Federal Printing Office’s digital photo booth in Wolmirstedt town hall cannot be used
Since May 1, a new nationwide regulation has been in force regarding passport photos for ID cards and passports. They may only be submitted digitally to the relevant registration authorities. The federal government is therefore equipping towns and municipalities with photo booths to enable citizens to take photos directly in the administrative offices and insert them digitally into the documents. Such a machine was also recently installed in Wolmirstedt town hall by Bundesdruckerei.
However, there are now technical problems. A number of municipalities throughout Germany are reporting that malfunctions are repeatedly occurring with the devices that have been delivered. This is also the case in Wolmirstedt. “Despite all the joint efforts of our IT department and the residents’ registration office, we are unable to ensure that the digital passport photo capture process runs smoothly. The technical problems are so serious that trouble-free work is not possible,” explains Wolmirstedt’s deputy mayor Jens Sonnabend.
The system provided by the Bundesdruckerei appears to be faulty and unusable. The town of Wolmirstedt has therefore suspended the use of the device provided until further notice. The responsible supervisory authority of the district of Börde has approved this procedure.
This means that the digital passport photo service at the town hall will not be available for the time being. Citizens are asked to have their passport photos taken as usual by their local photo studio. From there, the photos can be sent digitally to the town hall. Paper-based photos are also valid again for the time being.
