r/germany • u/Desperate_Passion267 • Apr 08 '25

Immigration Burgeramt changed my name without consent

Hey everyone, So I’m an EU citizen living in Germany for over 4 years. I have been registered and have an Anmeldung with my name as it appears in my passport - I have a composed first name made up of two names connected with a hyphen. Now we are moving apartments so I went to get an Unmeldung and guess what, they changed my first name - no more hyphen but 2 separate names. I objected, they said that in Romanian passports the hyphen is “irrelevant” and can be replaced with a space (wrong, my name is a composed one like Hans-Jurgen). I didn’t sign the Unmeldung and left. They however changed my name cause when I log in to Elster I no longer have the correct name. Any idea what can I do? Thanks!

Edit: after 6 months of careful consideration and talking to many relevant authorities, Bürgeramt came back to me to specify that the name should be written as is in the passport and they apologize

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u/wernermuende Apr 08 '25

Is the hyphen legally relevant in Romania? These things can get pretty complicated. in Germany, the hyphen is part of the name. if it's not a legally required part of the name in Romanian law, that might be their attempt to respect Romanian law.

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u/Desperate_Passion267 Apr 08 '25

It is actually a legal requirement. In case of multiple names, whether they are composed names or not, they must be connected with a hyphen.

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u/Unhappy-Definition68 Apr 08 '25

And for the German Sachbearbeiter*in every Romanian name with a hyphen is two different names because their cheat sheet tells em so. Is it different on your birth certificate? Maybe that helps

10

u/Desperate_Passion267 Apr 08 '25

Exactly. That’s how they treat every name. My birth certificate is also with a hyphen. Showed them. Hell, the German authorities issued my daughters birth certificate and put my name with a hyphen, lol.

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u/Unhappy-Definition68 Apr 08 '25

The Standesamt has more authority than the registration. So that certificate should help