Passport

A passport is a travel document that a person 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.

A Turkish passport

The inside of a United States passport

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, Turkey, 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 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.^[1] Now, many countries issue passports in English and the language(s) of the issuing country.

Passport rankings show which passports make travel easiest. In the 2025 list of 193 countries, Australia comes first for travel freedom: it scores 88.8 points and lets its holders visit 188 places without a full visa. Ireland is next with 88.6 points, and Canada follows at 88.1. At the other end, Afghanistan’s passport opens the door to only 27 countries. The ranking also looks at other goals: Monaco is best for quality of life, while Canada ranks first for offering a safe “plan B.” ^[2]