Issued by Kingdom of Denmark Purpose Identification | Type of document Passport | |
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Date first issued 1 August 2006 (current biometric version) Eligibility requirements Citizens of the Kingdom of Denmark Expiration 28 months for children up to the age of 1
64 months for citizens aged 2–17
124 months for individuals above the age of 18
(All passports can be renewed for 12 more months within 24 months of original expiration date) | ||
Danish passports are issued to citizens of the Kingdom of Denmark (Danish: Kongeriget Danmark) to facilitate international travel.
Contents
- Physical appearance
- Different spellings of the same name
- Types
- Visa requirements
- Controversy
- National identity card lack of
- References
Different versions exist for nationals of Denmark, Greenland and the Faroe Islands although all citizens have the same nationality. Danish nationals residing in Greenland and the Faroe Islands can choose between the Danish EU passport and the local (Greenlandic or Faroese) non-EU passport.
Every Danish citizen (except for those residing in the Faroe Islands) is also a citizen of the European Union. The passport entitles its bearer to freedom of movement in the European Economic Area and Switzerland as provided in Directive 2004/38/EC.
According to the 2016 Visa Restrictions Index, Danish citizens can visit 174 countries without a visa or with a visa granted on arrival.
Physical appearance
The Danish and Greenlandic versions of the passport have burgundy colour covers, according to the European Union's recommendations, while the Faroese version is green. All contain the Danish Coat of Arms emblazoned in the centre of the front cover, with the word DANMARK (Denmark) above it, and the word PAS (Passport) below. Since 1 August 2006, biometric passports are issued. Above the word DANMARK, the Danish version contains the words DEN EUROPÆISKE UNION (European Union) (as all other EU passports), while in the Greenlandic and Faroese versions the text KALAALLIT NUNAAT (Greenland) or FØROYAR (Faroe Islands) is written. Fields on the bearer's page are in Danish, English and French, with translations in the official languages of the European Union elsewhere in the document. Instead of French, Faroese or Greenlandic are used in the Faroese and Greenlandic versions respectively. The page contains the following information:
Passports contain a machine readable strip starting with P>DNK for all types.
Different spellings of the same name
Names containing special letters (æ, ø, å) are spelled the correct way in the non-machine-readable zone, but are mapped in the machine-readable zone, æ becoming AE, ø becoming OE, and å becoming AA. This follows the international machine-readable passport standard.
For example, Gråbøl → GRAABOEL.
Types
Besides the ordinary passport (with PAS on the cover), also 3 versions of blue service passports (TJENESTEPAS) and a single red diplomatic passport (DIPLOMATPAS) are issued. The latter does not bear the text DEN EUROPÆISKE UNION.
Visa requirements
In 2016, Danish citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 174 countries and territories, thus ranking the Danish passport 4th in the world (tied with American, Belgian and Dutch) according to the Visa Restrictions Index. According to the World Tourism Organization 2016 report, the Danish passport is 1st in the world (tied with Finland, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Singapore and the United Kingdom) in terms of travel freedom, with the mobility index of 160 (out of 215 with no visa weighted by 1, visa on arrival weighted by 0.7, eVisa by 0.5 and traditional visa weighted by 0).
Controversy
In 2010, an atheist Danish citizen filed a complaint to the Danish Ministry of Justice, due to the passport's inclusion of a picture of the crucifixion of Jesus as shown on the Jelling Stones, arguing that passports should be free of religious symbols. This argument was rejected by leading Danish politicians, arguing that Christianity is a part of Denmark's cultural history, and Christianity was not depicted exclusively, since the passport also includes an image of a dragon motif, likewise taken from the largest Jelling Stone. The passport design including images from the Jelling Stones was introduced in 1997, when the current red design was introduced. Previous Danish passports had been green or beige.
National identity card (lack of)
EU rules allow any citizen of a member country to travel anywhere in the EU without a passport, if they have a national identity card stating citizenship and some other standardised information. Denmark and a few other EU countries do not issue such cards. There has been some political support for introducing such cards since the EU rule was introduced, but this has not yet become a reality.