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Acertificate of identity, sometimes called analien's passport, is atravel document issued by a country to non-citizens (also calledaliens) residing within their borders who arestateless persons or otherwise unable to obtain a passport from their state of nationality (generallyrefugees). Some states also issue certificates of identity to their own citizens as a form of emergencypassport or otherwise in lieu of a passport. The visa requirements of certificates of identity may be different from those of regular passports.
A certificate of identity issued to a refugee is also referred to as a1951 Convention travel document (also known as arefugee travel document or a Geneva passport), in reference to the 1951Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. 145 countries are parties to the 1951 Convention and 146 countries are parties to the 1967Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees. Notably, the United States is not a party to the Convention, but provides travel documents to its lawful permanent residents, either as aRe-entry Permit or a refugee travel document under the 1967 Protocol.
A certificate of identity issued to a stateless person is also referred to as a1954 Convention travel document, in reference to the1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons.[1] 89 countries are parties to the1954 Convention.
Unlike a refugee travel document, a certificate of identity issued by most countries does not in itself entitle the holder to readmission into the country.
Non-Convention (or non-National) travel documents aretravel documents issued by a country to non-citizen (also calledalien) residents who do not have access to passport facilities from their own countries, are not recognized as either Convention refugees, and are not officiallystateless under the 1954Convention relating to the status of stateless persons (or the country they live in has not signed that convention).
In these cases there is no formal international agreement to regulate the issue of travel documents to these people although most countries will issue their own version of a non-convention travel document to residents. These documents broadly meetICAO standards for international identity documents. They are known variously as Alien's Passports in mainland Europe and Scandinavia and as a certificate of identity in theUnited Kingdom,Australia andHong Kong.
Certificates of identity are issued under various names, including:
Australia –Australian Certificate of Identity
Brunei –Bruneian International Certificate of Identity
Canada –Canadian Certificate of Identity
Estonia –Estonian alien's passport
Finland –Finnish Alien's Passport [fi]
Hong Kong –Hong Kong Document of Identity for Visa Purposes
before handover –Hong Kong Certificate of Identity
India –Indian Identity Certificate
Indonesia –Paspor Orang Asing
Japan –Japan Re-entry Permit
Latvia –Non-citizens (Latvia)
Macau –Macau Special Administrative Region Travel Permit
before handover –Passaporte para Estrangeiros [zh] ('Passport for foreigners')
Malaysia –Malaysian Certificate of Identity
New Zealand –New Zealand Certificate of Identity
Singapore –Singapore Certificate of Identity
United Kingdom –British Certificate of Travel
United States –U.S. Re-entry Permit
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