All About Passports: History, ePassports and Passport Privilege

TMP Passports
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Jenn: Hey everyone and welcome back to the Travel Mug podcast. This is Jenn, joined as always by my partner in podcasting, Meggan. So this week we're going to chat all about passports, which is very exciting. But before we dive in, We want to say thank you to SafetyWing for partnering with us on this episode.

SafetyWing offers travel medical insurance, and coverage from just a few dollars a day, but we're going to chat a little bit more about them in the episode. So, passports. Meggan, tell us a bit about the history of passports,

Meggan: I would love to. So sources show that the term passport may derive from a document required by some medieval Italian states in order for an individual to pass through the physical harbour. Italian Passaporto. to pass the harbor or gate, Italian Passaporta, to pass the gates of a walled city or jurisdiction.

So passports as we know them today were solidified and adopted universally in 1920. However, the standardization of the passport didn't happen until 1980. So passports usually have a validity of 5 or 10 years. Modern development now of the passport really became a thing because of, uh, the railway travel being developed. And people were actually able to move more freely from country to country and around the world. So that's sort of in modern times how we got to be where we are. So a passport is a booklet, of course, with an emblem, your identification and specific information to you and your home country. It is important to understand that having a passport doesn't give you rights in the country being visited or impose any obligation from the issuing country.

But instead, it does display that you have the right to travel under certain conditions, and that this has been certified by the issuing country. So essentially, passports go back a really long way, but they weren't modernized or stabilized universally until the 20s. And then that standardization came in in 1980, which honestly doesn't seem like that long ago. It's pretty wild.

Jenn: right? I was surprised to read 1980. Like, that is, you know, really, really not that long ago. So, crazy.

Meggan: definitely. So, let's chat, Jenn, about how passports work here in 2024.

Jenn: Yeah, so, obviously, on our part, we fill out all the necessary paperwork, if you're, it's different paperwork whether you're renewing or applying for the first time. Obviously you have to get that beautiful passport photo to send it to them and hopefully you like it because you're going to be stuck with it for a while.

And then you kind of just have to sit back and wait while they do all of their like background checks and make sure that you have all your ducks in a row kind of thing. They obviously don't tell you what kind of checks that they're going to do because It's a secret. That's just the way it is. luckily, I think that the processing time, at least here in Canada, and I think in the US has gone down for a while during the pandemic, it was like a long time to wait for your passport.

But so now in 2024, over a hundred countries are using e passports and e passports have a data chip in them. And these have numerous benefits, including. Reduced risk of tampering, , an identity fraud through layers of identity checks. A digital facial image lets facial recognition systems check the identity of the passport holder at the border, if the necessary equipment's in place and stronger identity checks, which reduce the risk of other countries, putting visa requirements on travelers. And then there's also digital security features and images that are unique to the country and help border authorities ensure that the passport is authentic and valid.

So the information on an e chip cannot be read unless the passport is held within 10 centimeters of an e passport reader, so that makes it fairly safe, although some people are a little bit nervous of them. Um, I. I don't currently have an e passport, but I will be renewing next year, so I will get mine then.

Do you have an e passport, Meggan?

Meggan: No, I've had mine since 2017, so we're 2027 over in these parts, so we'll get ours then.

Jenn: Yes, I was 2015, uh, for my honeymoon with my new name, so I will be renewing, uh, next year. So, one thing I've often wondered about, is if passport colors mean anything, uh, like the cover color. And it turns out like it kind of doesn't really. So most passports come in one of four colors and they're like dark blue, Black, dark green, and like red maroon color.

However, William Waldron, the vice president of security products at Holliston LLC, which makes the passports for more than 60 countries, told Travel + Leisure that they can make any color that's in the Pantone color book. Like, why are we choosing fun colors? There are no rules that dictate that passports must be a certain color.

But, of course, geopolitics and religion play a role. So, for example, Muslim countries often choose green because the shade is significant to their religion. Caribbean countries often choose blue. It kind of makes you wonder why Canada didn't choose red.

Meggan: Very strange, but of course the U. S. Also has the blue, could be that reason, I don't know if it was some kind of agreement or just a wink wink nudge nudge, but red would have made so much more sense.

Jenn: Right, it would have made sense, and apparently the real reason most countries choose these darker colors is because they're more official looking, and they look, like, less dirty.

Meggan: I could see that, like I, I do get that, I mean fuchsia would be so much more fun, but yeah.

Jenn: right? Can I order a teal one?

Meggan: I'd like a rose gold colored passport, thank you. Excellent,

Jenn: So, one of my worst nightmares is having my passport stolen or losing my passport when I'm traveling. So, if your passport goes missing when you're traveling, you need to report it to your government agency and pay for a replacement. And that is one of the many, many reasons that we suggest having travel insurance. So SafetyWing reimburses you for reasonable costs to replace your passport or visa if it's stolen. They also offer travel medical insurance that's specifically designed for the needs of freelancers, remote workers, and digital nomads. No matter where in the world you are, they have this truly ambitious mission to create a global social safety net for anyone, regardless of where they happen to be born. And with SafetyWing, you're covered all over the world with one policy. It's a monthly subscription, so you're continuously covered. And then you can turn it off anytime when you return home. I also love, or we also love, that you can buy it anytime, even when you're on your way to the airport.

I have bought travel insurance the day before. I am guilty. You can even buy it if your trip has already started.. So if you get there and you're like, oh, I should have done this. It's time. You can go online and do it. There's no pre approval needed. It takes just five minutes to purchase. And with a zero dollar deductible, you're covered for even the smallest claims, like having to replace your passport.

So if this sounds like if it's right for you and your adventures, check out the link in our show notes and make sure to save it for your next trip.

Meggan: that's great information.

Jenn: right, Meggan, talk to us about passport privilege.

Meggan: Yes, so this was quite interesting. So not all passports are created equal in the eyes of the global community, and what passport privilege is about is actually global mobility, and the differences between countries can be quite vast. So as an example, according to the Henley Index, which ranks countries monthly in terms of passport privilege, right now in 2024, Singapore leads all countries in the world with their citizens being able to travel visa free or visa upon arrival, meaning they do not have to do anything before they leave home, to 195 countries.

A close second are France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Japan, all tied, and they can go to 192 countries visa free or visa upon arrival versus a country like let's say Afghanistan. So their citizens can only go to 26 countries in the world without a visa. Another example is Pakistan with the number of visa free countries being 33.

So most of this privilege lies with developed countries. Of course, and only a very small percentage of travelers who have been to every country in the world come from the low passport index countries. As you can imagine, it would be much more difficult for them. So these rankings overall are based on the ability for the citizens of said country to travel to other countries visa free visa upon arrival. And a point system has been based off of that to come up with these rankings.

I know a majority of our listeners are from Canada, the US, the UK and Australia. So for curiosity, here are the rankings for those countries. So Canada, we ranked seventh tied with other countries and we can visit 187 countries, visa free and visa upon arrival. For the U. S., you place 8th, and you are at 186 countries. Australia is 5th at, 189 countries. And go U. K., you are in 4th place at 190 countries that you can visit visa free. So, we will put a link, uh, in the show notes to find out where your country ranks in, , the Henley report as of right now, but of course it changes monthly. So do keep on top of it, it actually was pretty interesting to understand what that looks like for countries around the world.

Jenn: Yeah, super interesting.

Meggan: So, some fun facts about passports. We love a fun fact in these parts. So unfortunately for the photos, uh, smiles were banned in 2004 to help with facial recognition technology. As technology advances, the smiles fade away, unfortunately, when it comes to passports. The Vatican doesn't have any immigration controls, but the Pope carries Vatican passport number one.

As you do, as the Pope. , the Nicaraguan passport is reported to be the least forgeable document in the world, thanks to 89 separate security features, including holograms and watermarks. They really, really mean it there. many places have discontinued stamping passports since everything is recorded electronically now, which is, you know, a huge bummer. I love a stamp. So that's, that's always sad when I don't see them pull out their stamper. but careful of souvenir passport stamps like ones you can get at Machu Picchu, Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin, or in Antarctica. It's considered an unauthorized use of a passport and you can be denied entry to your flight or into a country. So we don't want that either. The stamp isn't that valuable.

Jenn: No, I know, I see so many people posting, you know, stamping their passport at like, Machu Picchu. And it's just, it's not a good idea. You could get away with it. Plenty of people have gotten away with it and they have no troubles. But, bring like, a notebook or a piece of paper or, you know, You could bring your old passport, like one that's been expired and has the holes punched in it, to put in there if you really want it, like, in a passport.

But yeah, it's, it's highly debated online because so many people get away with it. But then, do you want to be the person who turns up to your flight and is not allowed on because you have an unauthorized stamp? I don't want to be that person.

Meggan: I do not. No.

Jenn: No Definitely not so that is it for this week's episode all about passports We're super super thankful to have a passport and to be able to travel So we hope that you found this this episode interesting and informative and, yeah, definitely think about the, the privilege and the meaning that it gives you next time you pull it out to get on your flight.

So again, we want to thank SafetyWing for partnering with us for this episode. And if you enjoyed the show and you want to learn more about SafetyWing, you can learn more about them at the link in our show notes. And check them out for your travel insurance needs. Thank you so much to you, the listener for tuning in.

You can find us on social media at Travel Mug Podcast. We're on Instagram and Facebook and YouTube. You can find us on our website, travel mug podcast.com. We'd super appreciate a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, and until next time, bye.

Meggan: Bye.