Passports issued by the European Union candidate states

European Union candidate states
EU candidate states shown in cyan.
Candidate states		Albania  Iceland  Macedonia  Montenegro  Serbia  Turkey

The front cover of a contemporary Albanian  biometric passport.

Since the 1980s, European Economic Area member states have started to harmonise the following aspects of the designs of their ordinary passports which have been reflected on the designs and features of the candidate countries' passports:

Characteristics

Overall format

• Paper size B7 (ISO/IEC 7810 ID-3, 88 mm × 125 mm)
• 32 pages (passports with more pages can be issued to frequent travellers)
• Colour of cover: burgundy red or blue

Cover

Information on the cover, in this order, in the language(s) of the issuing state:

• Name of the issuing state
• Emblem of the state
• The word "PASSPORT"
• The biometric passport symbol:

First page

Information on the first page, in one or more of the languages:

• Name of the issuing state
• The word "PASSPORT"
• Serial number (may also be repeated on the other pages)

Identification page

Information on the (possibly laminated) identification page, in the languages of the issuing state plus English and French:

1. Surname	2. Forename(s)
3. Nationality	4. Date of birth
5. Sex	6. Place of birth
7. Date of issue	8. Date of expiry
9. Authority	10. Signature of holder

Following page

Optional information on the following page:

11. Residence	12. Height
13. Colour of eyes	14. Extension of the passport
15. Name at birth (if now using married name or have legally changed names)

Remaining pages

• The following page is reserved for:
  • Details concerning the spouse of the holder of the passport (where a family passport is issued)
  • Details concerning children accompanying the holder (name, first name, date of birth, sex)
  • Photographs of the faces of spouse and children
• The following page is reserved for use by the issuing authorities
• The remaining pages are reserved for visa
• The inside back cover is reserved for additional information or recommendations by the issuing state in its own official language(s)

Overview of passports issued by the EU candidate states

Candidate state	Passport cover	Visa free	Cost	Validity	Issuing authority	Latest version
Albania			7500 ALL	5 or 10 years	Ministry of the Interior	2015
Iceland				10 years	Ministry of the Interior	2009
Macedonia			1800 MKD older than 27 1700 MKD ages 4 – 27 1600 MKD ages 0 – 4	5 or 10 years (aged 27 and older)	Ministry of the Interior[1]	2009
Montenegro			€40	10 years	Ministry of the Interior[2]	2008
Serbia			3600 RSD	10 years	Ministry of the Interior[3]	7 July 2008
Turkey			164.55 (~ $83) for 6 months 207.20 (~ $104) for 1 year 292.65 (~ $147) for 2 years 385.25 (~ $193) for 3 years 513.40 (~ $258) for 4–10 years	6 months 1–10 years	Ministry of Justice	1 June 2010

Visa requirements for the nationals of EU candidate states for travel to the EEA, United States and Canada

While nationals of Iceland have full freedom of movement and residence within the territory of the EEA (which derives from EEA and EU law), nationals of other candidate countries have varying visa arrangements with the Schengen Area and the Common Travel Area members, as well as with the United States and Canada. The following table details the requirements:

State	Current candidate status	Schengen Area Annex II[4]	Common Travel Area[5] UK and Ireland	USA – ESTA[6]	Canada
Albania[7]	Candidate	90 days per 1/2-year[4]	PRE-ARRIVAL VISA REQUIRED	PRE-ARRIVAL VISA REQUIRED	PRE-ARRIVAL VISA REQUIRED
Iceland[8]	Candidate	Visa not required;[9] Freedom of movement	Visa not required;[10] Freedom of movement	Visa not required Visa Waiver Program[11]; 90 days on arrival from overseas for 2 years, ESTA required	Visa not required[12]; 6 months
Macedonia[13]	Candidate	90 days per 1/2-year[4]	PRE-ARRIVAL VISA REQUIRED	PRE-ARRIVAL VISA REQUIRED	PRE-ARRIVAL VISA REQUIRED
Montenegro[14]	Negotiating	90 days per 1/2-year[4]	PRE-ARRIVAL VISA REQUIRED	PRE-ARRIVAL VISA REQUIRED	PRE-ARRIVAL VISA REQUIRED
Serbia[15]	Negotiating	90 days per 1/2-year[4]	PRE-ARRIVAL VISA REQUIRED	PRE-ARRIVAL VISA REQUIRED	PRE-ARRIVAL VISA REQUIRED
Turkey[16]	Negotiating	PRE-ARRIVAL VISA REQUIRED	PRE-ARRIVAL VISA REQUIRED	road map country	PRE-ARRIVAL VISA REQUIRED

Current EU enlargement agenda

  Member states

  Candidates: Iceland, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey^[17]

  Application submitted: Albania

  Recognised by the EU as potential candidates which have not yet applied for membership: Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo (status disputed).^[18]

The enlargement of the European Union involves the accession of new member states. This process began with the Inner Six, who founded the European Coal and Steel Community (the EU's predecessor) in 1952. Since then, the EU's membership has grown to twenty-eight with the most recent expansion to Croatia in 2013.

Currently, accession negotiations are under way with several states. The process of enlargement is sometimes referred to as European integration. This term is also used to refer to the intensification of co-operation between EU member states as national governments allow for the gradual harmonisation of national laws.

To join the European Union, a state needs to fulfil economic and political conditions called the Copenhagen criteria (after the Copenhagen summit in June 1993), which require a stable democratic government that respects the rule of law, and its corresponding freedoms and institutions. According to the Maastricht Treaty, each current member state and the European Parliament must agree to any enlargement.

The present enlargement agenda of the European Union regards Turkey, the Western Balkans and Iceland. Turkey has a long-standing application with the EU but the negotiations are expected to take many more years. As for the Western Balkan states, the EU had pledged to include them after their civil wars: in fact, two states have entered, three are candidates, one applied and the others have pre-accession agreements. Finally, Iceland has recently frozen its negotiations with the EU.

There are however other states in Europe which either seek membership or could potentially apply if their present foreign policy changes, or the EU gives a signal that they might now be included on the enlargement agenda. However, these are not formally part of the current agenda, which is already delayed due to bilateral disputes in the Balkans and difficulty in fully implementing the acquis communautaire (the accepted body of EU law).

Today the accession process follows a series of formal steps, from a pre-accession agreement to the ratification of the final accession treaty. These steps are primarily presided over by the European Commission (Enlargement Commissioner and DG Enlargement), but the actual negotiations are technically conducted between the Union's Member States and the candidate country.

Before a country applies for membership it typically signs an association agreement to help prepare the country for candidacy and eventual membership. Most countries do not meet the criteria to even begin negotiations before they apply, so they need many years to prepare for the process. An association agreement helps prepare for this first step.

In the case of the Western Balkans, a special process, the Stabilisation and Association Process exists to deal with the special circumstances there.

When a country formally applies for membership, the Council asks the Commission to prepare an opinion on the country's readiness to begin negotiations. The Council can then either accept or reject the Commission's opinion (The Council has only once rejected the Commission's opinion when the latter advised against opening negotiations with Greece).^[19]

If the Council agrees to open negotiations the screening process then begins. The Commission and candidate country examine its laws and those of the EU and determine what differences exist. The Council then recommends opening negotiations on "chapters" of law that it feels there is sufficient common ground to have constructive negotiations. Negotiations are typically a matter of the candidate country convincing the EU that its laws and administrative capacity are sufficient to execute European law, which can be implemented as seen fit by the member states. Often this will involve time-lines before the Acquis Communautaire (European regulations, directives and standards) has to be fully implemented.

	State	Status	Association Agreement	Applied for Membership	Candidate status	Start of negotiations	Screening completed	Acquis Chapters open/closed[20]
	Albania	2 !Candidate	000000002006-06-12-000012 June 2006 (SAA)	000000002009-04-28-000028 April 2009	000000002014-06-23-000023 June 2014	–	–	–
	Iceland	2 !Candidate	000000002001-04-09-00009 April 2001 (SAA)	000000002009-07-16-000016 July 2009	000000002010-07-27-000027 July 2010	000000002010-07-27-000027 July 2010	000000002010-07-27-000027 July 2010	27/11 of 33
	Macedonia	2 !Candidate	000000002001-04-09-00009 April 2001 (SAA)	000000002004-03-22-000022 March 2004	000000002005-12-17-000017 December 2005	–	–	–
	Montenegro	1 !Negotiating	000000002007-10-15-000015 October 2007 (SAA)	000000002008-12-15-000015 December 2008	000000002010-12-17-000017 December 2010	000000002012-06-29-000029 June 2012	–	2/2 of 33
	Serbia	1 !Negotiating	000000002008-04-29-000029 April 2008 (SAA)	000000002009-12-22-000022 December 2009	000000002012-03-01-00001 March 2012	000000002014-01-21-000021 January 2014	000000002014-01-21-000021 January 2014	1/0 of 35
	Turkey	1 !Negotiating	000000001963-09-12-000012 September 1963 (AA)	000000001987-04-14-000014 April 1987	000000001999-12-12-000012 December 1999	000000002005-10-03-00003 October 2005	000000002006-10-13-000013 October 2006	13/1 of 33

Gallery of EU candidate state passports

• 
  Albanian passport
  
• 
  Icelandic passport
  
• 
  Macedonian passport
  
• 
  Serbian passport
  
• 
  Turkish passport
  

See also

• Future enlargement of the European Union
• Passports of the European Union
• Schengen Area
• Common Travel Area
• Visa policy in the European Union
• United Kingdom visa requirements
• Passports of the European Economic Area
• National identity cards in the European Economic Area
• European Economic Area
• European Free Trade Association
• United States visa
• Electronic System for Travel Authorization
• Visa policy of Canada
• List of passports

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to European passports.

• European Passports in PRADO (The Council of the European Union Public Register of Authentic Travel and Identity Documents Online)