According to Art. 45 Para. 1 Letter a) of the Schengen Implementation Convention, the signatory countries have undertaken to ensure that the management of an accommodation facility or its authorized representatives take steps to ensure that accommodated foreigners, including nationals of other contracting parties and other Member States of the European Community, complete and sign registration forms in person and identify themselves to the manager of the accommodation facility or his authorized representative by presenting a valid identity document.

If foreigners are accommodated in an accommodation facility, i.e. an establishment that serves to accommodate persons on a commercial or business basis, they must sign a special registration form on the day of arrival. In the case of tour groups of more than ten persons, including foreigners, this obligation only applies to the tour guide, who must indicate the number of foreign travelers and their nationality.

Alternatively, with the consent of the foreign person accommodated, this obligation can also be fulfilled by collecting the required data electronically and the foreigner confirming its accuracy and completeness on the day of arrival by making a specific card-based payment transaction that allows authentication, or by providing electronic proof of identity (eID card or electronic residence permit with eID function), or by reading the data from the eID card or the electronic residence permit on site for the purpose of transferring form data without media discontinuity.

The special registration forms contain the following data

• Date of arrival and expected departure,
• surnames,
• first names,
• date of birth,
• nationalities,
• address,
• Serial number(s) of the recognized and valid passport or passport replacement document for foreign persons,
• Number of foreign fellow travelers in the case of accompanying relatives/travel groups,
• nationalities of the foreign fellow travelers in the case of travel groups.

If the electronic procedure is used by means of a specific payment transaction, the earmarked allocation number of the means of payment used must also be stored.

Accompanying foreign spouses, partners and minor children must only be stated on the registration form in terms of number.

Foreigners staying in the accommodation (including those traveling with them) must identify themselves to the management of the accommodation facility or its representatives upon registration by presenting a valid identity document (recognized and valid passport or passport substitute).

The special registration form is not required for facilities with residential accommodation that are used for youth and adult education, training or further education, company or club homes if only company or club members and their family members are accommodated there, youth hostels and mountain huts, temporarily occupied facilities of public or publicly recognized youth work organizations and facilities of public religious societies.

If the stay in an accommodation facility exceeds a period of six months, all accommodated persons (including German nationals) are subject to the general registration obligation and must register with the registration authority within two weeks. If they are not registered for a residence in Germany and their stay exceeds three months, the persons concerned must register with the registration authority within two weeks as soon as their stay exceeds three months.

Persons staying overnight in tents, mobile homes, caravans or watercraft on commercial or business sites are not subject to the general obligation to register as long as they are already registered in Germany. If someone is not registered in Germany with another residence, they must register with the registration authority within two weeks as soon as their stay exceeds three months.

The general obligation to register applies regardless of whether a special registration form was required or not.

Obligations for the management of accommodation facilities:

The management of places of accommodation or their authorized representatives must keep the special registration forms available and work to ensure that the persons concerned comply with their obligation to sign the special registration form. They may also provide technical devices for the electronic fulfillment of the registration obligation. Foreign guests must present a valid identity document. The information on the registration form must be compared with that on the identity document. If there are any discrepancies, this must be noted on the registration form. If accommodated foreign guests do not present any or no valid identity document, this must be noted on the registration form.

Insofar as it is necessary for the collection of the tourist or spa tax or the visitor's tax, the management of the accommodation facilities or their representatives must note the date of actual departure on the registration form. This also applies to accompanying spouses and partners.

The completed registration form or the electronically collected data must be kept by the management of the accommodation facility or its representatives for one year from the date of arrival of the accommodated person, kept available for inspection by the registration authorities and other legally designated authorities and presented to them on request, secured against unauthorized inspection and destroyed within three months of the expiry of the retention period.

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