What's New

As of May 1 German temporary/emergency passports will no longer be valid for travel to the U.S. under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP).

Holders of German temporary or emergency passports who intend to travel to or through the United States must either obtain a valid, machine-readable regular German passport for Visa Waiver Program travel or apply for a U.S. visa to travel to the United States.

Germany remains a designated country in the Visa Waiver Program, and its citizens with regular passports, including children's passports (Kinderpässe), may continue to use the program for business and tourism travel to the U.S. German regular full-validity, official and diplomatic passports remain valid for Visa Waiver Program travel, per current VWP passport requirements, and are unaffected by the decision.

Consistent with U.S. entry procedures, as of May 1, 2006, Visa Waiver Program travelers with a temporary German passport should not anticipate permission to board an aircraft or cruise ship bound for the United States. Visa Waiver Program travelers arriving at a U.S. port of entry with a temporary German passport may not receive parole to enter and be denied admission to the United States.

See also: Visa Waiver Program FAQs | (pdf version)

Further information on the Visa Waiver Program
http://www.usembassy.de/germany/visa/vwp.html (English)
http://www.us-botschaft.de/germany-ger/visa/vwinfo.html (Deutsch)

Information on applying for U.S. visas
http://www.usembassy.de/germany/visa/ (English)
http://www.us-botschaft.de/germany-ger/visa/ (Deutsch)
http://www.travel.state.gov (U.S. Department of State)