Albanian passport
Encyclopedia
The Albanian passport is a travel and identity document that is issued to citizens who are nationals of Albania
, and allows them to travel abroad. The authority responsible for issuing is the Ministry of Interior.
, as part of a larger project to modernize and bring to the best international standards, has started issuing biometric passport
and biometric ID card
for its citizens.
In order to get the passport each Albanian citizen may go to the local post office
and pay the price of 6,000 (six thousand) lek
(€
50) and afterwards go to the Registry office
of the municipality
where the person is photographed, and the fingerprint
s are digitized. The data collected are sent to the center of production in Tirana
. The ideation and the way of producing the new Albanian e-Passport is made in front of a single civil servant (personal identification, photographing, finding fingerprints, and digital signature) makes this document one of the most reliable and advanced in the world. The switch to a biometric passport was one of the conditions for the Schengen Area
visa liberalization for the citizens of Albania.
Since March 2011 biometric passport and identity card can be requested at the Albanian consulates in Greece and Italy to serve immigrants who live there.
plastic and contains a microchip
embedded in which are stored biometric data
of the holder such as fingerprint
s, photo and signature. The data are extracted from the chip with wireless RFID technology. It has excellent safety standards and anti counterfeiting. The photo is scanned on the page and is replied by side and it is UV reactive. The alphanumeric code
at the bottom of the data page makes it readable with optical scanners, such as the airport ones. The code includes microprinting, holographic images, images visible only with UV light, filigree and other details.
The Albanian biometric passport meets all standards set by International Civil Aviation Organization
.
The data is written in Albanian
and English
. The passport is valid for 10 years.
n passports were issued in the 1920s, when the consolidation of the Albania
n state began. During the communist period from 1945 until 1991, Albania
did not allow foreign travel of its citizens and therefore did not issue ordinary passports for foreign travel, only diplomatic and service passports in limited number. Since the change of the political system
the authorities issue passports to all Albanian citizens who request it.
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
, and allows them to travel abroad. The authority responsible for issuing is the Ministry of Interior.
Biometric passport
Starting in May 2009, the Albanian GovernmentPolitics of Albania
Politics of Albania takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democracy is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament, the Assembly of the Republic of Albania...
, as part of a larger project to modernize and bring to the best international standards, has started issuing biometric passport
Biometric passport
A biometric passport, also known as an e-passport or ePassport, is a combined paper and electronic passport that contains biometric information that can be used to authenticate the identity of travelers...
and biometric ID card
Albanian Identity Card
The Albanian Identity Card is a national identity card that is issued by the Albanian authorities to their citizens. It is proof of identity, citizenship and residence of the Albanian citizens. The current version is in ID1 format and biometric.-History:Albania issued identity cards to its...
for its citizens.
In order to get the passport each Albanian citizen may go to the local post office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
and pay the price of 6,000 (six thousand) lek
Albanian lek
The lek is the official currency of Albania. It is subdivided into 100 qindarka , although qindarka are no longer issued.-Names:...
(€
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
50) and afterwards go to the Registry office
Civil registry
Civil registration is the system by which a government records the vital events of its citizens and residents. The resulting repository or database is called civil register or registry, or population registry. The primary purpose of civil registration is to create legal documents that are used to...
of the municipality
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...
where the person is photographed, and the fingerprint
Fingerprint
A fingerprint in its narrow sense is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. In a wider use of the term, fingerprints are the traces of an impression from the friction ridges of any part of a human hand. A print from the foot can also leave an impression of friction ridges...
s are digitized. The data collected are sent to the center of production in Tirana
Tirana
Tirana is the capital and the largest city of Albania. Modern Tirana was founded as an Ottoman town in 1614 by Sulejman Bargjini, a local ruler from Mullet, although the area has been continuously inhabited since antiquity. Tirana became Albania's capital city in 1920 and has a population of over...
. The ideation and the way of producing the new Albanian e-Passport is made in front of a single civil servant (personal identification, photographing, finding fingerprints, and digital signature) makes this document one of the most reliable and advanced in the world. The switch to a biometric passport was one of the conditions for the Schengen Area
Schengen Agreement
The Schengen Agreement is a treaty signed on 14 June 1985 near the town of Schengen in Luxembourg, between five of the ten member states of the European Economic Community. It was supplemented by the Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement 5 years later...
visa liberalization for the citizens of Albania.
Since March 2011 biometric passport and identity card can be requested at the Albanian consulates in Greece and Italy to serve immigrants who live there.
Physical appearance
The data page of the passport is from rigid polycarbonatePolycarbonate
PolycarbonatePhysical PropertiesDensity 1.20–1.22 g/cm3Abbe number 34.0Refractive index 1.584–1.586FlammabilityV0-V2Limiting oxygen index25–27%Water absorption – Equilibrium0.16–0.35%Water absorption – over 24 hours0.1%...
plastic and contains a microchip
Integrated circuit
An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit is an electronic circuit manufactured by the patterned diffusion of trace elements into the surface of a thin substrate of semiconductor material...
embedded in which are stored biometric data
Biometrics
Biometrics As Jain & Ross point out, "the term biometric authentication is perhaps more appropriate than biometrics since the latter has been historically used in the field of statistics to refer to the analysis of biological data [36]" . consists of methods...
of the holder such as fingerprint
Fingerprint
A fingerprint in its narrow sense is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. In a wider use of the term, fingerprints are the traces of an impression from the friction ridges of any part of a human hand. A print from the foot can also leave an impression of friction ridges...
s, photo and signature. The data are extracted from the chip with wireless RFID technology. It has excellent safety standards and anti counterfeiting. The photo is scanned on the page and is replied by side and it is UV reactive. The alphanumeric code
Alphanumeric code
In general, in computing, an alphanumeric code is a series of letters and numbers which are written in a form that can be processed by a computer....
at the bottom of the data page makes it readable with optical scanners, such as the airport ones. The code includes microprinting, holographic images, images visible only with UV light, filigree and other details.
The Albanian biometric passport meets all standards set by International Civil Aviation Organization
International Civil Aviation Organization
The International Civil Aviation Organization , pronounced , , is a specialized agency of the United Nations. It codifies the principles and techniques of international air navigation and fosters the planning and development of international air transport to ensure safe and orderly growth...
.
The data is written in Albanian
Albanian language
Albanian is an Indo-European language spoken by approximately 7.6 million people, primarily in Albania and Kosovo but also in other areas of the Balkans in which there is an Albanian population, including western Macedonia, southern Montenegro, southern Serbia and northwestern Greece...
and English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
. The passport is valid for 10 years.
History
The first AlbaniaAlbania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
n passports were issued in the 1920s, when the consolidation of the Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
n state began. During the communist period from 1945 until 1991, Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
did not allow foreign travel of its citizens and therefore did not issue ordinary passports for foreign travel, only diplomatic and service passports in limited number. Since the change of the political system
Political system
A political system is a system of politics and government. It is usually compared to the legal system, economic system, cultural system, and other social systems...
the authorities issue passports to all Albanian citizens who request it.
- From 1991 until 1996 the passport was red and did not contain any safety element if not a dry stamp on the photo. The data were written by hand. It still had the Albanian communist Coat of Arms.
- From 1996 until 2002 the passport was brown and had the first security elements as the data page and the photo was laminated. The data were written by machine. It was manufactured by a Canadian company.
- From 2002 until 2009 the passport was red and had safety standards and anti counterfeiting similar to the biometric passport except the microchip. It was manufactured by German BundesdruckereiBundesdruckereiThe Bundesdruckerei is a German manufacturer for banknotes and stamps, identity cards, passports and visas, driving licences and vehicle registration certificates....
. - From 2009 the biometric passportBiometric passportA biometric passport, also known as an e-passport or ePassport, is a combined paper and electronic passport that contains biometric information that can be used to authenticate the identity of travelers...
is burgundy coloured, similar to those of the European UnionEuropean UnionThe European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
. It is manufactured by French company Sagem SécuritéSAGEMSAGEM was a major French company involved in defence electronics, consumer electronics and communication systems.In 2005, Sagem merged with SNECMA to form SAFRAN...
See also
- Albanian Identity CardAlbanian Identity CardThe Albanian Identity Card is a national identity card that is issued by the Albanian authorities to their citizens. It is proof of identity, citizenship and residence of the Albanian citizens. The current version is in ID1 format and biometric.-History:Albania issued identity cards to its...
- Visa requirements for Albanian citizensVisa requirements for Albanian citizensCitizens of Albania can travel to at least 98 countries without a visa, or with a visa issued upon arrival on their Albanian passport.-Europe:-Americas:-Asia:-Africa:-Oceania:-Other visa free arrangements:...
- List of passports
- List of diplomatic missions in Albania
- List of diplomatic missions of Albania
- Foreign relations of AlbaniaForeign relations of AlbaniaAlbanian foreign policy has concentrated on maintaining good relations with its Balkan neighbours, gaining access to European-Atlantic security institutions, and securing close ties with the United States....
- Border crossings of AlbaniaBorder crossings of AlbaniaThe following list includes the border crossings of Albania, via air, sea, and land. Recently, some major border crossings have been reconstructed by the EU presence in Albania.-Sea border crossings:*Port of Shëngjin*Port of Durrës*Port of Vlorë*Port of Himarë...