nationalities,
6. address,
7. number of persons travelling together and their nationalities, in the cases of Section 29 (2), second and third sentences, and,
8. in the case of foreigners, serial number of the recognized and valid passport or passport substitute.
In the case of foreigners, the management of the commercial accommodation or institutions pursuant to Section 29 (4) shall check the information on the registration form against the information in the identity document. Any discrepancies shall be noted on the registration form. If foreigners do not present a valid identity document, this shall be noted on the registration form.
(3) Land law may stipulate that additional data may be collected using the registration form to collect tourist and resort taxes.
(4) The management of commercial accommodations or institutions pursuant to Section 29 (4) shall retain the filled-out registration forms for a year starting from the day of arrival and shall destroy them no later than three months after the retention period has ended. The registration forms shall be presented to the authorities determined by Land law and the authorities referred to in Section 34 (4), first sentence, nos. 1 to 5 and 9 to 11 for inspection on request to carry out their tasks. The registration forms shall be kept out of reach of unauthorized persons.
Section 31
Restrictions on use
The data collected pursuant to Section 30 (2) may be processed and used by the authorities referred to in Section 34 (4), first sentence, nos. 1 to 5 and 9 to 11 as necessary to carry out their tasks. The data may also be processed and used to investigate the fate of missing persons and accident victims, to collect tourist and resort taxes, to issue local guest passes and to compile accommodation and tourism statistics.
Section 32
Special registration requirement for hospitals, care homes and similar institutions
(1) Anyone admitted to or moving to a hospital, care home or other institution serving persons with disabilities or in need of care or for the purpose of residential education shall not be required to register as long as he or she is registered at a residence in Germany. Anyone who is not registered at a residence in Germany shall register within two weeks as soon as his or stay has exceeded three months. For persons unable to fulfil the requirement to register, the management of the institution shall inform the registration authority responsible for the site of the institution of their admittance within two weeks; the person concerned shall be informed. Section 17 (3), third sentence, shall remain unaffected.
(2) The responsible authority shall be given information from the files of the institutions referred to if the authority has determined that this information is necessary to prevent a significant and imminent threat, to prosecute criminal offences or to investigate the fate of missing persons and accident victims in the individual case. This information shall include the following:
1. surname,
2. given names,
3. date and place of birth, including country for persons born outside Germany,
4. nationalities,
5. addresses,
6. dates of admittance and release.
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