A document that shows that a person is a Swedish citizen and nice enough to travel abroad.
The first page of a passport issued before 1998 looks like this (Dark blue letters on some strange hard-to-reproduce background.):
SVERIGE
SUÈDE SWEDEN SCHWEDEN
The Swedish coat of arms. (Small version.)
PASS
PASSPORT
Innehavaren av detta pass är svensk medborgare.
The bearer of this passport is a Swedish citizen.
Detta pass gäller för resa i alla länder.
This passport is valid for all countries.
Passet innehåller 32 sidor.
This passport contains 32 pages.
A hard-to-reproduce dark blue pattern.
The cover of the passport bears the same text (until the word "PASS") in golden letters on a dark blue background.
Page two contains the following information:
- Type of passport (Unless you have a special kind of passport, there will be a 'P' here.)
- Code of issuing state (SWE)
- Passport number
- Photograph
- Surname(s)
- Given name(s)
- Nationality (Swedish, duh!)
- Height
- Sex
- Date of birth
- Personal identification number
- Place of birth (My passport states my mother's place of residence at the time of my birth, not the actual place of my birth.)
- Date of issue
- Date of expiry
- Issuing authority (Usually the police.)
Below all that is the same information again (I think) in two lines of computer readable text.
Page three holds the bearer's signature, the signature of whoever issued the passport, a very official looking stamp and the fee you paid for the passport. Page four holds any remarks. (It's usually empty.) The rest of the pages (five through thirty-two) are for visas and stamps.
Diplomatic passports are given not only to diplomats, but also to their spouses and any children below twenty years of age. They have the word "DIPLOMATPASS" on the cover instead of "PASS", "DIPLOMATIC PASSPORT" instead of "PASSPORT" and then in French "PASSEPORT DIPLOMATIQUE".
On the inside of the cover, this text appears on diplomatic passports (in Swedish, English and French):
"This passport must be returned to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs immediately upon the revocation of the official status for which the passport was issued."
The above isn't really true. Swedish diplomats who retire are usually allowed to keep their diplomatic passports.
On the first page of the diplomatic passports, this text appears (in Swedish, English and French):
"The Minister for Foreign Affairs requests all competent authorities to permit the bearer of this diplomatic passport to pass without delay or hindrance and in case of need to give all lawful aid and protection."
Many other countries have texts like this printed in all their passports, though in Sweden this is seems to be reserved for diplomats and the like. Seems to me like only diplomats are worthy of "...all lawful aid and protection." according to the Swedish government.
The post 1998 passports are manufactured by AB Svenska Pass with a method that involves laser engraving all information (including the photo) on a plastic card that is then bound into the passport. This make them harder to forge than the pre 1998 passports and carries the added benefit of them being valid as ID-cards aswell. AB Svenska Pass is owned by AB Tumba Bruk and Setec Oy. AB Tumba Bruk who made the pre 1998 passports is wholly owned by the Bank of Sweden and print all Swedish Banknotes. Setec Oy is wholly owned by the Bank of Finland.
Passports issued after 1998 are wine red. The cover says (In golden letters):
EUROPEISKA UNIONEN
SVERIGE
PASS
That would translate to; the European Union, Sweden, passport. To the left of the text is the small version of the Swedish coat of arms.
On the inside of the cover on the post 1998 passports is a picture of the painting Kräftfångst by Carl Larsson. Actually, it is only a picture of half the painting, as the other half is on the inside of the back cover. Below the picture is a line of text, identifying the picture as the aforementioned painting. The text also says that the original can be found at Nationalmuseum. (The Swedish national museum of arts) Also on the inside of the cover (in the lower right corner) is the Swedish coat of arms and the passport number.
The next page in the post 1998 passports is the previously mentioned plastic card . The 'first' page of the card is holds a translation of the cover into all twelve official languages of the European Union. The 'second' page of the plastic card holds the same information as page two of the pre 1998 passports with the addition of the holder's signature. The plastic card does not have any page numbers.
The first page of the post 1998 passports holds any remarks, it also contains the text; "This passport is valid for all countries." The second holds translations of the card into all twelve official languages of the EU. Pages three through thirty-one are for visas and stamps. Page thirty-two contains the text; "This passport contains 32 numbered pages.", once again in all twelve languages.
There are also (pink!) emergency passports, passports with extra many pages (64 - for avid travellers), cabinet passports (issued to members of cabinet and other high officials), service passports (issued to government officials when carrying out business abroad), collective passports (passports for more than one person, e.g. a sports team) and extra passports (for persons in need of more than one passport). Diplomatic, cabinet and service passports are issued by the ministry for foreign affairs.
Before the dark blue passports were introduced (in the early nineties, I think) the passports were slightly larger and black. The cover (made of very sturdy plastic) said the same thing as the dark blue ones. On the inside of the cover on my mothers old passport, issued in 1971 there is a blue text that says (in Swedish):
"The passport is an important document that must be handled with care. I must be returned upon the application of a new passport.
The change of data in the passport is prohibited by law. If the passport has changed, for example, by wear and tear or damage, this may entail, that in the event of a passport examination, entry or departure may be hindered or delayed.
Loss of the passport must be reported as soon as possible to Swedish or foreign police authorities. If the loss takes place abroad, it must also be reported to the nearest Swedish embassy or consulate.
Should the bearer of this passport lose his or her Swedish citizenship, it must be returned to the nearest police authority as soon as possible or - if the bearer is abroad - to the nearest Swedish embassy or consulate."
The text isn't there on my father's old passport, issued sometime in the eighties.
The first page of the passport says the same thing as the firt page of the dark blue passports, although the background has a different, light blue pattern. The second page holds the following information, written there with a normal ink pen:
- Surname(s)
- Given name(s)
- Date of birth
- Personal identification number
- Place of birth
- Place of residence
- Date of issue
- Date of expiry
The third page contains the following information, again written there with a normal pen:
- Hair colour
- Eye colour
- Height
- Sex
- The bearer's signature
- Name of the issuing authority and the issuer's signature.
- Photograph of the bearer
Page has something that looks like a postal stamp with the fee of the passport written on it. Next to it is the passport fee written again. Below that is the name of the authority delivering the passport and the signature of the deliverer, certifying that the bearer has signed his or her name on page three.
The rest of the pages in the passport are for visas and stamps.
How to get a Swedish passport:
- Make sure that you are a Swedish citizen. (On a second thought, you could just go for it anyway. Others have tried and succeeded.)
- Get a photograph of yourself complying to all these requirements:
- It mustn't be more than one year old.
- The face must be at an oblique angle so that one ear and the profile of the nose is visible.
- Both eyes must be fully visible and directed at the camera.
- The background must be of a light pattern.
- The lighting on the face must be smooth.
- There mustn't be any shadows in the background.
- If glasses are worn, there mustn't be any reflections in them.
- The entire head must be visible.
- The distance between eyes and the point of the chin must be between 14 and 20 millimetres.
- No headgear must be worn for other than religious reasons.
- Find a photo-ID.
- Find your old passport if you have one and it's still valid.
- Find 225 SEK.
- If you are a minor, get both your parents' written permission. It must be attested by two persons above eighteen years of age.
- Go to one of the 200 police stations that issue passports, fill out a form and give them all the stuff you have collected.
- Wait, your new passport will arrive in about five days.
During peak periods, up to 6000 passports are issued each day.
Fees for passports over time:
1971: 25 SEK
1992: 80 SEK
1994: 150 SEK
1997: 175 SEK
2002: 225 SEK
Thanks to gn0sis for his input on the text in the diplomatic passports.