A_sample_1951_convention_travel_document

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A refugee travel document (also called a 1951 Convention travel document or Geneva passport) is a

travel document A travel document is an identity document issued by a government or international entity pursuant to international agreements to enable individuals to clear border control measures. Travel documents usually assure other governments that the be ...

issued to a

refugee A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

by the state in which they normally reside in allowing them to travel outside that state and to return there. Refugees are unlikely to be able to obtain

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 ...

s from their state of nationality (from which they have sought asylum) and therefore need travel documents so that they might engage in international travel. The 145 states which are parties to the 1951

Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees The Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, also known as the 1951 Refugee Convention or the Geneva Convention of 28 July 1951, is a United Nations multilateral treaty that defines who a refugee is, and sets out the rights of individua ...

are obliged to issue travel documents to refugees lawfully resident in their territory. Refugee travel documents are passport-like booklets. Their cover bears the words "Travel Document" in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

and

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

(and often in the language of the issuing state), as well as the date of the convention: 28 July 1951. The documents were originally grey, though some countries now issue them in other colours, with two diagonal lines in the upper left corner of the front cover. Bearers enjoy certain visa-free travel privileges extended by signatories to the convention. However, as a refugee travel document is not a regular national passport, some problems may be encountered by the holder from time to time, for example due to non-familiarity of airline staff with such documents.

Travel documents issued to refugees

New Zealand Refugee Travel Document The New Zealand Refugee Travel Document is a refugee travel document (RTD), an international biometric travel document, issued by the Department of Internal Affairs to a recognised refugee in New Zealand. The cost of an application for an RTD is N ...

* Estonian travel document for refugees * U.S Refugee Travel Document (United States) visa not required for Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Croatia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Hungary and Cyprus. * Australian Convention Travel Document. This document by itself does not allow the bearer to return to Australia; for that, a separate visa must be obtained. *

Swiss Travel Document A Swiss travel document is a paper allowing travel by political refugees and foreigners living in Switzerland with B (Right to Stay) or C ( permanent resident) permits who do not have national passports. The holder of a travel document for refugees ...

Limitations of a refugee travel document compared to a passport

*Refugee travel documents issued by the Government of Canada cannot be used for travel to the bearer’s country of citizenship, and a refugee travel document issued by another country is not treated as a valid passport for the purposes of obtaining an

Electronic Travel Authorization An electronic visa, electronic entry visa or electronic travel authorisation/electronic travel authority (ETA) is a travel permit in an electronic form. It is often required in addition to a valid passport for access into a particular jurisdictio ...

to visit

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 to ...

. Given that bearers of refugee travel documents are not citizens of the issuing country they may need to apply for a visa before travelling to Canada. *Egyptian travel documents issued for

Palestinian refugees Palestinian refugees are citizens of Mandatory Palestine, and their descendants, who fled or were expelled from their country over the course of the 1947–49 Palestine war (1948 Palestinian exodus) and the Six-Day War ( 1967 Palestinian exodu ...

are considered unacceptable travel documents for travel and entry to

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 coun ...

, unless they include an entry visa allowing the holder to enter

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

Gallery of Refugee Travel Documents

File:Front cover of a Canadian travel document issued to refugees under the 1951 convention.jpg, Canadian Refugee Travel Document File:Irish refugee travel document.png, Irish Refugee Travel Document File:Japan Refugee Travel Document 2009.png, Japanese Refugee Travel Document File:Australian Titres de Voyage Cover.jpg, Australian Refugee Travel Document

Footnotes

External links

from

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 ...

1951 Convention travel document
Images from Passportland.com Refugee travel documents United Nations documents {{UN-stub

Travel documents issued to refugees

Limitations of a refugee travel document compared to a passport

Gallery of Refugee Travel Documents

See also

National non-citizen travel documents

Footnotes

External links