Ukrainian passport

Ukrainian passport
The front cover of a contemporary biometric Ukrainian passport.
International travel passport biographical data page
Issued by	Ukraine
Type of document	Passport
Purpose	Identification
Eligibility requirements	Ukrainian citizenship
Expiration	10 years
Cost	377.15 UAH[1]

The Ukrainian passport is a document issued to the nationals of Ukraine as the main proof of Ukrainian citizenship. There are two types of passport issued by the Ukrainian government that are commonly known as internal passport and international passport. An internal passport is used as a primary identification document of Ukrainian citizens within Ukraine. An international passport is used for international travel.

International passport

See also Biometric passports in Ukraine.

Passport for travel abroad, commonly known as an "International Passport", is a document used for travel outside Ukraine. The passport information is recorded in Ukrainian and English. Passports are issued upon demand and is valid for 10 years. It is permitted to have more than one passport.

The law of Ukraine on a unified state demographic register and identity documents, which envisages the introduction of electronic passports for Ukrainians, came into force on December 6, 2012.^[2] The issuing of international biometric passports began as of January 1, 2013.

Schengen visas in a Ukrainian passport.

The Ukrainian international passport follows international standards. Machine-readable passports with two machine-readable strings at the bottom of the first page appeared in the mid 1990s. Current Ukrainian international passport looks like a biometric one, but in fact does not have any biometric information.^[3] Legislation permitting fingerprinting has not been yet adopted.

Photos in the passports issued since 2007 are black and white, laser imprinted. As a security feature, an additional holder's photo is specially imprinted to be seen only when looking to the light through the page of the passport. Previously, passports used to be issued either with a glued-in colour photo or with a colour imprinted photo. The previously issued passports are valid until their expiration date.

Ukrainian law allows for issuing international passports with 32 and 64 pages, but in practice only 32-page passports have been produced. Recently international passports have blue cover. Covers of the international passports issued in 1990s were red, allowing easy visual distinction from blue-colour internal passports.

By default, the first and last names in the international passport are transliterated from Ukrainian to English according to the National transliteration system (1996). However, any person has an option to request the desired English spelling of his first and last name, if he holds any document already having that spelling.^[4]

International Passports are issued only to citizens aged 18 and older (16 and older in case of permanent foreign residency). Prior to that age, Ukrainian citizens can get a Travel Document of a Child (PR type) similar in appearance to the passport. It is valid for 3 years, and has only 8 pages. In some rare case Ukrainian citizens are allowed to have International Passport before the age of 18 or 16, but it also is valid for only 3 years. If a child holding Ukrainian citizenship has been adopted by a foreign citizen — he or she may get regular International Passport, which is valid for 10 years, just as for adults, instead of getting Child Travel Document.

Identity information page

A contemporary Ukrainian biometric passport's information page

The Ukrainian passport includes the following data:^[5]

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

Passports typically contain a message from the minister or official in charge of passport issuance addressed to the officials of foreign states, requesting that the citizen bearing the passport be allowed free passage through the state, and if in need be provided assistance consistent with international norms. Today this treatment is expected rather than requested, but the message remains as a tradition. Ukrainian passports bear the message:

In Ukrainian :

Іменем України Міністр закордонних справ України просить усіх кого це може стосуватися, всіма можливими заходами полегшити поїздку пред'явника паспорта, подавати йому необхідну допомогу та захист.

In English :

In the name of Ukraine, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine requests all those whom it may concern to facilitate in every possible way the travel of the bearer of this passport and to provide the bearer with all necessary assistance and protection.

Other documents for foreign travel

• 

  Child's travel document

• 

  Diplomatic passport

• 

  Service passport

• 

  Stateless person's travel document

Internal passport

Internal passport details page

Internal passport is issued as an identification document within the country. Citizens are required to obtain the passport at the age of 16 and be in possession of it all of their life. The information in the passport includes the full name of the person (family name, patronymic name, given name), date and place of birth, photograph and signature of the holder, name of spouse if married, names of dependent children (younger than 16 year old), military eligibility, and the address of registration. The passport has no present expiration date. Changes in marital status, military registration, and place of residence are subsequently recorded in the passport. Additional photographs need to be added at the age of 25 and 45. New passport can be obtained if there is a change in holder's name, most commonly due to marriage. New passports are also issued due to significant wear or tear, or when lost or stolen.

The information in the passport is recorded in Ukrainian language, except for the full name, date and place of birth, and issuing authority, which are given both in Ukrainian and Russian.

The domestic passport is of no use outside of Ukraine, except for travel to Russia and Belarus. For international travel Ukrainians can obtain so-called "abroad" passport.

Ukraine had a plan to replace domestic passports with ID cards beginning in 2008,^[6] but postponed it to the future.^[7]

On September 23, 2011 The Ukrainian Parliament voted to replace domestic passports with ID cards (Ukrainian: Паспортна картка ).^[8] According to the above mentioned decision the new form of ID would have been issued from January 1, 2012. However, the bill was vetoed by Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych on grounds of what he deemed failings in the bill's lack of provisions for personal data safeguards.^[9] After numerous delays, a bill providing for the introduction of biometric passports for foreign travel and the replacement of internal passports with ID cards was passed and signed into law on 29 November 2012.^[10]

History

Ukrainian People's Republic (UNR) had a single passport for internal and international use. It consisted of 16 pages where first 7 pages contained an information about the citizen and the rest were appointed for visas. The information was written in Ukrainian, French and German.

See also

• Biometric passport
• Visa requirements for Ukrainian citizens

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Passports of Ukraine.

• EDAPS Consortium – developer of the new international passport of Ukraine
• Abroad travel documents of Ukraine – Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine
• Laws of Ukraine. Decision of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine (Postanova) No. 858/2007: Про затвердження технічного опису та зразка бланка паспорта громадянина України для виїзду за кордон та внесення змін до деяких актів Кабінету Міністрів України. Passed on 2007-06-26. (Ukrainian)