Passport

Passport is a legal document issued by the country as a proof of citizenship and identity when a citizen of the country across their borders and go to a foreign country for travel or residence. The word in English means Port traffic permit. In other words, a passport is an identification when a citizen travel through the international ports. Therefore, some of the countries are usually issued laissez-passer documents instead of passports. Passport is also a film's name that co-produced by the Soviet Union, France, Austria in 1990.

At present most of the world issued passports, and generally can be divided into three categories: diplomatic passports, official passports and ordinary passports; individual countries only issued one kind of passport (such as the United Kingdom); few countries issued two kinds of passports (such as India and Pakistan, etc.); there are also 4 or 5 kinds of passports issued in some countries (such as the United States and France, etc..).

China's government issued three kinds of passports: the diplomatic passport, official passport and ordinary passport. Diplomatic passports are generally issued to persons with diplomatic status, such as diplomats, consular officials and the leaders of state, leaders of government, members of Congress or the government delegations who conduct affairs of state activities with foreign countries, should use diplomatic passports. According to the international convention, the above-mentioned persons' spouse and minor children, in general also sent diplomatic passports. China's diplomatic passport with a bright red cover on.

Official passports are issued to persons that in State service. In addition, every country issue this kind of passports to the staff members and their spouses and adult children that in the Embassies abroad but does not have diplomatic status. China's foreign official passports with the green cover, while the black cover on official passports, and function as Public Affairs ordinary passports, and is different from the green coverd ones.

An ordinary passport is issued to ordinary citizens (that is, the civilian). In China, ordinary passports have been divided into two types, one is Public Affairs passports (black cover), in general sent to the graduate students, visiting scholars and engineers and technical personnels that assigned abroad by the country, such passports are issued by the Department of State or local Foreign Affairs Office and now this kind of passports have been stopped issuing which replaced by private business ordinary passport or the black covered official passport. The other is the private business ordinary passports (maroon cover), issued by the local public security organs authorized by the State Ministry of Public Security or the Ministry of Public Security to its nationals that travels to a foreign country for private affairs or its nationals living abroad.