An official passport would typically indicate that the bearer is an officer of the government in some capacity. I'm not sure that it is of much benefit. In some places I wouldn't necessarily want it known that I was a government employee. At least for Canada, the passports have a different colour cover; blue for standard, green for official and red for diplomatic. The wording is slightly different as well.
A diplomatic passport indicates that you're just that, a diplomat (or an employee of a foreign ministry on duty travel). However, it does not in itself convey diplomatic immunity. That comes with accreditation by the host government and applies only in the country to which you are accredited.
I've travelled widely on diplomatic passports. I know they were good for:
- Moving quickly through airports; that empty "Diplomats" line is a joy to behold in a packed airport with a tight connection.
- Impressing hotel clerks, and seatmates on airplanes - if you're into that sort of thing - when you pull it out to fill in your immigration forms. If I had been single or was less observant of my marriage vows, well, … never mind. The down side is that it seems that you meet a lot of people trying to get a visa to Canada and think you just might be the answer to their prayers, so I tried not to show it too much when it wasn't necessary.
- The expired/cancelled ones look great in my dresser drawer along with all my old blue passports and the astonishing variety of miscellanea that accumulates. Why I have a cigar cutter in there is a mystery for the ages. Pro Tip: never keep your expired passports in the same place as your current one. I've seen others learn that the hard way. No faster way to ruin a vacation than to show up at an airport or cruise terminal with an expired passport.
Official passports and diplomatic passports are both types of travel documents issued by governments, but they serve different purposes and are granted to individuals with different statuses. Here are the key differences between the two:
- Official Passport:- An official passport is issued to government officials or employees who are traveling abroad for official government business. This could include individuals such as government ministers, diplomats, or other government representatives.- Holders of official passports generally do not have the same privileges and immunities as holders of diplomatic passports. However, they may still have certain privileges, such as expedited visa processing or access to diplomatic channels when traveling on official business.- Official passports are typically issued to individuals who are representing their government in a non-diplomatic capacity, such as attending international conferences or conducting official government business.
- Diplomatic Passport:- A diplomatic passport is issued to diplomats, high-ranking government officials, and other individuals who are representing their government in an official diplomatic capacity. This includes ambassadors, consuls, and other diplomatic personnel.- Holders of diplomatic passports are granted certain privileges and immunities under international law, which are designed to ensure that they can carry out their diplomatic duties without interference from the host country. These privileges may include immunity from criminal jurisdiction and certain tax exemptions.- Diplomatic passports are used for travel on official diplomatic missions and are a tool to signify the diplomat's status and the official nature of their travel.
In summary, the main difference between an official passport and a diplomatic passport lies in the status and purpose of the individual holding the passport. Official passports are for government officials traveling on official government business but not in a diplomatic capacity, while diplomatic passports are for diplomats and high-ranking officials carrying out official diplomatic duties and representing their government in a diplomatic capacity.
My daughter’s got one, because she’s a diplomat at a Swedish embassy in an EU country. Her diplomatic passport is black, rather than the usual maroon of ‘non-diplomatic’ passports. It also has her position within the Swedish Foreign Ministry printed in it, so she needed to get a new one when her posting changed. There are some airports which have special lanes for diplomatic passports, which she can use, and she usually gets favourable attention from immigration officers. She’s only supposed to use her diplomatic passport when she travels on official business, though.
When she arrived at her posting she needed to get a special diplomatic ID from the country’s authorities and it’s this she shows to officials, if they ask for ID. It states that she’s a diplomat in the language of the country.
There are certain things she’s not allowed to do (and which can’t be done to her) in her capacity as a diplomat. For example, she’s not allowed to give statements to the country’s police without the explicit permission of her ambassador. In fact, if she should be involved in an accident, for example, the ambassador would be summoned to deal with the authorities. The Vienna Convention prohibits anyone from entering her residence without her being there too, which makes calls from the maintenance people a little bit more complicated - the landlord isn’t allowed to use the master key.
Swedish tax law gets complicated for diplomats too. Your domicile is supposed to be the place you sleep at night … but diplomats have to have a kind of fake domicile within Sweden, since their posting is officially not their domicile (which is why her child wouldn’t be eligible for US citizenship, if she gave birth while on a posting to the United States - neither Sweden nor the US would recognise her as ‘living there’). Hers is at my address. It makes things like picking up parcels or letters for her a bit complicated - I have to have a power of attorney for that.
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