Syrian passport

Syrian passport
The front cover of a contemporary Syrian biometric passport
Type	Passport
Issued by	Ministry of Interior, Directorate of Immigration and Passports
First issued	1929 (first version) 21 August 2023(biometric)
Purpose	Identification, proof of citizenship
Valid in	All countries except State of Israel
Eligibility	Syrian citizenship
Expiration	6 years after acquisition

The Syrian passport (Arabic: جواز سفر الجمهورية العربية السورية jaw, romanized: Jawāz Safar Al-Jumhūriyyah Al-ʿArabiyyah Al-Sūriyya) is a travel document issued by Syria's Directorate 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.

History

Biometric passport

In late 2016, Syria's Department of Immigration and Passports announced that it is planning to change to biometric passports. In early 2019, Syria announced that it is getting ready to release its new passport. In August 2023, Syria officially issued biometric passport and French language has been removed.

Passport issuance procedures

Passport Application Fees differ inside the country and outside:

Outside the country:

$800 for an urgent passport.

$300 for a normal speed passport.

Inside the country:

1,526,250 SYP (~$111) for instant passport.

137,500 SYP (~$10) for expedited passport.

96,250 SYP (~$7) for normal passport.

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.

Types

• Ordinary passport: issued to Syrian citizens

• Diplomatic passport: issued to the following categories and granted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates (Protocols Department):
  A - Prime Minister and other ministers
  B - Speaker of the People’s Assembly and his deputy
  C - Members of the diplomatic and consular corps and members of missions of Syria to international organizations.
  D -Technical attaches of various ranks to diplomatic missions abroad
  E - Diplomatic baggage holders
  F - Members delegated from the Syrian Arab Republic to the main organs of the United Nations and the International Court of Justice during the performance of their mission
  G- Former foreign ministers
  H- Wives, minor children, and unmarried daughters of members of the categories mentioned.

• Special passport: issued to the following categories and granted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates (Protocols Department):
  A - Governors of the Syrian governorates.
  B - Employees working at the level of Undersecretary and above and their equivalents.
  C - Members of the People’s Assembly.
  D - Former ambassadors and ministers.
  E - Syrian employees in the League of Arab States who are considered members of diplomatic missions during their official movements.
  F - Administrative and clerical employees attached to diplomatic missions and missions of Syrian to international organizations
  G- Wives of Category (A) individuals and their minor children
  H- Wives of members of other categories and their minor children traveling with them.

• Service passport: issued to the following categories and granted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates (Protocols Department):
  State employees dispatched on an official mission abroad, such as conferences, meetings, exhibitions, and international bodies other than those mentioned above, based on a request from the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

• Hajj passport: is issued to citizens wishing to perform Hajj. It is valid for travel once and expires after arriving in Syrian territory. It is granted by the Ministry of Interior (Immigration and Passports Directorate) in coordination with the Ministry of Endowments (Directorate of Hajj and Umrah).

• Maritime Passport: issued to ship sailors and issued by the Ministry of Transport (Maritime Inspection Department).

• Air passport: issued to the aircraft command authority and granted by the Ministry of Transport (General Corporation of Civil Aviation)

• The Syrian government also issues two types of travel documents:

1. A special travel document for Palestinian refugees: issued to Palestinians who were displaced to Syria during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and is granted by the Ministry of Interior (Immigration and Passports Directorate) and Syrian diplomatic missions abroad.
2. Transit Document: is issued to citizens and holders of a Palestinian refugee document and is granted by Syrian diplomatic missions abroad in order to facilitate their arrival from their place of residence to Syrian territory when the passport or travel document of Palestinian refugees outside Syrian territory is lost.

The passport for a mission ends as soon as the mission is completed, and its holder arrives in Syrian territory. As for the diplomatic and special passports, they lose their value when the holder arrives in Syrian territory, since the diplomatic and special passport loses its immunity when its holder arrives in the country that granted him the diplomatic or special passport.

Physical appearance

• Ordinary passports are navy blue, with the Syrian Coat of arms emblazoned in the centre of the front cover.
  The words "الجمهورية العربية السورية" and "SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC" are centred on the top, and the words "جواز سفر" and "PASSPORT" are centred on the bottom, with the biometric passport symbol positioned below them.

• Diplomatic passports are burgundy, with the Syrian Coat of arms emblazoned in the centre of the front cover.
  The words "الجمهورية العربية السورية" and "SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC" are centred on the top, and the words "جواز سفر دبلوماسي" and "DIPLOMATIC PASSPORT" are centred on the bottom, with the biometric passport symbol positioned below them.

• Special passports are brown, with the Syrian Coat of arms emblazoned in the centre of the front cover.
  The words "الجمهورية العربية السورية" and "SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC" are centred on the top, and the words "جواز سفر خاص" and "SPECIAL PASSPORT" are centred on the bottom, with the biometric passport symbol positioned below them.

• Service passports are green, with the Syrian Coat of arms emblazoned in the centre of the front cover.
  The words "الجمهورية العربية السورية" and "SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC" are centred on the top, and the words "جواز سفر مهمة" and "SERVICE PASSPORT" are centred on the bottom, with the biometric passport symbol positioned below them.

Information page

Syrian passports include the following data on the information page:

• Photo of the passport holder
• Type (“PN” for ordinary passports, “PD” for diplomatic passports, “PL” for special passports, “PS” for service passport)
• Country Code (SYR)
• Passport number
• Name and surname of the passport holder
• Date of Birth (DD/MM/YYYY)
• Sex
• Place of birth (For people born in Syria only the name of the governorate of birth is written, for people born outside Syria only the country of birth is written)
• Father name and mother name
• Holder's national ID number (written under the photo of the holder)
• Date of expiry (DD/MM/YYYY)
• Place of Issue (For passports issued in Syria the name of the governorate of issue is written followed by a number specifying the centre within the governorate, for passports issued outside Syria only the country of issue is written)
• Date of issue (DD/MM/YYYY)

The information page ends with the machine readable zone.

The items are identified by text in Arabic and English (e.g., "تاريخ الولادة / Date of birth")

Passport note

The passports contain inside the front cover a note that is addressed to the authorities of all countries and territories, identifying the bearer as a citizen of Syria and requesting that he or she be allowed to pass and be treated according to international norms:

In Arabic:

يُطلب من موظفي حكومة الجمهورية العربية السورية ومن ممثليها في الخارج ويرجى من كل سلطة أخرى تعمل باسم الحكومة العربية السورية ومن السلطات المختصة أن تسمح لحامل هذا الجواز بحرية المرور وأن يقدم له كل ما يحتاج إليه من مساعدة ورعاية.

In English:

Officials of the Syrian Arab Republic and the diplomatic and consular authorities and any other authority acting on behalf of the Syrian Arab Government together with the relevant foreign authorities are kindly requested to let this passport holder pass freely and to give him the assistance and protection he may need.

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 2024, Syrian citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 29 countries and territories, ranking the Syrian passport 105th in the world which is the second least powerful passport in the world, only behind Afghanistan, according to the Henley Passport Index.

Gallery of historic images

Front Cover of an ordinary non-biometric Syrian passport

See also

• Visa requirements for Syrian citizens
• Syrian nationality law