Portuguese passport

Portuguese passports are issued to citizens of Portugal for the purpose of international travel. However the "bilhete de identidade" (English: Identity Card) can serve as a travel document within the countries of the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

New electronic passport

As of August 28, 2006 the Portuguese government began issuing electronic passports (Portuguese: "Passaporte Electrónico Português", commonly abbreviated as PEP) which in addition to containing enhanced security features also contain a contact-less microchip. The microchip includes all the biographic information printed in the passport as well as a digital version of the photograph suitable for use in digital facial recognition. While fingerprint information is obtained when applying for the passport, it is not included in the passport itself. European Union member states will be required to include fingerprint information in their passports by February 28, 2008.

The PEP meets ICAO standards for electronic passports, and contains the biometric passport symbol (a small eye-like image.) The PEP meets all the requirements for the United States Visa Waiver Program. The passport is valid for 5 years, and can not be renewed (when it expires a new application needs to be made.) Passports issued before the PEP are still valid as long as they have not passed their dates of expiry.

Appearance

The new electronic passport was designed by Henrique Cayatte. Its final form incorporated a set of thematic elements related to the Portuguese poets, Luís Vaz de Camões and Fernando Pessoa, in both its technical and aesthetic elements. Images were provided by the Portuguese painter Júlio Pomar.

Cover

The regular passport is a deep red color with golden print, and is written only in Portuguese. Following European Union Standards the passport bares the title "União Europeia" above the country name and the title of "Passaporte". The passport contains images of the Portuguese Coat-of-arms and the circle of twelve golden stars from the flag of the EU.

Security features on the cover include: invisible ink printing which is visible under an ultraviolet light.

Biographic information page

The biographic information is the first page at the front of the passport. It includes the following information:

* Passport type
* Code of issuing State (PRT)
* Passport number
* Name (Surname and Given names)
* Nationality ("Portuguesa")
* Height (in meters)
* Date of birth (DD.MM.YYYY)
* Personal identification number (from the holder's Identity Card)
* Gender (M) or (F)
* Place of birth (City, Country)
* Date of issue (DD.MM.YYYY)
* Issuing authority
* Date of expiry (DD.MM.YYYY)
* Digital signature

Security features on this page include: a laser micro-perforated photograph of passport holder, a hologram only visible at certain angles, data is laser engraved with touch-sensitive embossing, paper is security paper coated with a polymeric material

Visa Pages

The passport has 32 pages (excluding the biographic information page), however only 28 are suitable for visas (the other 4 pages include the translation of the fields in the biographic page into all official languages of the EU)

Security features on the visa pages include: security paper with watermark (the Portuguese Coat-of-arms), passport number is perforated into the bottom of all pages.

Languages

Following European Union passport standards, the passport contains all official languages of the EU. The cover is only printed in Portuguese (translations are inside the first page.) The fields on the biographic page are printed in Portuguese, English, and French (in that order), with translations in the last three pages of the passport.

Application

All citizens of Portugal are entitled to a Portuguese passport. In Portugal, applications for a Portuguese passport need to be made in person in any of the Civil Government locations (one existing in every Portuguese district) or in a "Loja do Cidadão" (in the Azores, RIAC - Rede Integrada de Apoio ao Cidadão) (English: Civil Assistance Centers.) Overseas applications need to be made in person at a consular authority (i.e. embassy, consulate-general, or consulate).

In order to apply for a passport, an individual needs to provide proof of citizenship (if over 10 years of age with a valid "bilhete de identidade", if under 10 years of age with a current birth certificate). Consular authorities may require other pieces of identification (i.e. expired passports) as required by local law. Currently no photograph is required, as digital photograph is taken at the time of the application.

Visa-free Travel

According to a study done by Henley & Partners, Portugal has a Henley Visa Restrictions Index of 156, which means that Portuguese citizens enjoy visa-free access to 156 countries and territories for short-term tourism visits. Portugal is ranked 2nd in the study in terms of international travel freedom [ [http://www.henleyglobal.com/citizenship/visa-restrictions/ Henley Visa Restrictions Index 2006] (retrieved 21 September, 2008).] .

Americas

Europe

Oceania

ee also

*Portuguese nationality law
*Bilhete de identidade

References

* Some of the content of this article comes from the [http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passaporte_português equivalent Portuguese-language Wikipedia article] (retrieved 29 November, 2006).
* [http://www.pep.pt/ http://www.pep.pt/] (Portuguese language) Official website of the Portuguese Electronic Passport.