Germany’s parliament opened first-reading debate on 23 September 2026 on the Digital Identity Act (Digitale-Identitäten-Gesetz), legislation that would create the legal basis for the EU Digital Identity (EUDI) Wallet inside Germany. The bill, docket number 21/7408, aligns domestic law with the amended eIDAS 2.0 regulation and aims to have a free, voluntary smartphone wallet with security level “high” available nationwide from January 2027. Once implemented, German citizens and residents—including foreign assignees holding an eID-enabled residence permit—will be able to store passports, visas, driving licences and professional certificates on their phones and share verifiable credentials across borders. For mobility professionals, this promises faster airport flows, remote onboarding of expatriates and simplified KYC checks at banks and telecom providers. The draft foresees annual business-sector savings of €121.7 million by reducing paper administration but also flags one-off corporate IT adaptation costs of €13.5 million. HR, tax and payroll systems will need to interface with the wallet’s trust services, while travel-management companies must prepare to accept digital travel documents at check-in. The Bundesrat’s opinion, annexed to the bill, supports the project but demands that the method of wallet provisioning be set by regulation with Bundesrat consent and that open-source solutions be prioritised. Digital-policy watchers expect committee negotiations to refine governance and data-sovereignty clauses by year-end. If the law passes in early 2027, Germany will become one of the first large EU economies to operationalise the EUDI Wallet—an initiative likely to render many current physical residence-permit cards optional. Global-mobility teams should audit internal identity-verification workflows and begin pilot projects with wallet-ready providers to stay ahead of the curve.
Source: Deutscher Bundestag
