Syrian passport

The Syrian passport (Arabic: جواز السفر السوري‎) is a travel document issued by Syria's Department of Immigration and Passports to Syrian citizens for international travel. Syrian passports are normally valid for six years; however, for men about to perform military service, they are valid for two years, and they have to get permission from the conscription department for a renewal for another two years.

Syrian passport
Syrian passport front cover
TypePassport
Issued by Syria
PurposeIdentification
EligibilitySyrian citizenship
Syrian Arab Republic
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The passport has a navy blue cover with the Syrian coat of arms. The information on the cover page and the inside is written in three languages: Arabic, English and French. Each page has a unique watermark depicting a famous Syrian monument, castle, or ancient building, these include the Krak des Chevaliers, a Crusader castle in Syria and one of the most important preserved medieval castles in the world, Umayyad Mosque and others.

Passport applications must be completed in person and fee to obtain a new passport is 1850 Syrian pounds (approximately US$4).[1]

In April 2015, Syria changed its passport requirements so that Syrians outside Syria, including refugees who have fled the Syrian Civil War, are eligible for passports without an intelligence service review. Passports will be issued to Syrians "even if they left in an illegal manner or they hold non-official passports or travel documents", referring to passports issued by Syrian opposition representatives in Qatar. At the same time, fees required for passports were doubled to $400 for a new passports and $200 for a renewal.[2]

During the European migrant crisis, fake Syrian passports were found being used by non-Syrians to apply for asylum in Europe.[3][4]

History

Biometric passport

In late 2016, Syria's Department of Immigration and Passports announced that it is planning to change to biometric passports.[5] In early 2019, Syria announced that it is getting ready to release its new passport.[6]

Visa requirements
Main article: Visa requirements for Syrian citizens
Countries and territories with visa-free or visa on arrival entry for holders of regular Syrian passports

As of 7 January 2020, Syrian citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 29 countries and territories, ranking the Syrian passport 105th in the world according to the according to the Henley Passport Index.[7]

See also

References
  1. "جوازات السفر".
  2. "Syria changes passport rules for citizens abroad". Yahoo News. AFP. 26 April 2015. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
  3. "Germany seizes fake Syrian passports in asylum inquiry". BBC. 4 September 2015.
  4. Mesco, Manuela; Bradley, Matt; Legorano, Giovanni (12 September 2015). "Migrants Pose as Syrians to Open Door to Asylum in Europe". Wall Street Journal.
  5. Rozana, Mawqi. "Palestinian refugees section". Palestinian refugees section. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
  6. "We are getting ready for Syria's biometric passport and traffic department". SANA (in Arabic). Retrieved 25 May 2019.
  7. "The Henley Passport Index" (PDF). Henley & Partners Holdings Ltd. 1 October 2019. Retrieved 3 October 2019. This graph shows the full Global Ranking of the 2019 Henley Passport Index. As the index uses dense ranking, in certain cases, a rank is shared by multiple countries because these countries all have the same level of visa-free or visa-on-arrival access.
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