Czech Republic rejects Vietnam’s new passport

“Vietnam’s new passport issued on July 1 does not meet the technical standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Therefore, the Czech Republic agrees with other member countries of the European Union (EU) to stop recognizing it,” the Czech Embassy in Vietnam said in a statement on Tuesday.

The decision takes effect from the time of notification, the embassy said, but did not specify the technical standards as prescribed by the ICAO that Vietnam’s new passport has not yet met.

At the same time, it did not specify whether the Czech Republic will stop issuing visas for the new Vietnamese passports.

According to ICAO guideline on passport standards, the required information on passports is passport type, name, passport number, nationality, date of birth, gender and passport expiration date.

Other information such as place of birth will depend on the country issuing it. But it also recommends that countries carefully consider all relevant issues when adding or removing birthplace information in passports.

On Monday, Spain followed Germany in denying visas to holders of Vietnam’s new passports. Both of them said the reason is because the passport lacks information on the holder’s place of birth.

“This is important information for personal identification and is also required for processing visa applications to the Schengen countries,” the Spanish Embassy in Vietnam announced Monday.

The Germany Embassy said on July 28 that the identity of a passport holder cannot be properly identified without their places of birth, especially for people with the same names.

A representative of the Immigration Department, Ministry of Public Security affirmed a few days ago that Vietnam’s new passport model complies with international regulations and practices and issues that arise will be prioritized for handling through diplomatic channels.

Vietnam’s new passport has been in use since July 1 this year. The old, green cover passports will continue to be valid till they expire. In the meantime, Schengen visa applications with a previous valid Vietnamese passport showing the place of birth will still be received and processed normally.