Sovereign Military Order of Malta passport
| Sovereign Military Order of Malta passport | |
|---|---|
 The front cover of a contemporary Sovereign Military Order of Malta diplomatic biometric passport. | |
| Issued by |
 Sovereign Military Order of Malta |
| Type of document | Passport |
| Purpose | Identification |
| Eligibility requirements | Sovereign Military Order of Malta |
The Sovereign Military Order of Malta passport is a travel document issued to officials of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM). The sovereign issues biometric passports which are fully ICAO9303 compliant.
The application and printing process is handled by the Österreichische Staatsdruckerei (Vienna, Austria).
By agreement with the Italian government, citizenship of the S.M.O.M. is limited to three: the Grand Master, the Deputy Grand Master, and the Chancellor. These carry S.M.O.M. passports. The numerous other members of the order remain citizens of their own respective countries.
Physical appearance
Passport covers carry the text in French: 'Ordre Souverain Militaire de Malte' above the coat of arms, and passeport below it.[1] Diplomatic passports are red, whereas service passports are black.
The country-code XOM has been assigned by the ICAO after consultation with the SMOM and the machine-readable zone thus starts with P<XOM.
Acceptance
The SMOM has diplomatic relationships with 105 countries,[2] which therefore accept the passport. In the Schengen area (where most of the extraterritorialities of the order are located) it is recognized by 12 (Czech Republic, Germany, Spain, Italy, Latvia, Hungary, Austria, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia) out of 27 members.[3]
See also
References
- ↑ "Sovereign Military Order of Malta issues new e-passport". C. Haager (Keesing Journal of documents & identity). 2005. Retrieved 18 July 2010.
- ↑ The Order's official website lists them in this table. Retrieved 2011-01-29.
- ↑ "Table of travel documents entitling the holder to cross the external borders and which may be endorsed with a visa". Council of the European Union. 17 June 2010. Retrieved 20 July 2010.
