British passports may be issued to people holding any of the various forms of
British nationalityBritish nationality law is the law of the United Kingdom that concerns citizenship and other categories of British nationality. The law is complex because of the United Kingdom's former status as an imperial power.-History:...
, and are used as evidence of the bearer's nationality and immigration status within the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
or the
issuing state/territoryThe British Overseas Territories are fourteen territories of the United Kingdom which, although they do not form part of the United Kingdom itself, fall under its jurisdiction. They are remnants of the British Empire that have not acquired independence or have voted to remain British territories...
.
Issuing
In the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, British passports (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) are issued by the
Identity and Passport ServiceThe Identity & Passport Service is an executive agency of the Home Office in the United Kingdom and became operational on 1 April 2006, succeeding the UK Passport Agency, after the passing of the Identity Cards Act 2006...
. In conjunction with the Post Office, it is possible to submit most passport applications at a number of branches.
In the
Channel IslandsThe Channel Islands are an archipelago of British Crown Dependencies in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two separate bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey...
and the
Isle of ManThe Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...
, British passports are issued by the Lieutenant-Governor.
In
British overseas territoriesThe British Overseas Territories are fourteen territories of the United Kingdom which, although they do not form part of the United Kingdom itself, fall under its jurisdiction. They are remnants of the British Empire that have not acquired independence or have voted to remain British territories...
,
British Overseas Territories CitizenThe status of British Overseas Territories citizen relates to persons holding British nationality by virtue of a connection with a British Overseas Territory.-British Nationality Act 1981:...
passports are issued by the
GovernorA governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
of the territory, whilst British Citizen passport application are forwarded to the Passport Section of the appropriate Foreign Office mission covering the territory (e.g. the United States for all the Caribbean British Overseas Territories).
In
CommonwealthCommonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has sometimes been synonymous with "republic."More recently it has been used for fraternal associations of some sovereign nations...
and foreign countries, British passports are issued by the
Foreign and Commonwealth OfficeThe Foreign and Commonwealth Office, commonly called the Foreign Office or the FCO is a British government department responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom overseas, created in 1968 by merging the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office.The head of the FCO is the...
in the Passport Section of a British consulate, embassy, or High Commission. Since 2009, some British embassies do not themselves issue full passports (though quickly available emergency passports of limited validity are issued for one-way travel to the UK or to another part of the Commonwealth), and applications must be sent by the applicant to a centralised processing point; applications from
ChileChile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
, for example, must be sent to
UK Passport Service Centre for the Americas and Caribbean, Washington DC, USA. The
FCOThe Foreign and Commonwealth Office, commonly called the Foreign Office or the FCO is a British government department responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom overseas, created in 1968 by merging the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office.The head of the FCO is the...
says: "In their 2006 report on consular services, the
National Audit OfficeThe National Audit Office is an independent Parliamentary body in the United Kingdom which is responsible for auditing central government departments, government agencies and non-departmental public bodies...
recommended limiting passport production to fewer locations to increase security and reduce expenditure". In other countries, such as
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and
New ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, applications for British passports can be submitted in person at the counter in a number of post office branches. Passport book production is limited to the UK from 2010.
holders of the following categories of British nationality can apply for a British passport:
- British Citizens (GBR)
- British Overseas Territories Citizen
The status of British Overseas Territories citizen relates to persons holding British nationality by virtue of a connection with a British Overseas Territory.-British Nationality Act 1981:...
s (GBD) (formerly British Dependent Territories citizens)
- British Overseas Citizens
In British nationality law, the status of British Overseas citizen is one of several categories of British national. A British Overseas citizen does not have an automatic right to live in the United Kingdom.-British Nationality Act 1981:...
(GBO)
- British Subjects
In British nationality law, the term British subject has at different times had different meanings. The current definition of the term British subject is contained in the British Nationality Act 1981.- Prior to 1949 :...
(GBS)
- British Protected Persons
A British protected person is a member of class of certain persons under the British Nationality Act 1981 associated with former protected states, protectorates, mandated and trust territories under British control...
(GBP)
- British Nationals (Overseas)
British National , commonly known as BN, is one of the major classes of British nationality under British nationality law. Holders of this nationality are British nationals and Commonwealth citizens, but not British Citizens...
(GBN)
The three-character codes appearing after each type of nationality above are the ISO/IEC 7501-1 machine-readable passport
alpha-3ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 codes are three-letter country codes defined in ISO 3166-1, part of the ISO 3166 standard published by the International Organization for Standardization , to represent countries, dependent territories, and special areas of geographical interest...
country codes of such British passports.
All British passports are issued in the exercise of discretion by Her Majesty's Government under the
Royal PrerogativeThe royal prerogative is a body of customary authority, privilege, and immunity, recognized in common law and, sometimes, in civil law jurisdictions possessing a monarchy as belonging to the sovereign alone. It is the means by which some of the executive powers of government, possessed by and...
. In any event, discretion must be exercised reasonably and not on a whim, and even though there is no statute governing the issue of passports, such prerogative powers are susceptible to the normal processes of judicial review (
Council of Civil Service Unions v Minister for the Civil Service [1985] AC 374).
British citizens (except those solely connected to a Crown Dependency), British subjects with the right of abode and British Overseas Territories citizens from Gibraltar are UK nationals for the purposes of Community Law and are usually entitled to move freely within the
European Economic AreaThe European Economic Area was established on 1 January 1994 following an agreement between the member states of the European Free Trade Association and the European Community, later the European Union . Specifically, it allows Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway to participate in the EU's Internal...
and
SwitzerlandSwitzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
with no more than a check on their identity and nationality at an external border of a Member State. In exceptional circumstances, entry may be refused on grounds of public policy, public security or public health.
The
right of abodeThe right of abode is an individual's freedom from immigration control in a particular country. A person who has the right of abode in a country does not need permission from the government to enter the country and can live and work there without restriction....
, i.e., the right to enter and live in the United Kingdom freely, is held by all British citizens automatically. It is also held by some British subjects and those other
CommonwealthThe Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...
citizens who were patrials under the
Immigration Act 1971The Immigration Act 1971 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerning immigration.The Act, as with the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962, and that of 1968, restricted immigration, especially primary immigration into the UK....
.
History
Safe Conduct documents, usually notes signed by the
monarchA monarch is the person who heads a monarchy. This is a form of government in which a state or polity is ruled or controlled by an individual who typically inherits the throne by birth and occasionally rules for life or until abdication...
, were issued to foreigners as well as English subjects in
medieval timesThe Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
. They were first mentioned in an Act of Parliament, the
Safe Conducts ActThe Safe Conducts Act 1414 was an Act of the Parliament of England. It made it high treason to break a truce or promise of safe conduct by killing, robbing or "spoiling" the victim...
in 1414. Between 1540 and 1685, the
Privy CouncilA privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a nation, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the monarch's closest advisors to give confidential advice on...
issued passports although they were still signed by the monarch until the reign of
Charles IICharles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
when the
Secretary of StateIn the United Kingdom, a Secretary of State is a Cabinet Minister in charge of a Government Department ....
could sign them instead. The Secretary of State signed all passports in place of the monarch from 1794 onwards, at which time formal records started to be kept.
Passports were written in
LatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
or
EnglishEnglish 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...
until 1772, when
FrenchFrench is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
was used instead. From about 1855 English was used, with some sections translated into French for many years.
About 1855 passports became a standard document issued solely to British nationals. They were a simple single-sheet paper document, and by 1914 included a photograph of the holder.
The British Nationality and Status of Aliens Act 1914 was passed on the outbreak of the
First World WarWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. A new format was introduced in 1915: a single sheet folded into eight with a
cardboardPaperboard is a thick paper based material. While there is no rigid differentiation between paper and paperboard, paperboard is generally thicker than paper. According to ISO standards, paperboard is a paper with a basis weight above 224 g/m2, but there are exceptions. Paperboard can be single...
cover. It included a description of the holder as well as a photograph, and had to be renewed after two years.
Historical passports
Some duplicate passports and passport records are available at the
British LibraryThe British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom, and is the world's largest library in terms of total number of items. The library is a major research library, holding over 150 million items from every country in the world, in virtually all known languages and in many formats,...
; for example IOR: L/P&J/11 contain a few surviving passports of travelling ayahs for the 1930s. See also the
MovingHere website.
A passport issued on 18 June 1641 and signed by King Charles I still exists.
Timeline
Various changes to the design were made over the years:
- In 1927, the country name changed from "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland" to "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" (alternatively the name of the colony appeared here)
- In 1954, the name of the Secretary of State was removed.
- In 1968 the validity was extended from five years renewable up to ten, to ten years non-renewable.
- At the end of 1972, several modifications were made. A special blue watermark
A watermark is a recognizable image or pattern in paper that appears as various shades of lightness/darkness when viewed by transmitted light , caused by thickness or density variations in the paper...
ed paper was introduced to make alteration and forgeryForgery is the process of making, adapting, or imitating objects, statistics, or documents with the intent to deceive. Copies, studio replicas, and reproductions are not considered forgeries, though they may later become forgeries through knowing and willful misrepresentations. Forging money or...
harder. The number of pages was reduced from 32 to 30, and the holder's eye colour and the maiden name of a married woman were removed.
- In May 1973, an optional 94-page passport was made available which provided many more pages for immigration stamps
A passport stamp is a rubber stamp inked impression received in one's passport upon entering or exiting a country. Passport stamps may occasionally take the form of sticker stamps, such as those received when entering Japan. Depending on nationality, a visitor may not receive a stamp , such as an...
and visasA visa is a document showing that a person is authorized to enter the territory for which it was issued, subject to permission of an immigration official at the time of actual entry. The authorization may be a document, but more commonly it is a stamp endorsed in the applicant's passport...
for frequent travellers.
- In 1975, lamination over the bearer's photograph was introduced to make alteration harder. Overprinting of the laminate was added in 1981 to make removal easier to spot.
- 1979, UK
The sterling area came into existence at the outbreak of World War II. It was a wartime emergency measure which involved cooperation in exchange control matters between a group of countries, which at the time were mostly dominions and colonies of the British Empire...
exchange controls abolished, foreign exchange page removed from passport.
- The holder's occupation and country of residence were removed in 1982.
- In July 1988 changes were made to ease the introduction of machine-readable passports later in the year. Joint and family passports were no longer issued and the descriptions of distinguishing features and height were removed. The old blue style was replaced by the burgundy passport from August.
- 1998: Digital facial image rather than a laminated photograph, and intaglio or raised printing on the inside of the covers. Children not included on new adult passports.
- 2006: 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...
s (also called ePassports) comply with the US visa waiver programThe Visa Waiver Program is a program of the United States Government which allows citizens of specific countries to travel to the United States for tourism or business for up to 90 days without having to obtain a visa. The program applies to the 50 U.S. states as well as the U.S...
me.
- 2010: The Identity & Passport Service announce that the British passport is to be redesigned. Pages of the passport will contain well-known UK scenes including the White Cliffs of Dover, the Gower Peninsula, Ben Nevis and the Giant's Causeway. There will also be the addition of new security features, namely moving the chip which stores the holder's details to the inside of the passport cover where it will no longer be visible (this gives additional physical protection as well as making it much harder to replace the chip without damage to the passport cover being spotted), a secondary image of the holder printed onto the observations page, new designs now stretching across two pages and a new transparent covering which includes several holograms to protect the holder's personal details.
The old blue passport
A 32-page passport with a dark blue cover, commonly known as the old blue style, came into use in 1920 with the formation of the Passport Service following international agreement on a standard format for passports, and remained in use until replaced by the European-Union-style machine-readable passport in late 1988. As with many documents worldwide and all booklet-format documents, details were handwritten into the passport and (as of 1955) included: number, holder's name, "accompanied by his wife" and her maiden name, "and" (number) "children", national status. For both bearer and wife: profession, place and date of birth, country of residence, height, eye and hair colour, special peculiarities, signature and photograph. Names, birth dates, and sexes of children, list of countries for which valid, issue place and date, expiry date, a page for renewals and, at the back, details of the amount of foreign exchange for travel expenses (a limited amount of sterling, typically £50 but increasing with inflation, could be taken out of the country). The bearer's sex was not explicitly stated, although the name was written in with title ("Mr John Smith"). Descriptive text was printed in both English and French (a practice which continues), e.g., "Accompanied by his wife (Maiden name)/Accompagné de sa femme (Née)". Changed details were struck out and rewritten, with a rubber-stamped note confirming the change.
If details and photograph of a man's wife and details of children were entered (this was not compulsory), the passport could be used by the bearer, wife, and children under 16, if together; separate passports were required for the wife or children to travel independently. The passport was valid for five years, renewable for another five, after which it had to be replaced.
The passport had a printed list of countries for which it was valid, which was added to in handwriting as validity increased. A passport of 1955 was valid for the British Commonwealth, USA, and all countries in Europe "including the USSR, Turkey, Algeria, Azores, Canary Islands, Iceland, and Madeira"; during its period of validity restrictions eased and it was endorsed "and for all other foreign countries".
The British visitor's passport
A new simplified type, the British Visitor's Passport, was introduced in 1961. It was a single-page cardboard document valid for one year obtainable for many years from Employment Exchanges, as agents of the Passport Office, and then from a
Post OfficeRoyal Mail is the government-owned postal service in the United Kingdom. Royal Mail Holdings plc owns Royal Mail Group Limited, which in turn operates the brands Royal Mail and Parcelforce Worldwide...
. It was accepted for travel by most West European countries (excluding surface travel to
West BerlinWest Berlin was a political exclave that existed between 1949 and 1990. It comprised the western regions of Berlin, which were bordered by East Berlin and parts of East Germany. West Berlin consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors, which had been established in 1945...
), but was dropped in 1995 since it did not identify the holder's nationality or meet new security standards.
European Format Passports
On 15 August 1988, the
GlasgowGlasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
passport office became the first to issue burgundy-coloured machine-readable passports. They followed a common format agreed amongst member states of the European Community, and had the words 'European Community' on the cover, changed to '
European 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...
' in 1997. The passport has 32 pages; a 48-page version is available with more space for stamps and visas. There are two lines of machine-readable text printed in a format agreed amongst members of the International Civil Aviation Organisation, and a section in which relevant terms ("surname", "date of issue", etc.) are translated into the official EU languages. Passports issued overseas did not all have a Machine Readable Zone but these was introduced gradually as appropriate equipment was made available overseas.
In 1998 the first
digital imageA digital image is a numeric representation of a two-dimensional image. Depending on whether or not the image resolution is fixed, it may be of vector or raster type...
passport was introduced with photographs being replaced with images printed directly on the bio-data page which was moved from the cover to an inside page to reduce the ease of fraud. These documents were all issued with machine readable zones and had a hologram over the photograph, which was the first time that British passports had been protected by an optically variable safeguard. These documents were issued until 2006 when the biometric passport was introduced. The bio-data page is printed with a finely detailed background including a drawing of a
red grouseThe Red Grouse is a medium sized bird of the grouse family which is found in heather moorland in Great Britain and Ireland. It is usually classified as a subspecies of the Willow Grouse but is sometimes considered to be a separate species Lagopus scoticus...
(a native British bird), and the entire page is protected from modification by a laminate which incorporates a holographic image of the
kingfisherKingfishers are a group of small to medium sized brightly coloured birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species being found in the Old World and Australia...
; visa pages are numbered and printed with detailed backgrounds including drawings of other birds: a
merlinThe Merlin is a small species of falcon from the Northern Hemisphere. A bird of prey once known colloquially as a pigeon hawk in North America, the Merlin breeds in the northern Holarctic; some migrate to subtropical and northern tropical regions in winter.-European and North American...
,
curlewThe curlews , genus Numenius, are a group of eight species of birds, characterised by long, slender, downcurved bills and mottled brown plumage. They are one of the most ancient lineages of scolopacid waders, together with the godwits which look similar but have straight bills...
,
avocetThe four species of Avocets are a genus, Recurvirostra, of waders in the same avian family as the stilts.Avocets have long legs and long, thin, upcurved bills which they sweep from side to side when feeding in the brackish or saline wetlands they prefer...
, and
red kiteThe Red Kite is a medium-large bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as eagles, buzzards, and harriers. The species is currently endemic to the Western Palearctic region in Europe and northwest Africa, though formerly also occurred just...
. An RFID chip and antenna are located on the obverse of the data page and hold the same visual information as is printed, including a digital copy of the photograph with biometric information for use with
facial recognition systemA facial recognition system is a computer application for automatically identifying or verifying a person from a digital image or a video frame from a video source...
s. The
WelshWelsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
and
Scottish GaelicScottish Gaelic is a Celtic language native to Scotland. A member of the Goidelic branch of the Celtic languages, Scottish Gaelic, like Modern Irish and Manx, developed out of Middle Irish, and thus descends ultimately from Primitive Irish....
languages have been included in all British Passports for the first time, and appear on the titles page replacing the official languages of the EU, although the EU languages still appear faintly as part of the background design. Welsh and Scottish Gaelic precede the official EU languages in the translations section.
Physical appearance
British passports are burgundy, with the coat of arms of the United Kingdom emblazoned in the centre of the front cover.
Passports issued by the IPS and FCO
Front cover
The words "UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND" are inscribed above the coat of arms, whilst the word "PASSPORT" is inscribed below. The
biometric 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...
symbol
appears at the bottom of the front cover under the word "PASSPORT".
The words "EUROPEAN UNION" are printed at the top of British passports issued to British nationals who are considered "Nationals of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland for the purposes of Community Law" (i.e. British Citizens, British Subjects with the right of abode in the UK and
British Overseas Territories CitizenThe status of British Overseas Territories citizen relates to persons holding British nationality by virtue of a connection with a British Overseas Territory.-British Nationality Act 1981:...
s connected with
GibraltarGibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
). It is not included at the top of other British passports (i.e.
British Nationals (Overseas)British National , commonly known as BN, is one of the major classes of British nationality under British nationality law. Holders of this nationality are British nationals and Commonwealth citizens, but not British Citizens...
,
British Overseas CitizensIn British nationality law, the status of British Overseas citizen is one of several categories of British national. A British Overseas citizen does not have an automatic right to live in the United Kingdom.-British Nationality Act 1981:...
,
British Protected PersonsA British protected person is a member of class of certain persons under the British Nationality Act 1981 associated with former protected states, protectorates, mandated and trust territories under British control...
, and
British Overseas Territories CitizenThe status of British Overseas Territories citizen relates to persons holding British nationality by virtue of a connection with a British Overseas Territory.-British Nationality Act 1981:...
s.
Passport note
British passports issued by the UK contain on its inside cover the following words in the
English languageEnglish 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...
only:
-
- Her Britannic Majesty
His Britannic Majesty, or Her Britannic Majesty, depending on the gender of the monarch, is a formal, or official, term for the sovereign power of the United Kingdom and Dominion Realms in diplomacy, the law of nations, and international relations....
's Secretary of State Requests and requires in the Name of Her Majesty all those whom it may concern to allow the bearer to pass freely without let or hindrance, and to afford the bearer such assistance and protection as may be necessary.
In older passports, more specific reference was made to "Her Britannic Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs", originally including the name of the incumbent.
Information page
British passports issued by the
Identity and Passport ServiceThe Identity & Passport Service is an executive agency of the Home Office in the United Kingdom and became operational on 1 April 2006, succeeding the UK Passport Agency, after the passing of the Identity Cards Act 2006...
and the
Foreign and Commonwealth OfficeThe Foreign and Commonwealth Office, commonly called the Foreign Office or the FCO is a British government department responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom overseas, created in 1968 by merging the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office.The head of the FCO is the...
include the following data on the information page:
- Photograph of the holder (digital image printed on page)
- Type (P)
- Code of issuing state (GBR)
- Passport number
- Surname
- Given names
- Nationality (the class of British nationality, such as "British Citizen" or "British Overseas Citizen", or if issued on behalf of a Commonwealth country, "Commonwealth Citizen")
- Date of birth
- Sex
- Place of birth (only the city or town is listed, even if born outside the UK; places of birth in Wales are entered in Welsh
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
upon request )
- Date of issue
- Authority
- Date of expiry
- Holder's signature (digital image printed on page)
- Machine Readable Zone starting with P
The items are identified by text in English and French (e.g., "Date of birth/Date de naissance"); there is a section in which all this text is translated into all official
EU languagesThe languages of the European Union are languages used by people within the member states of the European Union. They include the twenty-three official languages of the European Union along with a range of others...
, as well as
WelshWelsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
and
Scottish GaelicScottish Gaelic is a Celtic language native to Scotland. A member of the Goidelic branch of the Celtic languages, Scottish Gaelic, like Modern Irish and Manx, developed out of Middle Irish, and thus descends ultimately from Primitive Irish....
.
Function-related passports
Besides the ordinary passports described above, special passports are issued to government officials from which diplomatic status may (diplomatic passport) or may not (official passport) by the text on the cover. A special passport is available for the
Queen's MessengerThe Corps of Queen's Messengers are couriers employed by the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office. They hand-carry secret and important documents to British embassies and consulates around the world. Many Queen's Messengers are retired Army personnel...
. The latter passport contains the text QUEENS MESSENGER – COURRIER DIPLOMATIQUE below the coat of arms, and the text "BRITISH PASSPORT" above it.
Passports issued by Crown Dependencies and Gibraltar
Front cover
British passports issued directly by the Crown Dependencies as well as the British Overseas Territory of
GibraltarGibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
are slightly different from those issued by the
Identity and Passport ServiceThe Identity & Passport Service is an executive agency of the Home Office in the United Kingdom and became operational on 1 April 2006, succeeding the UK Passport Agency, after the passing of the Identity Cards Act 2006...
to residents of the United Kingdom and by the
Foreign and Commonwealth OfficeThe Foreign and Commonwealth Office, commonly called the Foreign Office or the FCO is a British government department responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom overseas, created in 1968 by merging the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office.The head of the FCO is the...
to British nationals abroad. The words EUROPEAN UNION still appear across the top of passport covers, signifying the special status of these nationals within the jurisdiction of the EU.
Passports for British citizens connected to the Crown Dependencies of
JerseyJersey, officially the Bailiwick of Jersey is a British Crown Dependency off the coast of Normandy, France. As well as the island of Jersey itself, the bailiwick includes two groups of small islands that are no longer permanently inhabited, the Minquiers and Écréhous, and the Pierres de Lecq and...
and
GuernseyGuernsey, officially the Bailiwick of Guernsey is a British Crown dependency in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy.The Bailiwick, as a governing entity, embraces not only all 10 parishes on the Island of Guernsey, but also the islands of Herm, Jethou, Burhou, and Lihou and their islet...
(in the
Channel IslandsThe Channel Islands are an archipelago of British Crown Dependencies in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two separate bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey...
) and the
Isle of ManThe Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...
(located in the
Irish SeaThe Irish Sea separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is connected to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel, and to the Atlantic Ocean in the north by the North Channel. Anglesey is the largest island within the Irish Sea, followed by the Isle of Man...
) do not carry the words "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" on the front cover. In their place, these passports feature the words BRITISH ISLANDS — BAILIWICK OF JERSEY or BAILIWICK OF GUERNSEY or ISLE OF MAN, as appropriate.
Gibraltar passportThe Gibraltar passport is a British passport issued to Gibraltarians and other British residents in Gibraltar.As a result of the British Nationality Act 1981 Gibraltarians were British Overseas Territories citizens by default, but could apply for registration as a British Citizen under section 5...
covers are virtually identical to British passports issued by the IPS and FCO, except that they feature the word GIBRALTAR directly above the coat of arms and below the words "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland."
Passport note
In passports issued by the Crown Dependencies, the passport note request is slightly different to those issued by the UK, coming from the
Lieutenant GovernorA lieutenant governor or lieutenant-governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction, but is often the deputy or lieutenant to or ranking under a governor — a "second-in-command"...
of the respective island. This difference results from the dependencies owing allegiance to Queen Elizabeth II rather than the Government of the United Kingdom.
In Gibraltar passports, the "request" in the passport note is made by the
Governor of GibraltarThe Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Gibraltar is the representative of the British monarch in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. The Governor is appointed by the British Monarch on the advice of the British Government...
instead of
"Her Britannic Majesty's Secretary of StateThe Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, commonly referred to as the Foreign Secretary, is a senior member of Her Majesty's Government heading the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and regarded as one of the Great Offices of State...
".
Information page
The issuing of a British Passport by the authorities in the Crown Dependencies cannot be inferred from the machine readable zone as the issuing country code and citizenship code (both GBR) is identical to passports issued by the United Kingdom for British Citizens.
Passports issued by British overseas territories
Front cover
Passports issued by
British overseas territoriesThe British Overseas Territories are fourteen territories of the United Kingdom which, although they do not form part of the United Kingdom itself, fall under its jurisdiction. They are remnants of the British Empire that have not acquired independence or have voted to remain British territories...
to
British Overseas Territories CitizenThe status of British Overseas Territories citizen relates to persons holding British nationality by virtue of a connection with a British Overseas Territory.-British Nationality Act 1981:...
s do not bear the text "UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND", but instead the words "BRITISH PASSPORT" above the coat of arms and the name of the Territory below it (e.g. "TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS").
Information page
The nationality reads "British Overseas Territories Citizens". On the machine-readable zone however the three-letter abbreviation of the Territory is given (for example: VGB for British Virgin Islands) in the fields of nationality and issuing authority, thus enabling automatic distinction between BOTCs related to different territories.
Endorsements
Certain British passports are issued with printed endorsements on the Official Observations page. These form part of the passport when it is issued, as distinct from immigration stamps subsequently entered in the visa pages:
- Holder is not entitled to benefit from European Community provisions relating to employment or establishment
- British citizens from the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man without a qualifying connection to the United Kingdom by descent or residency have this endorsement in their passports, as the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man are only part of the European Community for the purposes of the free movement of goods.
- Holder of this passport has Hong Kong (Permanent) Identity Card No: A123456(7) which states that holder has right of abode in Hong Kong *
- British National (Overseas) passport
The British National passport is a British passport for the holders of the nationality British National . It is mainly held by residents of Hong Kong from 1987.-Physical appearance:...
s usually have one of these endorsement in their passport, as a valid Hong Kong permanent identity card or Hong Kong identity card (which guarantees right of abode and/or entry in/into Hong Kong) is normally required to possess a BN(O) passport.
- Holder is entitled to right of abode in the United Kingdom
- British Subjects with the right of abode (usually from the Republic of Ireland) have this endorsement in their passports.
- Holder is entitled to readmission in the United Kingdom
- British Overseas Citizens, British Subjects and British Protected Persons without the right of abode who have been granted indefinite leave to enter or remain
Indefinite leave to remain is an immigration status granted to a person who does not hold right of abode in the United Kingdom , but who has been admitted to the UK without any time limit on his or her stay and who is free to take up employment or study, without restriction...
retain this entitlement for life, and their passports are accordingly issued with this endorsement.
- Holder is subject to control under the Immigration Act 1971
- British nationals without the right of abode will have this endorsements in their passports unless they have been granted indefinite leave to enter or remain. However, even though a British National (Overseas) passport does not entitle the holder the right of abode in the UK, this endorsement is not found in BN(O) passports (1999–2006 and biometric versions).
- In accordance with UK immigration rules the holder of this passport does not require an entry certificate or visa to visit the UK
- This endorsement is found in British National (Overseas)
British National , commonly known as BN, is one of the major classes of British nationality under British nationality law. Holders of this nationality are British nationals and Commonwealth citizens, but not British Citizens...
passports, and accordingly holders of the BN(O) passport have six-month access to the UK as a visitor without an entry certificateAn entry certificate, under United Kingdom immigration legislation, is an entry clearance issued to a non-visa national. Certain types of entry to the UK require the person seeking entry to have prior clearance before entering the UK, and because a non-visa national cannot be issued a visa, an...
or visa.
- The holder is or Holder is also known as ...
- This endorsement is found in passports where the holder uses or retains another professional name or has an academic, feudal or legal title. The styling 'Dr ...', 'Professor ...' or similar is recorded here, or the alternative professional name. For example, Cliff Richard
Sir Cliff Richard, OBE is a British pop singer, musician, performer, actor, and philanthropist who has sold over an estimated 250 million records worldwide....
's birth name was Harry Webb, and his passport would read:
"Holder is also known as Cliff RichardSir Cliff Richard, OBE is a British pop singer, musician, performer, actor, and philanthropist who has sold over an estimated 250 million records worldwide....
."
- The holder's name in Chinese Commercial Code: XXXX XXXX XXXX
- This endorsement was found in British passports (British National (Overseas) and passports for BOTC with a connection with Hong Kong) held by people with Chinese names issued by the Hong Kong Immigration Department
The Immigration Department of the Government of Hong Kong is responsible for immigration control of Hong Kong. After the People's Republic of China assumed sovereignty of the territory in July 1997, Hong Kong's immigration system remained largely unchanged from its British predecessor model...
before the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong. After the handover, British passport issued in Hong Kong can only be issued at the British Consulate-General, and this endorsement is no longer in use. (See also: Chinese commercial code)
- Holder is a dependant of a member of Her Britannic Majesty's Diplomatic Service
- This endorsement is found in British passports held by people who are dependants or spouses of British diplomats.
Next Generation biometric passports and national identity registration
There had been plans, under the Identity Cards Act 2006, to link passports to the Identity Cards scheme. However, in the
Conservative – Liberal Democrat Coalition AgreementThe Conservative – Liberal Democrat Coalition Agreement was a policy document drawn up following the 2010 general election in the United Kingdom...
that followed the 2010 General Election, the new government announced that they planned to scrap the ID card scheme, the National Identity Register, and the next generation of biometric passports, as part of their measures 'to reverse the substantial erosion of civil liberties under the Labour Government and roll back state intrusion.'
The Identity Cards Act 2006 would have required any person applying for a passport to have their details entered into a centralised computer database, the National Identity Register, part of the National Identity Scheme associated with identity cards and passports. Once registered, they would also have been obliged to update any change to their address and personal details. The schedule for putting passport applicants' and renewers' details on the National Identity Register (NIR) has not been announced
The identity card was expected to cost up to £60 (with £30 going to the Government, and the remainder charged as processing fees by the companies that would be collecting the fingerprints and photographs). In May 2005 the Government said that the cost for a combined identity card and passport would be £93 plus processing fees.
The next generation of biometric passports, and which would have contained chips holding facial images and fingerprints, were to have been issued from 2012. Everyone applying for a passport from 2012 would have had their 10 fingerprints digitally scanned and stored on a database, although only two would have been recorded in the passport.
In May 2006 a "Renew for Freedom" campaign was launched by the
NO2IDNO2ID, the public campaign, was formed in 2004 to campaign against the United Kingdom government's plans to introduce UK ID Cards and the associated National Identity Register, which it believes has negative implications for privacy, civil liberties and personal safety.NO2ID is entirely independent...
opposition group, urging passport holders to renew their passports in the summer of 2006 in order to delay being entered on the National Identity Register. This followed the comment made by
Charles ClarkeCharles Rodway Clarke is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Norwich South from 1997 until 2010, and served as Home Secretary from December 2004 until May 2006.-Early life:...
in the
House of CommonsThe House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
that "anyone who feels strongly enough about the linkage [between passports and the ID scheme] not to want to be issued with an ID card in the initial phase will be free to surrender their existing passport and apply for a new passport before the designation order takes effect".
In response, the Home Office said that it was "hard to see what would be achieved, other than incurring unnecessary expense" by renewing passports early.
Fees
The cost of obtaining a standard passport over the years has increased greatly. While consumer prices in the UK have increased by 24% from early 1998 to 2009, the price of a passport renewal increased by 269%.
- £77.50 – 3 September 2009 – an increase which the Government said was necessary due to a falling number of passport applicants, and also to pay for enhanced passport security measures. The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats said that people were paying for the price of introducing ID cards.
- £72 – 4 October 2007 – due to an increase in the consular premium added by the Foreign & Commonwealth Office
- £66 – 5 October 2006 – for the introduction of the latest generation passport, anti-fraud measures and interviews for first-time applicants
- £51 – 1 December 2005 – to reflect the cost of implementing key anti-fraud measures
- £42 – 2 October 2003 – to pay for new anti-fraud measures
- £33 – 21 November 2002
- £30 – 14 January 2002
- £28 – 16 December 1999 – to fund a major overhaul of the Passport Agency following the summer crisis
- £21 – 26 March 1998
- £18 – November 1992
The above fees apply for passports issued in the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
by the
Identity and Passport ServiceThe Identity & Passport Service is an executive agency of the Home Office in the United Kingdom and became operational on 1 April 2006, succeeding the UK Passport Agency, after the passing of the Identity Cards Act 2006...
. Passports issued outside the UK by the Passport Section of a British Consulate, Embassy, or High Commission in 2011 cost £124, €152, or $211.
Number of passports and space for stamps
Some countries require that a passport contain one or more blank pages to allow space for stamps. Pages cannot be added into British passports. If a passport is full, the bearer must apply for a new passport. A standard British Passport has 32 pages, but a 48-page "jumbo passport" is also available.
Two passports
The Passport Office permits two passports to be held at the same time if there is reason to do so.
Expired passports
On expiry and replacement by a new passport the issuing office cuts off the corners of the expired passport and returns it to the holder. Expired passports are sometimes accepted as proof of identity and right of residence, but this has become more difficult as legislation has come into force penalising those who employ workers without the right to work in the UK, for example; but a British passport which expired not more than 10 years ago is accepted as proof of eligibility when applying for a new passport.
Vulnerabilities
According to
The GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, the information contained on a biometric passport can be viewed using readily available hardware and software. Information is stored in encrypted form on an RFID tag, with the password as a combination of information written on the passport, so that anyone with access to the passport will be able to read the chip. The passport is also vulnerable to
brute force attackIn cryptography, a brute-force attack, or exhaustive key search, is a strategy that can, in theory, be used against any encrypted data. Such an attack might be utilized when it is not possible to take advantage of other weaknesses in an encryption system that would make the task easier...
s. And, because it is possible to read the RFID tags remotely at a distance of several centimetres, it is not necessary to be in possession of the passport to extract the data.
This makes
cloningIn computing, a clone is a hardware or software system that is designed to mimic another system. Compatibility with the original system is usually the explicit purpose of cloning hardware or low-level software such as operating systems...
of the passport possible. Because the biometric passport is supposedly highly secure and therefore trusted, it is thought that the holder of a cloned passport might be more likely to escape detection than the holder of a traditional passport.
See also
- Identity document
An identity document is any document which may be used to verify aspects of a person's personal identity. If issued in the form of a small, mostly standard-sized card, it is usually called an identity card...
- Visa requirements for British citizens
The visa requirements for overseas travel by British nationals depend on the type of British nationality they possess and whether they have right of abode in the UK. The most common classes can travel more widely without a visa, as shown in the tables below...
- Visa requirements for British Overseas Citizens
British Overseas Citizenship is a form of British nationality under the British Nationality Act 1983. BOCs are British nationals but do not have the right of abode in the United Kingdom...
- Visa requirements for British Overseas Territories Citizens of Montserrat
British Overseas Territories Citizens using a Montserratian passport enjoy visa-free entry to a number of countries and territories. However, in many cases, foreign authorities only grant Montserratian passport holders visa-free entry if they present a passport with an endorsement stating their...
- Passports of the European Union
External links
Online references