The Somali passport ( so, baasaboor) is a

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 ...

issued to citizens of

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

for international travel. Green Passports were formerly used, which have since been replaced with

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 ...

passports to ensure authenticity. The passports are regulated by the federal government of Somalia.

Overview

Somalia's former socialist government originally used to issue a non-

''Green Passport''. This travel document still remained in use after the collapse of former President

Siad Barre Mohamed Siad Barre ( so, Maxamed Siyaad Barre, Osmanya script: ; ar, محمد سياد بري; c. 1910 – 2 January 1995) was a Somali head of state and general who served as the 3rd president of the Somali Democratic Republic from 1969 to 199 ...

's regime. In response to widespread counterfeit Somali passports that subsequently flooded the black market, the

Transitional National Government The Transitional National Government (TNG) was the internationally recognized central government of Somalia from 2000 to 2004. Overview The TNG was established in April–May 2000 at the Somalia National Peace Conference held in Arta, Djibouti. ...

opened a new office in the 2000s to issue official state-approved passports. According to then Foreign Affairs Minister Muhammad Mahmud Shiil, the government would continue issuing old Somali passports with a new dry seal to prevent forgery or duplication, and passports already in circulation would a stamp with the new seal. The government announced in 2006 that it would issue a new machine-readable document to further ensure authenticity. Since 2007, the

Transitional Federal Government The Transitional Federal Government (TFG) ( so, Dowladda Federaalka Kumeelgaarka, ar, الحكومة الاتحادية الانتقالية) was internationally recognized as a provisional government of the Republic of Somalia from 14 October ...

(TFG) of Somalia has issued an

e-passport A biometric passport (also known as an e-passport or a digital passport) is a traditional passport that has an embedded electronic microprocessor chip which contains biometric information that can be used to authenticate the identity of the p ...

to comply with stricter international rules. In November 2010, the TFG opened a new passport-making facility in

Mogadishu Mogadishu (, also ; so, Muqdisho or ; ar, مقديشو ; it, Mogadiscio ), locally known as Xamar or Hamar, is the capital and List of cities in Somalia by population, most populous city of Somalia. The city has served as an important port ...

, the nation's capital. Printing of the travel documents had previously been conducted in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

, which reportedly engendered a backlog in passport issuance. The repatriated printing facilities are believed to offer a more responsive passport delivery process. Officially issued by the Somali Immigration Department, the passports now contain built-in security features comparable with other countries. In September 2011, the Transitional Federal Government officially banned use of Somalia's old Green Passport. According to Somali Immigration Officer, General Abdulaahi Gaafow Mohamoud, the identification document would no longer be accepted for business trips or travel by the end of the month. He added that the Green Passport would be replaced with a new blue model of e-passports that are particularly difficult to forge. In December 2013, the Deputy Director-General of Somali Immigration and Naturalization Abdullahi Hagi Bashir Ismail announced that the

Federal Government A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...

officially launched Somalia's new e-passport. Part of a broader initiative to strengthen security, the passport is issued by the

Ministry of Interior An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

's Department of Immigration. Citizens are eligible for the e-passport upon production of government-issued national identity documents and birth certificates. The Somali passport is not considered as valid travel document by Canada. Canada considers any passport issued by Somalia as unreliable document.

Visa requirements

As of 1 January 2017, Somali citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 30 countries and territories, ranking the Somali passport 100th in terms of travel freedom according to the Henley visa restrictions index.

References

External links

{{Somalia topics Passports by country Government of Somalia

Overview

Visa requirements

See also

References

External links