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.
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.
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.
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.
Probably not. If your passport is damaged in any way your best bet is to apply for a new one. It is possible and highly likely that the border security at your destination will refuse you entry to the country if you present them a damaged passport.
According to the government of Canada a passport is considered damaged if it appears to have been altered in any way and if identifying the bearer is hindered in any way.
Types of damage include exposure to water and humidity, tears, and unauthorized markings. Passports are official documents and should be taken care of at all times.
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.
No. Passports do not include your address. Passport data pages, or biodata pages, only include your name, passport number, nationality, date and place of birth, your sex, and the passport’s date of issue and date of expiry.