French passport

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
French passport

The front cover of a contemporary French electronic passport

The data page of a contemporary French biometric passport
Date first issued April 12, 2006 (biometric passport)
October 28, 2008 (current version)
Issued by  France
Type of document Passport
Purpose Identification
Eligibility requirements French citizenship
Expiration 5 years after issuance for citizens under the age of 18; 10 years for adults
Cost 86 € (adult) / 42 € (15-17) / 17 € (14 and under)[1]

French passports (in French: Passeports français) are identity documents issued to French citizens. Besides enabling the bearer to travel internationally and serving as indication of French citizenship (but not proof; the possession of a French passport only establishes the presumption of French citizenship according to French law), the passport facilitates the process of securing assistance from French consular officials abroad or other European Union member states in case a French consular is absent, if needed.

According to the Henley Visa Restrictions Index 2013, French citizens can visit 170 countries without a visa or with a visa granted on arrival. French citizens can live and work in any country within the EU as a result of the right of free movement and residence granted in Article 21 of the EU Treaty.[2]

History

History of French passport can be traced to 19th century documents.

Types

<gallery caption= widths="120px" heights="200px" perrow="6">

Image:Frenchpassport.jpg|
Regular passport, in electronic version
Image:Frdippassport.jpg|
Diplomatic passport, in biometric version
(passeport diplomatique)
Image:Frenchservicepassport.jpg|
Official passport, in electronic version
(passeport de service)
Image:Frenchtemppassport.png|
Emergency passport, in optical version
(passeport d'urgence)

</gallery>

Front cover of a 1988 French passport.

Passports are valid for 10 years for applicants aged 18 or over and 5 years for applicants under the age of 18. Optical passports (older) have no sign under the word "Passeport" on the front page. Electronic passport contains an embedded chip and have the chip logo under the word "Passeport". Biometric passeports are the most recent ones and are decorated as the electronic passports but the word "Passeport" is underligned. The 3 types of passport are shown above.

Physical appearance

Front cover

Unlike those from most other EU countries which are burgundy, ordinary passports have a Bordeaux-red front cover, with the French Coat of arms emblazoned in the center of the front cover. The word "PASSEPORT" (English: Passport) is inscribed below the coat of arms and "Union européenne" (English: European Union), "République française" (English: French Republic) above. The “e-passport” cover has a microchip symbol at the bottom. On biometric variant of e-passports, the word "PASSEPORT" is underlined. French passports use the standard EU design, with the standard passport containing 32 pages.

Identity information page

  • Cover of a French biometric diplomatic passport

  • Cover of a French biometric diplomatic passport

  • Biodata page of a French non-biometric passport

  • Biodata page of a French biometric diplomatic passport

  • First page of a French non-biometric passport

The biodata page includes the following data:

  • Photo of Passport Holder
  • Type (P)
  • Code (FRA)
  • Passport No.
  • Surname (1)
  • Given Names (2)
  • Nationality (Française) (3)
  • Date of Birth (4)
  • Sex (5)
  • Place of Birth (6)
  • Date of Issue (7)
  • Date of Expiry (8)
  • Authority (9)
  • Holder's Signature (10)
  • Height (12)
  • Colour of Eyes (13)
  • Residence (15) - Page 36

The information page ends with the Machine Readable Zone starting with P<FRA.

Languages

The data page is printed in English and French with translation of the fields on the bearer's page in the other languages of the European Union elsewhere in the document.

Visa free travel

Main article: Visa requirements for French citizens
Visa requirements for French citizens

Visa requirements for French citizens are administrative entry restrictions by the authorities of other states placed on citizens of France. In 2013, French citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 170 countries and territories, ranking the French passport 4th in the world.[3]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Passeport
  2. ↑ Treaty on the Function of the European Union (consolidated version)
  3. ↑

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Passports of France.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.