What Is a Passport?

A passport is a travel document issued by a country’s government to its citizens that verifies the identity and nationality of the holder for the purpose of international travel.

Passports are small booklets that typically contain the bearer’s name, place of birth, date of birth, the date of issue, date of expiry, passport number, photo and signature. There are several types of passports depending on the status of the bearer in their home country.

What Is an Official Passport?

An official passport, or service passport, is a type of passport that is issued to government employees. Its purpose is to let officials in the destination country know that the bearer is entering the country on official business, representing their country in an official capacity. Holders of official passports are not typically granted any special privileges.

What Is a Diplomatic Passport?

A diplomatic passport is granted to diplomats who are travelling for official business and representing their home country abroad.

Diplomats are appointed by the government to conduct official business abroad and maintain political, economic and social relations with other countries. Their passports typically grant them certain privileges and immunities, such as exemption from prosecution and taxes in the host country.

What Is an Emergency Passport?

An emergency passport, or temporary passport, is issued when you’ve lost your passport or had it stolen and you don’t have time to apply for a new one. For example, if you left your passport on the plane by accident and therefore cannot board your connecting flight, you may call your embassy and be issued an emergency one-way passport that will get you home.

What Is a Collective Passport?

A collective passport may be issued to a group, such as schoolchildren, travelling abroad together. However, children are typically encouraged to travel on their own passports.

What Is a Family Passport?

Family passports are issued to one member of the family but may be used for all family members for travelling purposes. However, the official passport bearer must be travelling as well. Family passports are quite rare these days.

What Is an ePassport?

An epassport, or electronic passport, is a regular passport booklet that contains an electronic chip in the cover. This chip contains the passport bearer’s information and provides an extra layer of security against passport fraud.

Why Do I Need a Passport?

Passports are necessary if you’d like to travel abroad as they verify your identity and nationality. They grant the bearer safe passage and protection in a foreign land.

You typically must present your passport several times at the airport if you are flying, and at the border if you are travelling by car. Additionally, you may also need a visa in order to enter your destination country.

Can I Use My Passport as My ID?

Yes. You can use your passport as identification outside the airport. However, it is not recommended to carry around your passport on a daily basis or for a night out, as replacing a lost passport can be costly and time-consuming.

What Should I Do If My Passport Is Lost or Stolen?

If you lose your passport or it is stolen you must report it to the authorities immediately. Contact the local police as well as your country’s passport authorities or embassy to report what happened. Your passport will invalidated to ensure that it cannot be used fraudulently and you may be issued a temporary passport with which you can travel home. You must then apply for a new passport.

Should I Sign My Passport?

Yes. Passports typically have a signature page that tell you exactly where you need to sign it. Some passports may also include a digital copy of your signature on the biodata page. It is important that you only sign your passport in the appropriate space on the designated page. Marking up your passport in any other way will invalidate it.

How Many Passports Can One Person Have?

There is no real limit on how many passports a single individual can have. However, the citizenship laws of your home country may include provision about dual citizenship. Some countries do not allow their citizens to hold dual or multiple passports and require them to give up their current nationality for a new one. Other countries do allow dual or multiple citizenship with varying conditions. For example, if both countries end up in a war against each other, your passport for one may be revoked if you take up arms against it.

What Kinds of Security Features Do Passports Have?

According to the International Civil Aviation Organization’s Doc 9303 “Machine Readable Travel Documents,” passports must have certain security features to prevent counterfeiting and fraud.

Some of the security features include holograms that light up under UV light, an electronic chip with the bearer’s information, optically variable ink, which changes colour under different light sources and anti-scan patterns.

Passport-issuing authorities are encouraged to use a variety of security features in order to make it as difficult as possible to forge their passports.