Macedonian passport

Macedonian passport
The front cover of a contemporary Macedonian biometric passport.
First Page of the Macedonian biometric passport
Issued by  Macedonia
Type of document Passport
Purpose Identification
Eligibility requirements Macedonian citizenship
Expiration 5 years for persons under the age of 27, and 10 years for those 27 years of age and older. 2 years or children under the age of 4.

The Macedonian passport (Macedonian: Македонски Пасош) is issued to citizens of the Republic of Macedonia for the purpose of international travel. Responsibility for their issuance lies with the Ministry of the Interior. The validity of the passport is 5 years for persons under the age of 27, and 10 years for those 27 years of age and older. For children ages four and under the validity of the passport is limited to two years. Macedonian passports conform with recommended standards (i.e., size, composition, layout, technology) of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The latest Macedonian passport is a biometric passport.

History

Macedonian Passports

In 1945-1991, when Macedonia was a constituent republic of Yugoslavia, Macedonians traveled with Yugoslav passports. Under the Yugoslav federal system, each republic had its own variety of passports; in particular, Yugoslav passports issued in Macedonia were printed in Macedonian and French, rather than in Serbo-Croatian.[1]

The first Macedonian passports were issued in 1991 after the Republic of Macedonia declared its independence from Yugoslavia. Their design and contents changed over the years. The first passports issued were blue with silver color inscription without the Macedonian Coat of Arms. The second generation of Macedonian passports had a golden color inscription on the cover and the third generation had the Macedonian Coat of Arms added. The first three generations had only "Република Мaкедонија" and the English translation "Republic of Macedonia" inscription on the cover page. The latest, fourth generation passport has changed its color to red, also the "République de Macédoine" the French translation of the official country name was added on the cover as well as the "Passeport" beneath the Coat of Arms. It is a biometric passport which contains RFID. The purpose of chips is storage of biometric and other data, which are retrievable. An issued non-biometric will remain valid until its stated date of expiration.

Effective November 16, 2009, the Coat of arms of the Republic of Macedonia has changed and the five-pointed red star on Macedonia's official coat of arms was removed, the emblem otherwise remained unchanged. The new coat of arms will be emblazoned in the center of the front cover. (Picture Right: Top Left – 1st Generation Macedonian Passport, Top Right - 2nd Generation, Bottom Left - 3rd Generation and Bottom Right fourth Generation (current) Macedonian Passport.)

Physical appearance

Macedonian passports are red in color with the Macedonian Coat of Arms emblazoned in the centre of the front cover. The words "Република Македонија" with the "Republika e Maqedonisë", "Republic of Macedonia" and "République de Macédoine" (Albanian, English and French translation of the country's name - respectively, with the first accented 'e' lacking in the French name) are inscribed above the coat of arms and the words "Пасош", "PASAPORTË", "PASSPORT" and "PASSEPORT" are inscribed below the coat of arms. Macedonian passports have the standard biometric symbol at the bottom of the cover page. There are 32 pages in a biometric passport. The passport's critical information is both printed on the data page of the passport and stored in the chip.

Data page and signature page

Each passport has a data page. A data page has a visual zone and a machine-readable zone. The visual zone has a digitized photograph of the passport holder, data about the passport, and data about the passport holder:

  • Photograph
  • Type [of document, which is "P" for "passport"]
  • Code [of the issuing country, which is "MKD" for "REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA"]
  • Passport No.
  • Surname (Macedonian Cyrillic Transcription with ICAO Standardized Transcription/Translation underneath)
  • Given Name(s)
  • Nationality [which is "Македонско/Macedonian"]
  • Date of Birth (Date/Month/Year Format)
  • Unique Master Citizen Number (EMBG)
  • Sex
  • Place of Birth
  • Date of Issue
  • Issuing Authority [which is “MBP/MOI” – Ministry of Interior]
  • Date of Expiration
  • Holder’s Signature

At the bottom of a data page is the machine-readable zone, which can be read both visually and by an optical scanner. The machine-readable zone consists of two lines. There are no blank spaces in either line. A space which does not contain a letter or a number is filled with "<". The first line of a machine-readable zone of a passport contains a letter to denote the type of travel document ("P" for passport), the code for the citizenship of the passport holder (e.g., "MKD" for "Macedonia"), and the name (surname first, then given name or names) of the passport holder.

The second line of a machine-readable zone of a passport contains the passport number, supplemented by a check digit; the code of the issuing country (e.g., "MKD" for "Macedonia"); the date of birth of the passport holder (two digit year, two digit month, two digit day i.e. 020507), supplemented by a check digit; a notation of the sex of the passport holder ("M" or "F"); the date of expiration of the passport, supplemented by a check digit; the holder’s personal number and, at the end of the line, two overall check digits. The data page has a line for the signature of a passport holder. The non-biometric passports of the first three generation were not valid until they were signed by the passport holder. If a holder was unable to sign his passport, it was to be signed by a person who has legal authority to sign on the holder's behalf. The new biometric passports however, require that you sign the passport on the day when you apply for the passport, which is done by signing with a digital pen on a tablet, after which the image of the signature is printed on the first page along with the other data, and cannot be altered thereafter.

Types of Passports

  • Regular (Ordinary) Passport - Issuable to all citizens of the Republic of Macedonia. It is red color, valid for two, five or ten years depending on the age of the passport applicant/holder. Those passports are not extendable or renewable and new one must be obtained once expired.
  • Diplomatic Passport - Issuable to Macedonian diplomats accredited overseas and their eligible dependants, and to citizens who reside in the Republic of Macedonia and travel abroad for diplomatic work. Title and function of the bearer (Diplomat) is listed on the data page of the Diplomatic Passport in addition to the information already contained. It is valid for five years.
  • Official Passport – Issuable to citizen-employees of the Republic of Macedonia assigned overseas, Macedonian Government employees working at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or at the Macedonian Diplomatic Mission assigned abroad. Official Passport can be issued to other government officials that are to travel abroad, with prior approval, as well as to their spouses and children living in the same household. Title and function of the bearer (Official) is listed on the data page of the Official Passport in addition to the information already contained. It is valid for five years.
  • Temporary Passport - Is issued to a Macedonian Citizen who needs to come back into Macedonia; when issued it is valid for 30 days or until the return trip is completed and can be issued at a Macedonian Diplomatic Mission.

Documents required

The following documents are required to obtain a Macedonian passport:

  • Passport Application Form (Obtained from the MOI or download from their website)
  • Valid State Issued ID (If citizen resides abroad, he/she needs to submit the foreign ID in order to prove identity)
  • Old passport (if applicable, regardless of expiry date)
  • 50 MKD (€0.82) Administrative Stamp
  • 1500 MKD (€24.50) Processing Fee (4500 MKD (€73.50) for Expedited processing – usually passport requests are processed and completed in 48 hours, and can only be picked up in Skopje, in the police station in the MRTV building)
  • Administrative tax Receipt (50 MKD for children 4 and under; 250 MKD (€4) for persons between ages of 4 and 27 and 500 MKD (€8) for persons ages 27 and older).
  • Picture, fingerprints and all biometric data is collected at the Passport Application Center(s); fingerprint data is not collected from minors ages 12 and under.

Visa requirements

Visa requirements for Macedonian citizens
  Macedonia
  Visa free access
  Visa on arrival
  eVisa
  Visa available both on arrival or online
  Visa-free with voucher or letter of invitation
  Visa-free with public affairs endorsement
  Visa required

As of May 2018, Macedonian citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 125 countries and territories, ranking the Macedonian passport 41st in terms of travel freedom (tied with Colombian, Marshallese and Tuvaluan) according to the Henley visa restrictions index.[2]

See also

Sources

References

  1. ↑ Shaw, Jo; Štiks, Igor, eds. (2013), Citizenship After Yugoslavia, Routledge, p. 21, ISBN 1317967070
  2. ↑ "Global Ranking - Visa Restriction Index 2018" (PDF). Henley & Partners. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
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