Fill in the Kindergeld application in English

The application to Familienkasse — with all the annexes your case needs.

You answer the questions in your language — the official form is filled in in German.

Kindergeld is a monthly payment for every child living with you. It comes to 259 € per child and is paid by the Familienkasse. The application is made in writing: one main application and one annex for each child.

By when must the application be made?

There is no deadline for the application itself. It can be made for as long as the conditions are met — even years after the birth.

For the payment there is one. Kindergeld is paid retroactively only for the last 6 months before the month in which the application reaches the Familienkasse (§ 70 Abs. 1 Satz 2 EStG).

The difference is larger than it sounds. The entitlement is assessed for the whole period. Payment is still made for six months only. Whatever lies before that is gone for good.

What counts is the day the application arrives at the Familienkasse. Not the date of the signature, not the day it was sent.

An example: a child is born in March. The application arrives in December of the same year. Payment then starts from June. March, April and May fall away — three full monthly amounts.

What you need to have ready

The main application asks for details that people rarely know by heart. Anyone who gathers them beforehand fills the form in one go instead of three.

Always needed:

The tax identification number — your own and that of each child. The number appears on the income tax assessment, on the wage tax statement or in the letter from the Federal Central Tax Office. The main application requires it for every child.
The birth certificate of each child, as a copy.
Your account number in IBAN format.
Name, date of birth and address of the other parent.

Depending on the case, also:

For a child aged 18 or over: a supporting document about school, vocational training, university or voluntary service.
For a child not living in your household: where it lives and who looks after it.
Without German nationality: the residence permit — the paper that allows the stay in Germany.

Copies are enough. Originals do not belong in the envelope; as a rule they do not come back.

What can be in your set

Which sheets belong with it follows from your answers. You see the list in the application before you pay anything.

Always included

KG 1 — Hauptantrag
KG 1-AnK — Anlage Kind

Depending on your situation

KG 1a — Kindergeld für Vollwaisen (BKGG)if you are a full orphan yourself and are applying for the Kindergeld for yourself
KG 1-AnEU — Anlage EUif you are a citizen of an EU country — unless an Anlage Ausland annex is added anyway
KG 51R — Anlage Ausland (Rentner/Waisen)if you live abroad, receive or have applied for a German pension, and are not subject to unlimited tax liability in Germany
KG 51 — Anlage Auslandif you or a child live abroad or work is done there
KG 51-ju — Anlage Ausland (BA/RS/ME/XK)if it concerns Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro or Kosovo
KG 3b — Lebensbescheinigungif a child does not live in your household but does live in Germany — the certificate stating where it is registered You do not fill in the lower part of this sheet (part B) yourself — a registration office does that.
KG 12a — Erklärung Pflegekindfor every child living in your household as a foster child
KG 14 — Bestätigung Weiterleitungif the Kindergeld has gone to another person so far
KG 46 — Pfändungsschutzkontoif your account is a seizure-protected account
KG 80 — Einwilligung unverschlüsselte E-Mailsif you would like to get post from Familienkasse by e-mail

Sheets that others fill in

We enclose these sheets ready prepared. They are filled in by your firm or by an authority — not by you and not by us.

KG 54-A — Arbeitgeberbescheinigung (BA/RS/ME/XK)You do not fill in this sheet yourself.
KG 54 — ArbeitgeberbescheinigungYou do not fill in this sheet yourself — it is for your employer.
KG 54z — Arbeitgeberbescheinigung (Seeleute)You do not fill in this sheet yourself — it is the version for seafarers and is meant for your employer.

What you enclose in addition

Not an official form, but documents you add yourself.

Aufenthaltstitel (Nachweis)Enclose a copy of your residence permit.

What we do not yet fill in

Your case may call for these sheets; we do not fill them in yet. If it affects you, that is said in the application — and you get the sheet yourself from the body concerned.

KG 11a — Bescheinigung (kein Ausbildungsplatz)if a child over 18 has not found a training place
KG 4e/4f/… — Nachweis Behinderungif a disability has to be evidenced for a child

How it goes

Step 1
Answer questions
One step after another, in your language. What is compulsory carries a red asterisk; without those details things cannot go on.
Step 2
Check details and buy
Before payment you see all your answers once more and a picture of the first sheet. Only then do you pay.
Step 3
Download and hand in
After payment the finished set is ready as a PDF — for 48 hours, as often as you like. Print, sign, hand in.

What it costs

The price depends on how many children you are applying for Kindergeld for.

Your case	What is produced	Price	Difference
One child	Main application and one child annex.	9,90 €	—
Two children	Main application and one annex for every child.	11,90 €	+ 2,00 €
Three children	Main application and one annex for every child.	13,40 €	+ 1,50 €

Every further sheet costs less than the one before. A set never costs more than 16,90 €, however extensive it becomes. It is a one-off payment — no subscription, no account.

How much Kindergeld is there?

259 € per child per month — the same for every child. The former graduation by number of children has not existed since 2023.

The amount changes with the law, usually at the turn of the year. For retroactive months from an earlier year, the amount that applied at the time is the one that counts — not today's.

As at: 14.09.2026. Source: § 66 Abs. 1 EStG.

Who receives Kindergeld?

For a child under the age of 18, Kindergeld is granted without any further condition.

After that only in particular situations:

until the age of 21, if the child is without work and registered as seeking work with the employment agency;
until the age of 25, if the child is at school, in vocational training or at university, is doing voluntary service or is waiting for a training place.

Payment goes to the person in whose household the child lives. Where the parents are separated, the money goes to the household in which the child lives. For the same child the Familienkasse always pays only once.

Residence or habitual abode must be in Germany. For people from abroad further rules apply; they depend on nationality and on the residence permit.

Whether one of these situations applies is decided by the Familienkasse, not by us.

How long does processing take?

There are no fixed deadlines. How long it takes rests with the Familienkasse and with the individual case. We therefore give no figure that we could not keep to.

What often makes processing longer because it leads to a query:

a missing tax identification number;
a missing supporting document for a child over 18;
a parent or a child abroad — then it must first be settled which country pays;
a missing signature.

The waiting time itself costs nothing. Payment is made retroactively from the first month for which the entitlement has been assessed. What is expensive is not the long processing, but the late application.

Where the tax identification number appears

The number has eleven digits and is valid for life (§ 139b AO). It does not change on marriage, moving house or a change of name.

It can be found on these papers:

in the welcome letter from the Bundeszentralamt für Steuern — after the birth or after first registering in Germany;
on letters from the Familienkasse about Kindergeld;
in the income tax assessment;
on the annual wage tax statement.

If the letter has been mislaid, no new number is issued — the same one is issued again. The Bundeszentralamt für Steuern will provide it again on request.

The answer is given only by letter, as a rule to the registered address. The Bundeszentralamt does not give out the number by telephone or by e-mail. This currently takes about four weeks.

For a child, the letter goes to the child's registered address. For it to arrive, the child's surname must be on the letterbox.

For a newborn, the number comes by itself as soon as the registration office has transmitted the data. If nothing arrives after about four weeks, the registration office is the place to turn to.

No number is issued for a child living abroad. The child is not liable to tax in Germany. This also applies if there is an entitlement to Kindergeld.

Questions about particular cases

Some situations occur so often that they have a page of their own. There you will find which annex the case requires and how it is filled in.

Hand it in at Familienkasse yourself

Send the signed application with all annexes and supporting documents to Familienkasse yourself. The responsible office is the Familienkasse at your place of residence. Here is how to find it: Go to www.familienportal.de and open the page „Beratung vor Ort“ (advice near you). Under „Thema“ (topic) choose „Kindergeld“ and enter your postcode. You can send the documents by post or hand them in in person. Antragscenter does not submit the application and does not forward it — this last step is yours.

Ready?

You can stop at any time and carry on later — what you enter stays on this device for 7 days. Payment comes only at the end.

Start filling in

The day on which the Familienkasse transfers Kindergeld depends on the last digit of the child benefit reference number.

Look up payment dates