Kosovan passport - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Kosovan passport is a travel document that is issued to the citizens of the disputed Republic of Kosovo

Republic of Kosovo

Kosovo , officially the Republic of Kosovo is a partially recognised state and a disputed territory in the Balkans...

. The document facilitates international travel as well as serving as proof of citizenship. The issuance of passports is the prerogative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, with the exception of diplomatic passports which are issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Kosovo)

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Republic of Kosovo is the ministry in the Government of Kosovo which is in charge of foreign relations and admission of Kosovo into the European Union.-Foreign Ministers:*2008-2010: Skënder Hyseni...

. Kosovan passports comply with all the recommended standards set for machine-readable passport

Machine-readable passport

A Machine Readable Passport is a travel document where the data on the identity page is encoded in optical character recognition format. Many countries began to issue machine readable travel documents in the 1980s....

s by the 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...

(ICAO) (such as size, technology, security, layout, etc.), but the country/citizenship code RKS is not within ISO 3166

ISO 3166-1 alpha-3

ISO 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...

and thus not ICAO-endorsed. The passport design was disclosed on 14 March 2008. The first passports were issued on 30 July 2008 and as of 20 May 2009, 300,000 passports have been issued to the citizens of Kosovo.

The new design of the passport is a dark blue colour, with the coat of arms

Coat of arms of Kosovo

The coat of arms of the Republic of Kosovo was introduced but not yet formally adopted following the unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia, issued by Kosovo's parliament in the country's capital on February 17, 2008...

of the Republic of Kosovo

Kosovo

Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...

in the middle of the cover page. The word "Passport" is written on the cover of the passport 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...

, Serbian

Serbian language

Serbian is a form of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken by Serbs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and neighbouring countries....

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...

. All relevant identity information about the bearer is printed in these languages as well. For citizens that are 18 or older, the passport is valid for 10 years from the date of issuance.

Before the introduction of the new national passports, travel documents

UNMIK Travel Document

An UNMIK Travel Document was a passport-sized document used to foreign travel for residents of Kosovo, who were not able to obtain a passport from Yugoslavia. The document was issued by the UNMIK from 2000 till 2008. After the government of Kosovo started to issue their own passports, the UNMIK...

were issued by the United Nations administration

United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo

The United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo or UNMIK is the interim civilian administration in Kosovo, under the authority of the United Nations. The mission was established on 10 June 1999 by Security Council Resolution 1244...

with a maximum validity of 2 years. Those travel documents, ceased being issued in 2008, with the remaining documents valid until 2010.

Biometric passports are planned to be distributed from October 2011. These will be produced in Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

Types

There are four types of passports: Ordinary, Official, Diplomatic and Travel Document. An application fee of €25 is required.

Ordinary

Dark Blue cover
Issued to all citizens of Kosovo with a maximum validity of 10 years to facilitate private international travel.

Official

Maroon cover
Issued to political staff within the Government as well as their family members with a maximum validity of 5 years.

Diplomatic

Black cover
Issued to the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister, members of the Government, the President of the Constitutional Court, the President of the Supreme Court, Ambassadors as well as other diplomatic staff in embassies or consulates around the world, to the Ombudsperson, members of state delegations if so required, Government officials which have been appointed as representatives of the Government in various international organisations, diplomatic couriers as prescribed by law, and persons of interest as prescribed by the law with a maximum validity of 5 years.

Travel Document

Light Blue cover
Issued to the citizens of Kosovo if the original passport has been lost or stolen, and/or it has expired. It can also be issued for group travel of no less than 5 persons and no more than 50. A Travel Document has a maximum validity of 30 days.

Identity Information Page

The bearer page contains the following information:

Type [P]
Code [Country Code: RKS]
Passport Number
Surname(s)
Given name(s)
Place of Birth
Date of Birth
Citizenship [Kosovar]
Sex
Height
Eye Colour
Issuing Authority
Personal Number
Date of Issue/Expiry

In addition to a picture of the bearer's face, a fingerprint and the signature of the holder are also present on page 3.

Recognition

Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence

2008 Kosovo declaration of independence

The 2008 Kosovo declaration of independence was adopted on 17 February 2008 by individual members of the Assembly of Kosovo acting in personal capacity and not binding to the Assembly itself...

is not universally recognised. Therefore, some countries may not accept passports issued by the Government of the Republic of Kosovo.

Independence

have officially recognised Kosovo. As such these countries also implicitly recognise the Kosovan passport as a valid travel document, unless it is explicitly stated otherwise.

Only passports

In addition, other countries have recognised the Kosovan passport as a travel document whilst not recognising Kosovo as a country. The situation here is similar to that of the Republic of China passport

Republic of China passport

The Republic of China passport is the national passport issued to nationals of the Republic of China with household registration in the Taiwan Area and certain Overseas Chinese...

, which many countries routinely process, even though they do not recognise the Republic of China

Republic of China

The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...

.

The following countries have officially stated that they accept the Kosovan passport as a valid travel document, whilst not recognising Kosovo as an independent country:
In addition there are several countries to which people have apparently been able to travel on Kosovan passports, however where this is not officially stated policy or well established de facto
practice this is not an indication that such a travel can be repeated in the future. Countries that have reportedly been visited in this manner include:

Serbia

Serbia no longer refuses entry to people with entry and exit stamps of the Republic of Kosovo customs authority or visas in their passports. These stamps and visas are simply over-stamped, which can create problems with long term visas being annulled. However, border crossings from third nations to the Republic of Kosovo are considered illegal points of entry by Serbia, and it can create problems if one attempts to leave Central Serbia without a corresponding entry stamp. Holders of passports of the Republic of Kosovo cannot enter Serbia with this document.

Special travel provisions

In October 2008 Romania adopted a provision, whereby travellers from Kosovo are issued a special document containing a visa.

External links

Kosovo Ministry of Internal Affairs presentation of the passport

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