subject: All About the history of passports [print this page] All About the history of passports All About the history of passports
Passports which are issued by national governments are documents which for the purpose of international travel certifies the nationality and identity of its holder.
The main points used to identify someone are date of birth, name, place of birth, sex and usually nationality and citizenship are linked.
Having a passport does not guarantee entry into another country, however without one have no chance of entry! So when travelling need to ensure passport with you at all times.
Having a passport should ensure at the very least the right to return to the country that issued the passport in the first place. There may be added protection - consular protection if country passport correlates to has an agreement in place with country temporarily in.
There are a number of types of full passports, for example; What is known as an ordinary, tourist or regular. These are issued to standard citizens. Official passport - issued to government employees, Diplomatic passports - issued to diplomats, temporary or emergency passports - issued to those whose passports are lost or stolen and do not have time to get replacement sent through before need to travel.
Collective passports - these are issued to large groups for example schoolchildren who are all travelling together and finally a family passport similar to a collective passport, ideally for those travelling together or an individual passport would be a better option.
The format of a standard passport includes a number of things; Name of the issuing country on the passport cover, description of the document, a national symbol. Inside the passport will be a title page which also names issuing country followed by a page outlining further details about the passport holder.
The page with details about the user varies, some inside front cover whilst some like the European Union can be found in the back cover. Passports also include many blank pages for visas and stamps for entry and exit.
