Ukrainian passport

Ukrainian passport
Ukrainian passport
	The front cover of a current ; biometric Ukrainian passport.
	International travel biometric ; passport biographical data page
Type	Passport
Issued by	Ukraine
First issued	4 June 1994 (first version); 1997 (machine-readable passport); 1 January 2015 ; (biometric passport)
Purpose	Identification
Eligibility	Ukrainian citizenship
Expiration	10 years (4 years ; for the minors)
Cost	560/810 UAH for ; (chip-free/bio., ; eq. $22/31, €21/29)

The Ukrainian passport is a document issued for nationals of Ukraine as proof of Ukrainian citizenship. It is used for overseas travel. An internal passport soft booklet was the primary identification document of Ukrainian citizens used within Ukraine until 2016, when a credit card-sized identity card was introduced. However previously issued internal passports remain valid.

Internal passport

According to law amendments made by the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament) on 14 July 2016, each citizen who reached the age of 14 must get a passport.^[2] Passports will be issued for four years to persons under 18 years of age, and for ten years for all the rest.^[2]. Since then, the Ukrainian internal passports (in booklet form) are also no longer stamped with a civil status stand (i.e. marriage or a divorce), thus abolishing a century-long tradition from the times of the USSR. ^[2] Instead, a marriage certificate is issued to each of the spouses. ^[2]

The law of Ukraine on a unified state demographic register and identity documents, which envisages the introduction of electronic passports for Ukrainians, came into force on December 6, 2012.

On 10 July 2015, the Ukrainian government announced that internal passports would be abolished, and replaced with ID cards, starting from 1 January 2016. On 25 January 2016, the first new Ukrainian ID cards were issued to young citizens who achieved 16 years of age.^[4] Beginning November 1, 2016 ID cards are issued to all Ukrainian citizens.

International passport

Passport for travel abroad, commonly known as an "International Passport", is a document used for travel outside Ukraine. The passport information is recorded in Ukrainian and English. Passports are issued upon demand and are valid for 10 years. Two passports can be issued to those who frequently travel abroad.

The Ukrainian international passport follows international standards. The first Ukrainian passports (replacing the previous Soviet Union passport type) were introduced on 4 June 1994, while the machine-readable passports with two machine-readable strings at the bottom of the first page first appeared in 1997. The current Ukrainian international passport is a biometric one. If, based on religious beliefs, a citizen does not wish to receive a biometric passport, he/she can apply for a non-biometric one, providing a written statement before applying for the document.

Photos in the passports issued since 2007 are black and white, laser imprinted. As a security feature, an additional holder's photo is specially imprinted to be seen only when looking to the light through the page of the passport. Previously, passports used to be issued either with a glued-in colour photo or with a colour imprinted photo. The previously issued passports are valid until their expiration date.

New biometric international passports have dark blue cover and contain 32 pages. Covers of the international passports issued in 1990s were red, allowing easy visual distinction from blue-color internal passports.

By default, the first and last names in the international passport are transliterated from Ukrainian to English according to the National transliteration system (2010). However, any person has an option to request the desired English spelling of his first and last name, if he holds any document already having that spelling.^[5]

Previously International Passports were issued only to citizens aged 18 and older (16 and older in case of permanent foreign residency).^{[citation needed]} Prior to that age, Ukrainian citizens could get a Travel Document of a Child (PR type) similar in appearance to the passport valid for 3 years, and has only 8 pages. In some rare case Ukrainian citizens were allowed to have International Passport before the age of 18 or 16, but it also is valid for only 3 years. If a child holding Ukrainian citizenship has been adopted by a foreign citizen — he or she may get regular International Passport, which is valid for 10 years, just as for adults, instead of getting Child Travel Document.^{[citation needed]}

Identity information page

The Ukrainian passport includes the following data:^[6]

Photo of Passport Holder
Type (P)
Code (UKR)
Passport No.
Surname
Given Names
Nationality (УКРАЇНА/UKRAINE)
Date of Birth

Personal No.
Sex
Place of Birth
Date of Issue
Authority
Date of Expiry
Holder's Signature

The information page ends with the Machine Readable Zone starting with P<UKR.

Passports typically contain a message from the minister or official in charge of passport issuance addressed to the officials of foreign states, requesting that the citizen bearing the passport be allowed free passage through the state, and if in need be provided assistance consistent with international norms. Today this treatment is expected rather than requested, but the message remains as a tradition. Ukrainian passports bear the message:

In Ukrainian :

Іменем України Міністр закордонних справ України просить усіх кого це може стосуватися, всіма можливими заходами полегшити поїздку пред'явника паспорта, подавати йому необхідну допомогу та захист.

In English :

In the name of Ukraine, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine requests all those whom it may concern to facilitate in every possible way the travel of the bearer of this passport and to provide the bearer with all necessary assistance and protection.

Visa requirements

As of 4 December 2018, Ukrainian citizens with ordinary Ukrainian passports had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 128 countries and territories, thus ranking the Ukrainian passport 41st in the world in terms of travel freedom according to the Henley Passport Index.^[7] Additionally, Arton Capital's Passport Index ranked the ordinary Ukrainian passport 11th in the world in terms of travel freedom, with a visa-free score of 111, as of 6 October 2020.^[8]

History

Ukrainian People's Republic (UNR) had a single passport for internal and international use. It consisted of 16 pages where first 7 pages contained information about the citizen and the rest were appointed for visas. The information was written in Ukrainian, French and German.