Polish passport

Polish passport
The front cover of a contemporary Polish biometric passport
Date first issued	January 1, 2006
Issued by	Poland
Type of document	Passport
Purpose	Identification
Eligibility requirements	Polish citizenship
Expiration	10 years after issuance

Polish passports are issued to Polish citizens to travel outside of Poland. For traveling inside the European Union, as well as to Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Vatican City, Monaco, San Marino, Andorra, Croatia and the British dependencies in Europe (i.e., Gibraltar, Jersey, Isle of Man, Guernsey), Polish citizens can use their national ID card.

Issuance and validity

The passports are issued by the Ministry of the Interior and Administration and applications are filed voivodeship offices which have a passport office. Passports issued since mid-2006 are of a biometric variety, and valid for ten years. The blue cover passports issued up until 2001 and burgundy-cover passports (issued up until 2006) remain valid until their state expiry dates, however their lack of biometric features inherently means that they have slightly different visa restrictions for travel abroad as they are considered to have insufficient security features by some nations, such as Canada (allows visa-free access only for Polish citizens in possession of a biometric passport).

Full Polish passports are issued for a period of ten years, whilst those issued to minors are valid up to an initial maximum of five years.

Previous and current passport designs

There are currently three designs of Polish passports in use. One design contains biometric data and the inscription EUROPEAN UNION in Polish on the cover (introduced in 2006), and two without those features: one with a red cover (issued 2001-2006) and one with a navy-blue cover (issued prior to 2001). Passports of the old designs retain their validity until the expiration date but are no longer issued.

The two more recent designs are trilingual and written in Polish, English, and French. The oldest of the three designs is additionally written in Russian with the exception of the page with personal data which is only bilingual (Polish and English).

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  1934 Passport of the Second Polish Republic

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  PRL internal passport (valid for Eastern Bloc)

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  PRL passport's cover (until fall of communism - 1990)

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  Passport cover prior to 2001

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  Passport cover 2001-2006

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  Passport cover 2007 (non-biometric)

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  Info page of the latest non-biometric passport

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  Polish passport - newest design

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  Polish diplomatic passport

Physical appearance and data contained

The Polish passports issued since 2006 are burgundy, with the words "UNIA EUROPEJSKA" (English: EUROPEAN UNION) and "RZECZPOSPOLITA POLSKA" (English: REPUBLIC OF POLAND) inscribed at the top of the front cover. The Polish white eagle is emblazoned in the centre of the cover, and below this the words "PASZPORT", "PASSPORT" and "PASSEPORT" are to be found. The Polish passport has the standard biometric symbol emblazoned below the final set of text denoting the document as a passport, and uses the standard European Union design. Diplomatic passports are also burgundy in colour and of essentially the same design, but the French, English and Polish translations of the word 'passport' are replaced with those for 'diplomatic passport'; "PASZPORT DYPLOMATYCZNY", "DIPLOMATIC PASSPORT" and "PASSEPORT DIPLOMATIQUE".

The statement in a Polish passport declares in Polish, English, and French:

THE AUTHORITIES OF THE REPUBLIC OF POLAND HEREBY KINDLY REQUEST ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN TO PROVIDE THE BEARER OF THIS PASSPORT WITH ALL ASSISTANCE THAT MAY BE DEEMED NECESSARY WHILE ABROAD.

The Polish statement for which is:

WŁADZE RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ ZWRACAJĄ SIĘ Z UPRZEJMĄ PROŚBĄ DO WSZYSTKICH, KTÓRYCH MOŻE TO DOTYCZYĆ, O OKAZANE POSIADACZOM TEGO PASZPORTU WSZELKIEJ POMOCY, JAKA MOŻE OKAZAĆ SIĘ NIEZBĘDNA W CZASIE POBYTU ZA GRANICĄ.

The front cover of a contemporary Polish biometric passport and information page

Identity information page

The Polish Passport includes the following data:

• Photo of Passport Holder
• Type (P)
• Code (POL)
• Passport No.
• 1. Surname
• 2. Given Names
• 3. Nationality (POLSKIE POLISH POLONAISE)
• 4. Date of Birth
• 5. Personal Id. No.
• 6. Sex
• 7. Place of Birth
• 8. Date of Issue
• 9. Authority
• 10. Date of Expiry
• 11. Holder's Signature

The information page ends with the Machine Readable Zone starting with P>POL.

Biometric data

The biometric passports contain an RFID chip containing the passport's printed data in a digital format along with the photograph in a JPEG format along with a digital key to verify the that the data contained is authentic and hasn't been tampered with. The data in the chip can only be accessed after using the printed codes on the lower part of the passport's personal data page. The European Union requires fingerprint data to be stored on the member state's passports at latest in June 2009. Poland already complies with this European act on collecting identity data, and, since 2006, requires passport applicants to provide fingerprint scans and other information relating to facial features when applying for a new passport.

The complete set of pages from a Polish passport issued in 1931. At this time Polish passports were printed in only Polish and French

Languages

The data page/information page is printed in Polish, English and French, whilst translation of this information into other official languages of the European Union can be found elsewhere in the document. The passport also contains two pages reserved for official notifications which are typically only recorded in Polish.

See also

• Polish nationality law
• List of passports
• Visa requirements for Polish citizens
• Passports of the European Union

External links

• Well-travelled 1948 Polish passport from www.passportland.ocm