Passport

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

International travel without passports

In some circumstances, travel between countries may be done without showing a passport. These include:

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Reciprocal agreements

Some countries have a reciprocal agreements such that a visa is not needed under certain conditions, e.g. when the visit is for tourism and for a relatively short period.

Related Topics:
Reciprocal - Tourism

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A few countries have agreements allowing for cross-border travel without passports (but generally with identification). Examples include:

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• The United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland: Citizens of the UK and Ireland require no passport to travel between the two countries; however, the Irish government has since 1997 required a suitable form of photographic identification to be carried. Other EEA nationals must show a national ID card or Passport. All other nationals require a passport. Many nationals also require visas for both countries. See Common Travel Area
• The NAFTA countries: the United States, Canada, and Mexico, although after a recent announcement, all persons entering the United States, including U.S. citizens, will be required to have a passport, even from Canada and Mexico, starting as early as December 2005. The Canadian Government has responded to this by stating that soon U.S. citizens will be required to have a passport to enter Canada.
• The Nordic countries, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, including Faroe Islands and Greenland. (Called the Nordic Passport Union, this area joined the larger Schengen treaty region in 1997.)
• Lebanese citizens entering Syria do not require a passport if carrying their Lebanese IDs. Similarly, Syrian nationals do not require a passport to enter Lebanon either, if carrying their Syrian IDs.
• Indian, Nepalese and Bhutanese citizens do not require a passport to travel between the three countries. However some identification is needed to cross the borders.
• Croatia does not require a passport for citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina who have a Bosnian ID card. Likewise Bosnia and Herzegovina does not reguire Croatian citizens to have a passport only a Croatian ID.

Many Latin American nationals can travel within their respective regional economic zones, such as Mercosur (Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay) and the Andean Community of Nations (Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela) or on a bilateral basis (e.g. between Chile and Peru) without passports, presenting instead their national identification cards or voter registration cards for a limited period. Often, this travel must be done overland rather than by air. There are plans to extend these rights to all of South America under the new South American Community of Nations.

Related Topics:
Mercosur - Brazil - Argentina - Paraguay - Uruguay - Andean Community of Nations - Bolivia - Peru - Ecuador - Colombia - Venezuela - Chile - South American Community of Nations

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EU, EEA, and the Schengen treaty

Citizens of the European Economic Area (the European Union plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway) enjoy the freedom to travel and work in any European Union country without a passport or visa, although transitory dispositions may restrict the rights of citizens of new members to work in other countries.

Related Topics:
European Economic Area - European Union - Iceland - Liechtenstein - Norway

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Furthermore, countries that have signed and applied the Schengen treaty (a subset of the EEA) do not implement border controls between each other, unless exceptional circumstances apply. (Most of the balance of EU countries, plus Switzerland, have signed the Schengen treaty, but not applied it yet.)

Related Topics:
Schengen treaty - EEA

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As a consequence of the above, for instance, a French citizen may travel to the United Kingdom, another EEA nation, and then freely work in that country. However, since the UK has not signed the Schengen treaty, he will have to carry at least a national ID card, which will normally be checked at the border. On the other hand, if and when Switzerland applies the Schengen treaty, the French citizen will be able to travel to Switzerland without being stopped at the border, but he will not be able to work freely in that country without authorisation, as it is not a member of the EEA. Further, most European countries require all persons to carry an identity card or passport. So while Switzerland will not check our French traveller at the border, he may have to show his ID card at some stage within the country, although in practice this is rare. Except at the border, ID cards are not required by UK law; however, there is a de facto requirement to prove your identity to conduct business. Our French traveller would have to show ID to obtain a UK bank account or to prove his eligibility to work.

Related Topics:
United Kingdom - ID card - EEA - ID card

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Refugees and stateless persons

Stateless persons (those to whom no country will grant a passport or citizenship) generally travel internationally on transit documents issued by the United Nations under the terms of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. These are accepted in lieu of passports by most governments. Similarly, refugees and asylum seekers often travel under non-national interim documentation, rather than the passport of the country from which they are fleeing.

Related Topics:
Stateless person - United Nations - 1951

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The Vatican City

The Vatican City has no formal immigration controls. As the only entrance to the tiny country is overland from Italy, the de-facto immigration requirements of the Vatican City are the same as those of Italy. However, having crossed the border into Vatican City, they are liable to Vatican law not Italian, retaining their authority as a separate state.

Related Topics:
Vatican City - Italy

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