Bhutanese passport

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Bhutanese passport
Bhutanese passport.jpg
The front cover of an ordinary (blue) Bhutanese passport
TypePassport
Issued byFlag of Bhutan.svg  Bhutan
First issuedapp. 2006 [1] (current version)
PurposeIdentification
Eligibility Bhutanese citizenship
ExpirationTen years

A Bhutanese passport is a document which authorizes and facilitates travel and other activities in Bhutan or by Bhutanese citizens. Foreign travel passports are issued to citizens of Bhutan for international travel by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It is valid for all countries unless otherwise endorsed. [2]

Contents

History

A Lhotshampa man holding his Bhutanese passport in a Beldangi camp. Lotshampa refugees in Beldangi Camp.jpg
A Lhotshampa man holding his Bhutanese passport in a Beldangi camp.

In the Kingdom of Bumthang, which constitutes a part of modern-day Bhutan, feudal passbooks or dzeng (Dzongkha : ཛེང) were issued to court messengers in order to travel from kingdom to kingdom. [2] Diplomacy and mediating were crucially important measures in pre-modern Bhutan chiefdoms. [3]

Foreign travel passports are issued to citizens of Bhutan for international travel. New Bhutanese passports are issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In 1988, Bhutanese passport holders abroad were ordered to surrender their passports upon their return to Bhutan. [4]

The current version of the Bhutanese passports were first issued around 2006.

Languages

The passport contains text in English and Dzongkha. [5]

Types of passport

Overview of Bhutanese passports
Type of passportColorImage
Ordinary passport (Dzongkha : ་དགེ་འདུན་, romanized: Shinthron) Blue Bhutanese passport.jpg
Official passport (Dzongkha : དབྱངས།་, romanized: Pawchang) Green
Diplomatic passport (Dzongkha : ཞག་དང་རྣ, romanized: Denzhen) Red 256169 thumb.jpg

Visa requirements

As of 2024, Bhutanese citizens have visa-free or visa on arrival access to 52 countries and territories, ranking the Bhutanese passport 92nd in the world according to the Henley Passport Index, together with Chad and Comoros.

Visa requirements for Bhutanese citizens
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Bhutan
Freedom of movement
Visa not required
Visa on arrival
eVisa
Visa available both on arrival or online
Visa required Visa requirements for Bhutanese citizens.svg
Visa requirements for Bhutanese citizens
  Bhutan
  Freedom of movement
  Visa not required
  Visa on arrival
  eVisa
  Visa available both on arrival or online
  Visa required

In 2013, a spoken article on the English Wikipedia was created for the Bhutanese passport by user KuchenZimjah, [6] which was interpreted as humorous, spawning an internet meme. The audio file was deleted in 2015 following debate on the article's talk page. [7] [8] In 2023, YouTube creator Hbomberguy used this recording as an example of audio versions of articles being an accessibility feature and of recreating someone else's creative work in an ethical, productive way. [9]

See also

Related Research Articles

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References

  1. "Council of the European Union - PRADO - BTN-AO-01001". www.consilium.europa.eu. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  2. 1 2 http://www.nab.gov.bt/downloads/82NA%20resolution.doc%5B%5D
  3. ༄༅།༅།ཆ༅ས༌ས༅ད་བར༅་གསར༌ར༅༅ང་ག༅༌ར༅མ༌གཞག༌ས༅༅ང༌ར༅༅འ༅་བ༅མ་པ། (PDF) (in Dzongkha). ISBN   978-99936-15-07-1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
  4. "Circular MFA/PD/14.19". Kuensel . 15 January 1988.
  5. James Minahan (1 December 2009). The complete guide to national symbols and emblems. Greenwood Press. ISBN   978-0-313-34498-5.
  6. Newman, Tim (20 March 2015). "Wikipedia's "Bhutaenese [sic] Passport" Audio Article Is The Funniest Thing You'll Hear All Week". Lazer Horse. Archived from the original on 13 March 2024. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
  7. "When 'Bhutanese passport' was deleted from Wiki after being subjected to trolls". The News Minute. 30 March 2015. Archived from the original on 13 March 2024. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
  8. Lileks, James (27 March 2015). "The trouble with "Bhutanese Passport."". Star Tribune . Archived from the original on 13 March 2024. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
  9. Plagiarism and You(Tube) (video). Hbomberguy. 2 December 2023. Event occurs at 3:33:14. Retrieved 6 February 2024 via YouTube.