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 The front cover of a contemporary Danishbiometric passport | |
| Type | Passport |
| Issued by |  Local Governments in Denmark |
| First issued | 1 January 1985 (first EU format)[1] 1 August 2006[2] (biometric passport) 1 January 2012[3] (version 5) 1 October 2021[4] (current version) |
| Purpose | Identification |
| Eligibility | Citizens of the Kingdom of Denmark |
| Expiration | 2 years and 4 months for children up to the age of 1 5 years and 4 months for citizens aged 2–17 10 years and 4 months for individuals above the age of 18 (All passports can be renewed for 1 year within 2 years of original expiration date) |
| Cost |
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ADanish passport (Danish:dansk pas) is an identity document issued to citizens of theKingdom of Denmark to facilitate international travel. Besides serving as proof ofDanish citizenship, they facilitate the process of securing assistance fromDanish consular officials abroad (or other EU consulates orNordic missions[6][7] in case a Danish consular official is absent).
Different versions exist for nationals of Denmark,Greenland, and theFaroe Islands although they do not indicate a different nationality, with all holders being Danish citizens. Danish nationals residing in Greenland can choose between the Danish—EU passport, and the sub-national Danish—Greenlandic passport.[8]
Every Danish citizen (except for nationals residing in the Faroe Islands) is also acitizen of the European Union. The passport entitles its bearer tofreedom of movement in theEuropean Economic Area andSwitzerland. For travel within theNordic countries no identity documentation is legally required for Nordic citizens due to theNordic Passport Union.
According to the July 2024Visa Restrictions Index, Danish citizens can visit 192 countries without avisa or with a visa granted on arrival.[9]
The Danish and Greenlandic versions of the passport have burgundy colour covers, according to theEuropean Union's recommendations, while the Faroese-Danish version is green. All contain theNational Coat of arms of Denmark emblazoned in the centre of the front cover, with the wordDANMARK (Denmark) above it, and the wordPAS (Passport) below. Since 1 August 2006,biometric passports are issued.Above the wordDANMARK, the Danish version contains the wordsDEN EUROPÆISKE UNION (European Union) (as all other EU passports), while in the Greenlandic and Faroese versions the textKALAALLIT NUNAAT (Greenland) orFØROYAR (Faroe Islands) is written. Fields on the bearer's page are in Danish, English, and French, with translations in the officiallanguages of the European Union elsewhere in the document. Instead of French,Faroese orGreenlandic are used in the Faroese and Greenlandic versions respectively. The page contains the following information:[10]
Passports contain amachine readable strip starting with P>DNK for all types.
Names containing letters not used in English (æ,ø,å) are spelled the correct way in the non-machine-readable zone, but are mapped in themachine-readable zone, æ becomingAE, ø becomingOE, and å becomingAA. This follows the internationalmachine-readable passport standard.
For example, Gråbøl → GRAABOEL.
Besides the ordinary passport (with PAS on the cover), also 3 versions of blueservice passports (TJENESTEPAS) and a single reddiplomatic passport (DIPLOMATPAS) are issued. The latter does not bear the textDEN EUROPÆISKE UNION,KALAALLIT NUNAAT norFØROYAR.
As of 16 July 2024, Danish citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 192 countries and territories, thus ranking the Danish passport fourth in the world (tied with the passports ofBelgium and theUnited Kingdom) according to theHenley Passport Index.[13]According to theWorld Tourism Organization 2016 report, the Danish passport is first in the world (tied with Finland, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Singapore, and the United Kingdom) in terms of travel freedom, with the mobility index of 160 (out of 215 with no visa weighted by 1, visa on arrival weighted by 0.7, eVisa by 0.5 and traditional visa weighted by 0).[14]
As amember state of the European Union, Danish citizens enjoyfreedom of movement within theEuropean Economic Area (EEA). The Citizens’ Rights Directive[15] defines the right of free movement for citizens of the EEA. Throughbilateral agreements freedom of movement is extended to Switzerland,[16] and all EU andEFTA nationals are not only visa-exempt but are legally entitled to enter and reside in each other's countries.
In 2010, an atheist Danish citizen filed a complaint to the Danish Ministry of Justice, due to the passport's inclusion of a picture of thecrucifixion of Jesus as shown on theJelling Stones, arguing that passports should be free of religious symbols.[17] This argument was rejected by leading Danish politicians, arguing that Christianity is a part of Denmark's cultural history, and Christianity was not depicted exclusively, since the passport also includes an image of adragon motif, likewise taken from the largest Jelling Stone.[18] The passport design including images from the Jelling Stones was introduced in 1997,[19] when the current burgundy design was introduced. Prior to Denmark's adoption of the common EU passport design and format (along with Italy and Ireland) in 1985,[1] Danish passports had green or beige covers.
EU rules allow any citizen of a member country to travel anywhere in the EU without a passport, if they have anational identity card stating citizenship and some other standardised information. Denmark and Ireland (and previously the UK) are the only EU countries that do not issue national identity cards; however, Ireland issuespassport cards which are treated by law as ID cards by some EU countries. Therefore, Denmark is the only country in the EU whose citizens cannot travel to other nations with ID cards or equivalents. There has been some political support for introducing such cards since the EU rule was introduced, but this has not yet become a reality.[20]
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