The Five Nations Passport Group is an international forum between the

passport A passport is an official travel document issued by a government that contains a person's identity. A person with a passport can travel to and from foreign countries more easily and access consular assistance. A passport certifies the personal ...

-issuing authorities of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

to share best practices in the issuance, development, and management of passports. The annual Five Nations Passport Conference is a largely informal in-person meeting between officials of the participating agencies, with some additional invited guests such as the Irish

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is the department of the Australian federal government responsible for foreign policy and relations, international aid (using the branding Australian Aid), consular services and trade and inv ...

in 2011. It has taken place since at least as far back as 2004. The member states' issuing authorities are comparable to each other: their passport issuance systems are mostly centralised and their service channels are similar to each other. None of the Five Nation countries have a compulsory identity management system, which means that citizens' personal information is not available in a central citizenship database or registry.

Participating issuing authorities

The agencies that participate in the Five Nations Passport Group for each state is their relevant passport-issuing authority. *:

Australian Passport Office Australian Passport Office is an independent operating agency of the Government of Australia with bureaucratic oversight provided through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) portfolio. It issues Australian passports to Australian citi ...

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC; french: Immigration, Réfugiés et Citoyenneté Canada)Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program since 2015; the legal title is Departm ...

Department of Internal Affairs The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA), or in te reo Māori, is the public service department of New Zealand charged with issuing passports; administering applications for citizenship and lottery grants; enforcing censorship and gambling law ...

*: His Majesty's Passport Office *: Department of State

Passport specifications

Unlike EU passports, which follow a common format, Five Nations passports develop through the sharing of best practices and information relating to the development of passports. However, all Five Nations passports are

biometric Biometrics are body measurements and calculations related to human characteristics. Biometric authentication (or realistic authentication) is used in computer science as a form of identification and access control. It is also used to identify in ...

and machine-readable, and B7 sized ( ISO/IEC 7810 ID-3, 88 mm × 125 mm). Generally, Five Nations passport holders have access to each other's automated border control systems. Currently, all Five Nations passport holders have access to Australia and New Zealand's

SmartGate SmartGate (eGate in New Zealand) is an automated self-service border control system operated by the Australian Border Force and New Zealand Customs Service and located at immigration checkpoints in departure and arrival halls in ten Australian in ...

system and the UK's

ePassport gates ePassport gates are automated self-service barriers (an automated border control system) operated by the UK Border Force and located at immigration checkpoints in arrival halls in some airports across the UK and at the juxtaposed controls in ...

. Similarly, British passport holders have access to the US's

Global Entry Global Entry is a program of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection service that allows pre-approved, low-risk travelers to receive expedited clearance upon arrival into the United States through automatic kiosks at select airports and via the S ...

programme, while Canadians have access to the

NEXUS NEXUS is a joint Canada Border Services Agency and U.S. Customs and Border Protection-operated Trusted Traveler and Border control#Expedited border controls, expedited border control program designed for pre-approved, low-risk travelers. Members ...

programme. Australia is also planning to participate in Global Entry.

Passport circulation

The number of Five Nations passports in circulation is:

Notes

References

{{Passports Anglosphere Passports

Participating issuing authorities

Passport specifications

Passport circulation

See also

Notes

References