Passport

:This article is about the international travel document. For Microsoft Corporation's "universal login" service, see Microsoft Passport Network.

History

Ordinary citizens are issued with ordinary passports for regular travel.

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Diplomatic personnel are issued diplomatic passports which identify them as diplomatic representatives of their home country. As such, they enjoy certain immunities and privileges in the country they are performing their duties in.

Related Topics:
Diplomatic - Immunities and privileges

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Service passports are issued to the technical and administrative personnel of diplomatic missions such as embassies and consulates. These personnel have less immunities and privileges than diplomatic personnel. The details are laid out in the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

Related Topics:
Diplomatic missions - Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations

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Some countries issue official passports to some of their civil servants, for travel on official purposes. Bearers of official passports may, in certain cases, require a visa, whereas bearers of normal passports would not.

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A group passport may be issued, for example, for a school trip. All children on the trip would be covered by the group passport for the duration of the trip.

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The modern concept of a multi-journey, multi-destination passport issued only by the holder's country of nationality, dates only from the mid-twentieth century. Before this, passports could generally be issued by any nation to any person, but for a very limited time and generally for a single journey. In this way, early passports are more similar to modern visas than to modern passports, whose primary function is to prove the identity and nationality of the holder. Until the 1920s passports were a single paper page. The modern 'booklet' style passport originated as a commercial product in the UK, as a leather pouch containing a booklet for entry and exit stamps, and a small pocket for the passport. The design was copied by the UK government a few years later.

Related Topics:
Twentieth century - Visa - 1920s - UK

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The term 'passport' most probably originates not from sea ports, but from medieval documents required to pass through the gate ('porte') of city walls. In medieval Europe such documents could be issued to any traveller by local authorities and generally contained a list of towns and cities through which the holder was permitted to pass. This system continued in France, for example, until the 1860s. During this time passports were often not required for travel to seaports, which were considered open trading points, but were required to travel from them to inland cities.

Related Topics:
Port - Medieval - Europe - France - 1860s

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Early passports often, but not always, contained a physical description of the holder, with photographs being added only in the early decades of the 20th century.

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Following the world wars, the League of Nations (International Conference on Passports, Customs Formalities and Through Tickets, 1920), and later the United Nations and the ICAO, issued standardisation guidelines on the layout and features of passports. These guidelines have largely shaped the modern passport.

Related Topics:
World wars - League of Nations - United Nations - ICAO

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In recent years there has been a movement to introduce biometric information to passports to improve identity security. It is at present questionable whether such technology is sufficiently developed and robust for this task. The U.S., for example, has twice delayed the introduction of this technology due to poor reliability results.

Related Topics:
Biometric - U.S.

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