British passport

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Image:UK-Passport-Cover.jpgImage:UK-Passport.jpg

British passports may be issued to persons holding any of the various forms of British nationality.

In the United Kingdom, British passports (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) are issued by the United Kingdom Passport Service.

In the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man British passports are issued by the Lieutenant-Governor as follows:

• Jersey: British Islands - Bailiwick of Jersey
• Guernsey: British Islands - Bailiwick of Guernsey
• Isle of Man: British Islands - Isle of Man

In British Overseas Territories British passports are issued by the Governor. In Commonwealth or foreign countries, they are issued by the Passport Section of a British Consulate, Embassy, or High Commission.

A digital United Kingdom passport was introduced on 5 October 1998. The technology captures a digital image of the photograph, signature, incorporates laser engraving and reproduces these onto the personal details page of the passport. The passport is burgundy coloured, machine-readable, and has 32 or 48 pages. Prior to this, the old style of very dark blue hardcover passports were in use. At 4 x 5 5/8 inches, they were slightly larger than the new, softcover passports. Additionally, in the old style passport, the holder's details (name, place of birth, etc) were handwritten, rather than typed.

At present holders of the following forms of British nationality can apply for a British passport:

• British citizens (GBR)
• British Overseas Territories citizens (formerly British Dependent Territories citizens) (GBD)
• British Overseas citizens (GBO)
• British Subjects (GBS)
• British Protected Persons (GBP)
• British Nationals (Overseas) (GBN)

The three-character codes appearing after each type of nationality above are the ISO/IEC 7501-1 machine readable passport alpha-3 country codes of such British passports.

No British national has a legal right to be issued a British passport, except for British Nationals (Overseas) who have an entitlement to hold a British passport under article 4(2) of the Hong Kong (British Nationality) Order 1986. All other British passports are therefore issued at the discretion of the Home Secretary under the Royal Prerogative, with the exception of those held by British Nationals (Overseas).

Right of abode, i.e. the right to enter and live in the UK freely, is only automatically held by British citizens, as well as by some British subjects and those other Commonwealth citizens who were patrials under the Immigration Act 1971.

Lookalike passports

For the purposes of the European Communities treaties, the nationals of the United Kingdom comprise all British citizens, British Overseas Territories citizens by virtue of a connection with Gibraltar and British subjects with right of abode in the UK (mainly, but not exclusively, those connected with the Republic of Ireland before 1949). These UK nationals enjoy the status of European citizen in common with nationals of other member states of the European Union.

British nationals who are not European citizens are issued what is known as "lookalike passports". These are similar to normal British passports, except that they do not have the words "European Union" on the cover, and do not contain any EU-specific information inside, e.g. the words "Passport - United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" and the information on the photograph page are given only in English and French, rather than in all the official languages of the European Union.

Endorsements

• Holder is not entitled to benefit from European Community provisions relating to employment or establishment

British citizens from the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man without a qualifying connection to the United Kingdom by descent or residency have this endorsement in their passports, as the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man are only part of the European Community for the purposes of the free movement of goods.

• Holder is entitled to right of abode in the United Kingdom

British subjects with the right of abode (usually from the Republic of Ireland) will have this endorsement in their passports. Commonwealth citizens with the right of abode who do not hold a United Kingdom passport will have a certificate of entitlement to the right of abode in the visa pages.

• Holder is entitled to readmission in the United Kingdom

British nationals without the right of abode who have been granted indefinite leave to enter or remain retain this entitlement for life, and their passports are endorsed accordingly.

• Holder is subject to control under the Immigration Act 1971

British nationals without the right of abode will have this endorsements in their passports unless they have been granted indefinite leave to enter or remain.