Passport facts for kids

An Italian passport

The inside of a United States passport

A passport is a travel document that says that the person who owns it is a citizen of the country on the passport. A passport asks that the person carrying it be allowed to enter and pass through other countries. They also allow a person to re-enter their country. Passports are given by national governments.

Passports usually have a person's picture, signature, date of birth, nationality and country of birth. Many countries are now issuing passports with biometric properties. This helps confirm that the person carrying a passport is the real owner. These countries have passports that use biometrics: Malaysia, Australia, Greece, Israel, New Zealand, Japan, Portugal, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, Ireland, Poland, Italy, Slovenia, Singapore, Thailand, India and the Republic of Korea .Many more countries are switching over to biometric passports because it can easily confirm the authenticity of the holder's identity. Passports are used so a stamp can be placed in it to prove that the identity of the holder has been confirmed with the immigration officials in the country of travel.

In 1920, the International Conference on Passports, Customs Formalities and Through Tickets made a law that said passports must be issued in French and at least one other language. Now, many countries issue passports in English and the language(s) of the issuing country.

• Lloyd, Martin (2003). The Passport: The History of Man's Most Travelled Document. Stroud, UK: Sutton Publishing. ISBN: 0-7509-2964-2.
• Salter, Mark B. (2003). "Rights of Passage: The Passport in International Relations." Boulder: Lynne Rienner.
• Torpey, John (2000). "The Invention of the Passport: Surveillance, Citizenship, and the State." Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Images for kids

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  Clockwise, from top left: Dutch ordinary, Nepalese diplomatic, Chinese service, and Polish ordinary passports

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  Passport control at Dubai International Airport

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  Map illustrating extra border controls placed on ROC nationals without household registration (NWOHRs). Passports issued to NWOHRs do not contain national identity card numbers and many foreign jurisdictions (as illustrated in the map) thus distinguish between ROC passports based on the presence or absence of a national ID number.

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  Sample ROC passport issued to NWOHRs. Note the absence of a national ID number.

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  More than 5 million British passports are printed each year—one every 2.5 seconds—at this secret location in the North of England

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  Maximum adult passport validity across the world

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  Colours across the world for modern passport booklet covers

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  An Argentine passport with the name of Mercosur at the top

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  Passport message found inside the United States passport

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  Spanish passport as a Member State of the European Union.

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  Arabic papyrus with an exit permit, dated January 24, 722 AD, pointing to the regulation of travel activities. From Hermopolis Magna, Egypt

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  First Japanese passport, issued in 1866

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  Italian passport, issued in 1872

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  Chinese passport from the Qing Dynasty, 24th Year of the Guangxu Reign, 1898

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  An Ottoman passport (passavant) issued to Russian subject dated July 24, 1900

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  WW2 Spanish official passport issued in late 1944 and used during the last 6 months of the war by an official being sent to Berlin

See also

In Spanish: Pasaporte para niños