German CV photo and personal details: include, optional or leave out
A photo on a German CV is optional: employers may no longer demand one, but it is still customary, the Federal Employment Agency says. Date of birth and nationality are optional too; marital status, children and religion usually stay out.1
Written 13 October 2026. CitedCV. How we write our guides
Photo: customary, not required
The Federal Employment Agency's application guide (Bundesagentur für Arbeit, Bewerbungskompass, May 2026) says a photo is no longer an obligation, many companies do not ask for one, and it is still usual. Its sample applications add that employers may no longer demand a photo. Its summary is blunt: quality matters more than having one, and no photo is better than a bad photo.
LMU Munich's career service lists the photo as optional on a CV for the German-speaking market. So the choice is yours. What the rest of this page settles is everything else in the personal block, which is where applicants from Türkiye most often carry over habits that a German reader does not expect.
First: check the ad, then decide on the photo
- Read the ad for a note on the photo or on an anonymised procedure ("anonymisierte Bewerbung", "bitte ohne Foto"). If it asks for no photo, send none.
- If it is silent, ask yourself whether you have a professional photo taken within the last year. If not, leave it out rather than use a selfie or a cropped holiday picture.
- Decide the remaining personal lines with the table further down, one by one.
- Add a residence or work-permit line if you are not an EU citizen; the section on it explains the wording.
The law behind it: the AGG
What the General Equal Treatment Act protects
The Allgemeines Gleichbehandlungsgesetz (AGG) aims to prevent disadvantage because of race or ethnic origin, sex, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual identity (§ 1). It applies to selection criteria and hiring conditions for access to work (§ 2), and it counts applicants as employees for this purpose (§ 6). A job may not be advertised in breach of the ban (§ 11).
What a rejected applicant can claim
Under § 15, an employer who breaches the ban owes damages; for a person who would not have been hired even in a fair selection, compensation for non-financial harm is capped at three monthly salaries. The claim must be made in writing within two months of receiving the rejection. Under § 22, if the applicant proves indications of discrimination, the employer has to prove there was none. The AGG gives no right to the job itself.
Why that makes the photo and some data optional
The AGG does not mention photos or CV fields. But a photo shows sex and rough age and can show religion, and a date of birth shows age, which are protected grounds. The Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency (ADS) recommends anonymised procedures that remove, above all, photos, and it states that an applicant may not be rejected because she wears a headscarf in her application photo. Leaving such data out is your right; including it is also your right.
If you add a photo
- Size: about 4 × 6 cm to 4 × 8 cm on the CV; up to 9 × 13 cm on a cover page (BA 2026).
- Taken by a photographer, sharp, with a calm neutral background; LMU adds a single-colour background and no passport photos.
- Not older than about a year, and redone after a visible change such as new glasses or a beard (BA).
- No selfies, holiday shots or heavily cropped pictures. The BA warns that AI-edited photos often look artificial and HR staff tend to notice.
- Colour is usual; black and white is allowed.
- Place it inside the text area, not over the text, so software reads the CV around it (BA). The page on CV photos and ATS covers parsing in detail.
Personal details table: include, optional or leave out
Each row gives our recommendation and the source it rests on. Sources were read on 12 October 2026.
| Field | Recommendation | Why | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Include | At the top of the body, not in the page header, which software often does not read | BA 2026 |
| Postal address | Include | Listed under personal data; from Türkiye, add the country | BA 2026; LMU |
| Phone and email | Include | A serious personal address such as firstname.lastname@provider | BA 2026 |
| Photo | Optional | May not be demanded; still usual; better none than a poor one | BA 2026; LMU |
| Date of birth | Optional | Listed in the 2018 BA guide, absent from the 2026 top list; age is an AGG ground | BA 2018 and 2026; AGG § 1 |
| Place of birth | Optional | Shown in BA and LMU samples, required by neither | BA 2018; LMU sample |
| Nationality | Optional, useful if you need a permit | Not a protected ground under the AGG, the ADS says, but a question meant to find ethnic origin is not allowed | ADS 2019 |
| Residence or work-permit status | Include if you are not an EU citizen | Employers must check the permit and may ask about it | AufenthG § 4a; ADS 2019 |
| Marital status | Leave out | On the 2026 BA cut list unless you want it or the job needs it | BA 2026 |
| Children | Leave out | Same BA cut list | BA 2026 |
| Religion, party membership | Leave out | Listed as private on the BA cut list; religion is an AGG ground | BA 2026; AGG § 1 |
| Parents' names and jobs | Leave out | Named as outdated on the BA cut list | BA 2026 |
| Turkish ID number (TC Kimlik No) | Leave out | No German source we read lists an ID number among CV details | BA 2026; LMU |
| Pronouns, LinkedIn URL | Optional | LMU lists both as optional additions | LMU |
How to write residence-permit or work-permit status
Section 4a of the Residence Act (AufenthG) says every residence title must show whether work is allowed and with what limits, and that anyone employing a foreign national must check this and keep a copy of the title for the length of the job. The ADS confirms an employer may ask whether you have a work permit. A clear line on your CV answers that check before it is asked.
| Your situation | Sample line on the CV |
|---|---|
| Living in Türkiye, no German title yet | Staatsangehörigkeit: türkisch · Aufenthaltstitel für Deutschland: noch nicht vorhanden |
| In Germany as a skilled worker with a degree | Aufenthaltserlaubnis nach § 18b AufenthG, gültig bis 09.2028 |
| EU Blue Card holder | Blaue Karte EU, gültig bis 05.2029 |
| Settled in Germany | Niederlassungserlaubnis (unbefristet) |
| Dual citizen with an EU passport | Staatsangehörigkeit: türkisch, deutsch (or the EU country) |
Copy the type and the expiry date exactly as your card states them, and if the card limits work to one employer or one kind of job, say so in the cover letter rather than leave it to be found later. Which visa a job from Türkiye needs, and what a visa CV must show, are covered in the national visa and Blue Card guides.
How the advice moved between 2018 and 2026
The BA's November 2018 guide put date and place of birth, nationality and marital status in the first block of the CV and called photos still completely usual. The May 2026 edition keeps only name, address, phone and email at the top, puts marital status and children on its cut list, and adds that many companies no longer ask for a photo. Its sample CVs still show a date of birth and nationality, which is why those two rows above say optional, not leave out.
Limits of this page
- It is not legal advice. For a possible AGG case, the ADS offers a first legal consultation; the two-month deadline in § 15 runs from the rejection.
- It covers private employers in Germany. Austria and Switzerland have their own law.
- A visa or recognition authority may ask for data a job CV leaves out; follow its checklist.
- An anonymised procedure overrides everything here: send what its form asks for and nothing else.
Next steps
Set the personal block once and reuse it: the German CV format guide shows where it sits on the page, and the page on English or German CVs covers the language. CitedCV's German profile treats the photo, date of birth and nationality as optional and leaves marital status out, so the CV it writes from your confirmed facts follows the table above unless you choose otherwise.
Questions people ask
Do German CVs need a photo?
No, a photo is optional. The BA says employers may no longer demand one and many do not ask, though photos are still common in German applications.
Is a CV without a photo OK in Germany?
Yes, a CV without a photo is fine. The BA advises leaving the photo out rather than sending a selfie, a holiday shot or an AI-edited image.
What size is a German CV photo?
About 4 × 6 cm to 4 × 8 cm on the CV, according to the BA in 2026, and up to 9 × 13 cm on a cover page.
Should I put my date of birth on a German CV?
It is optional. Age is a protected ground under the AGG, the 2026 BA list leaves it out of the top block, and its sample CVs still show it.
Should I write my nationality on a CV for Germany?
Optional, and useful if you need a residence permit. The ADS says nationality is not an AGG-protected ground, but questions aimed at ethnic origin are not allowed.
How do I write my visa status on a CV for Germany?
In one line with the title type and expiry, for example "Blaue Karte EU, gültig bis 05.2029", copied from your card. Employers must check it under § 4a AufenthG.
Can an employer in Germany ask for my photo?
No, not as a requirement, according to the BA. The AGG itself does not mention photos; it bans disadvantage on grounds such as sex, age, religion or ethnic origin.
Should I include marital status on a German CV?
No, leave it out unless you want it there or the job needs it. The BA put it on its 2026 cut list together with details about children.
Sources
- Bundesagentur für Arbeit (Agentur für Arbeit Ahlen-Münster), Bewerbungskompass für Arbeitsstellen, May 2026www.arbeitsagentur.de/vor-ort/datei/bewerbungskompass_arbeit_ba273273.pdf
- Bundesagentur für Arbeit (Agentur für Arbeit Rheine), Bewerbungskompass für Arbeitsstellen, November 2018www.arbeitsagentur.de/vor-ort/datei/bewerbungskompass-arbeit_ba093152.pdf
- Allgemeines Gleichbehandlungsgesetz § 1, Ziel des Gesetzeswww.gesetze-im-internet.de/agg/__1.html
- Allgemeines Gleichbehandlungsgesetz § 15, Entschädigung und Schadensersatzwww.gesetze-im-internet.de/agg/__15.html
- Allgemeines Gleichbehandlungsgesetz § 22, Beweislastwww.gesetze-im-internet.de/agg/__22.html
- Aufenthaltsgesetz § 4a, Zugang zur Erwerbstätigkeitwww.gesetze-im-internet.de/aufenthg_2004/__4a.html
- Antidiskriminierungsstelle des Bundes, Fair in den Job, Leitfaden für diskriminierungsfreie Einstellungsverfahren (October 2019)www.antidiskriminierungsstelle.de/SharedDocs/downloads/DE/publikationen/Leitfaeden/leitfaden_fair_in_den_job.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=3
- LMU Munich Career Service, Application tips for studentswww.lmu.de/en/workspace-for-students/career-services/application-tips-for-students/