Passport

A passport is a travel document issued by a government or official agency that certifies a person's identity and nationality. It is used when a person crosses international borders, and typically contains a photograph, name, date of birth, sex, date of issue, expiration date, and a unique number.

A passport alone does not usually permit entry into a foreign country. Most countries also require a visa or other authorization, though some have agreements that waive visa requirements. The final decision on entry rests with the immigration officials of the country being entered, not with the country that issued the passport.

Contents and format

Most passports are small, hardcover booklets containing pages where border officials record stamps and visas. The biographical page includes a machine-readable zone—two or three lines of specially formatted text that can be read quickly by machines. Security features such as watermarks, special printing techniques, and holograms are used to prevent forgery.

Electronic passports

In recent years many countries have switched to electronic passports (e-passports), which contain a small chip embedded in the biographical page that stores the page data, photograph, and sometimes fingerprints or iris information. The chip is read by contactless devices, which has allowed airport terminals to use automatic gates that function without human intervention. The standards for travel documents are set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

Types

Many countries issue several types: a standard passport for citizens; a diplomatic passport issued to ambassadors and senior officials; an official or service passport; and special travel documents for refugees or stateless persons. Emergency passports with short validity periods are also issued for lost documents or urgent travel.

Issuance and validity

Passports are typically issued by the ministry of foreign affairs or national travel authority, or sometimes by embassies when applications are made abroad. Applications require proof of nationality and identity. Governments have the right to refuse, revoke, or seize passports, for example when a person is under legal proceedings. Validity periods vary considerably from country to country, generally ranging from five to ten years.