Apply for Elterngeld (parental allowance)

• Your own child You are the mother or father of the child. This can be your biological child, stepchild, adopted child, or a child you intend to adopt. Second- or third-degree relatives can receive Elterngeld (parental allowance) if they care for the child because the parents are unable to due to serious illness, severe disability, or death. • Care for the child You care for and raise your child yourself. • No employment or no full-time employment You work no more than 32 hours per week • Shared household with the child You live with your child in a shared household. • Residence in Berlin You live in Berlin and are registered here. • Income in the previous year Your taxable income in the year before your child's birth, combined for both parents, was no more than 300,000 euros (since 01.04.2024: 200,000 euros, from 01.04.2025: 175,000 euros), if both live in the same household. Special rules apply to income earned abroad. • For the online application: registration/login with your BundID account service.berlin.de/nutzerkonten/bundid/ To submit the application online, log in with your BundID account, or register for a BundID account if you do not yet have one. • For the online application (optional): activated online ID function (eID) (recommended) or Elster certificate service.berlin.de/dienstleistung/329833/ To log in to your BundID account using the "Online-Ausweis" (online ID) option, you need: • Your electronic identity card (Personalausweis), Union citizens' card (eID card), or electronic residence permit (eAT) with the online ID function (eID) activated and the six-digit PIN • an external card reader or a modern smartphone with an Android or iOS operating system • the "AusweisApp" software As an alternative to the "Online-Ausweis" option, you can also choose the "Elster certificate" or "username/password" option. • For the amendment application: a change has occurred after you applied for Elterngeld If you have already applied for Elterngeld and the benefit period, bank details, or similar details change afterward, please use the Berliner Änderungsantrag auf Elterngeld (Berlin amendment application for parental allowance).

• Application for Elterngeld (parental allowance) Possible online, or you can submit a written application by post • The Elterngeld application is available in two different versions. Please use the appropriate Elterngeld application depending on whether your child or children were born before, on, or after 1 April 2025. • For the online application: please have ready your Personalausweis (identity card), Union Citizen's Card (eID card), or electronic residence permit (eAT), each with the online ID function (eID) activated. Application data, supporting documents and signature can be submitted entirely digitally. There is no need to print and send anything by post. • Alternatively, you can send the application in writing by post: the application must be signed by both parents. • For changes after submitting the Elterngeld application: Berliner Änderungsantrag auf Elterngeld (Berlin amendment application for Elterngeld) Please submit the amendment application in writing by post. • Identity documents Personalausweise (identity cards) or passports, including each parent's most recent Meldebescheinigung (registration certificate) • Birth certificate of the child, for applying for Elterngeld in the original • Declaration of the parents' previous income one declaration per parent; see the "Forms" section • Proof of the parents' previous income for employed parents (not self-employed): • Proof of income for the 12 months before the child's birth; for mothers who received Mutterschaftsgeld (maternity benefit) before the start of maternity leave: payslips for the last twelve months before the start of maternity leave (Mutterschutz) for self-employment and mixed income: • most recent Einkommensteuerbescheid (income tax assessment) (calendar year before the birth); if this is not yet available, an Einnahme-Überschuss-Rechnung (income surplus statement, EÜR) or other suitable evidence of income • Certificate from the Krankenkasse (health insurance fund) regarding Mutterschaftsgeld (maternity benefit) Certificate confirming whether maternity benefit was received and, if so, in what amount The nationwide standard application used in Berlin (via ElterngeldDigital) includes an option to tick requesting an electronic data retrieval for the maternity benefit certificate from the health insurance fund. This function is currently still being technically implemented in Berlin. For fast processing of your application, we therefore ask you to send the maternity benefit certificate, the birth certificate (in the original) and proof of income together with the application. Otherwise the certificate will have to be requested afterward. • Certificate from your employer regarding its supplement to maternity benefit If you receive maternity benefit and are not self-employed: submission of payslips for the period of protected leave (Mutterschutzfrist). For female civil servants (Beamtinnen): • Certificate of pay during maternity leave (Mutterschutz) and the duration of the maternity protection period. • Agreement with your employer on parental leave (Elternzeit) for employed work (not self-employed) • Confirmation of your working hours and expected income If you work during your parental leave. • For employed work, your employer confirms your working hours. • For self-employed work, you provide your own declaration of your working hours and expected income. In both cases, the confirmation must cover the entire period during which you receive Elterngeld. • Meldebescheinigung (registration certificate) and Aufenthaltstitel (residence permit) for foreign applicants

Application for Elterngeld (parental allowance) for children born on or after 1 April 2025 www.berlin.de/sen/jugend/familie-und-kinder/finanzielle-leis • Application for Elterngeld for children born between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025 www.berlin.de/sen/jugend/familie-und-kinder/finanzielle-leis • Application for Elterngeld for children born before 1 April 2024 www.berlin.de/sen/jugend/familie-und-kinder/finanzielle-leis • Berlin amendment application for Elterngeld www.berlin.de/sen/jugend/familie-und-kinder/finanzielle-leis • Application for Elterngeld from April 2025 - Appendix: Residence abroad, for Section 2.c www.berlin.de/sen/jugend/familie-und-kinder/finanzielle-leis • Application for Elterngeld from April 2025 - Appendix: Nationality, for Section 2.g www.berlin.de/sen/jugend/familie-und-kinder/finanzielle-leis • Application for Elterngeld from April 2025 - Appendix: Income in addition to Elterngeld, for Section 12.a www.berlin.de/sen/jugend/familie-und-kinder/finanzielle-leis • Application for Elterngeld from April 2025 - Appendix: Employer's certificate www.berlin.de/sen/jugend/familie-und-kinder/finanzielle-leis

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• Bundeselterngeld- und Elternzeitgesetz (BEEG, Federal Parental Allowance and Parental Leave Act) §§ 1-4d www.gesetze-im-internet.de/beeg/ • Second Act Amending the Federal Parental Allowance and Parental Leave Act <https://www.bgbl.de/xaver/bgbl/start.xav?startbk=Bundesanzeiger_BGBl&start=//*%5b@attr_id=%27bgbl121s0239.pdf%27%5d#__bgbl__%2F%2F*%5B%40attr_id%3D%27bgbl121s0239.pdf%27%5D__1632835437421>

• Information on Elterngeld (parental allowance) (Bundesministerium für Bildung, Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend [Federal Ministry for Education, Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth]) www.bmbfsfj.bund.de/bmbfsfj/themen/familie/familienleistunge • Information on Elterngeld (Senatsverwaltung für Bildung, Jugend und Familie [Senate Department for Education, Youth and Family]) www.berlin.de/sen/jugend/familie-und-kinder/finanzielle-leis • New rules for Elterngeld for births from 1 April 2024 (Bundesministerium für Bildung, Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend) www.bmfsfj.de/bmfsfj/themen/familie/familienleistungen/frage • Familienportal [Family Portal] (Bundesministerium für Bildung, Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend) familienportal.de/familienportal/familienleistungen/elternge • Elterngeldrechner [parental allowance calculator] (Bundesministerium für Bildung, Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend) familienportal.de/familienportal/rechner-antraege/elterngeld

Elterngeldstelle (parental allowance office) of the Jugendamt (youth welfare office) in your district of residence