My passport is my own property !

Whether one's passport was one's own property or not was a discussion here
some time ago. I did the best to claim that my Swedish passport was my own
property as nothing else was indicated in the passport text nor in the law.
In the typical way a number of persons had better knowledge trying to
convince me I was wrong.
So I mailed the ministry of justice with a question. The official answer
arrived today with an apologize for the very long time used. Obviously not
much of a priority.
However as I'm interpreting the answer there's ,contrary to other countries
where the passport is supposed to be a "loan" from the government , no such
law in the Swedish lawtext. My passport is perfectly my property.
Furthermore, according to the answer,
a cancelled passport is an invalid document and I'm perfectly allowed to
keep it.

The answer :

Justitiedepartementet



Enheten för polisfrågor samt allmän ordning och säkerhet

Charlotte von Essen




2004-04-14
Ju2003/5639/PO


Tack för ditt brev om äganderätt till pass. .

Jag beklagar att svaret har dröjt


I brevet undrar du vem som är ägare till ditt svenska pass, staten som
utfärdande myndighet eller du själv samt vem som är ägare till dina gamla
makulerade pass.



I vissa länder finns det regler om att passet lånas ut av staten. I
Sverige saknas emellertid sådana regler.



Bestämmelser om pass till svenska medborgare finns i passlagen och
passförordningen. I passlagen anges att svensk medborgare efter ansökan har
rätt att erhålla pass. Passet kan återkallas, men det får ske endast på de
grunder som anges i passlagen. Om passet har återkallats är passinnehavaren
skyldig att överlämna det till passmyndigheten.



En person kan i princip endast inneha ett pass åt gången. Ansöker man
om nytt pass är man i regel skyldig att lämna in tidigare pass för
makulering om det inte har förstörts eller kommit bort. Vad gäller det
makulerade passet så är det en obrukbar handling. Ett makulerat pass får
passinnehavaren behålla om han eller hon så önskar.



Med vänlig hälsning





Charlotte von Essen

kansliråd

Whether one's passport was one's own property or not was a discussion here
some time ago. I did the best to claim that my Swedish passport was my
own
property as nothing else was indicated in the passport text nor in the
law.
In the typical way a number of persons had better knowledge trying to
convince me I was wrong.
So I mailed the ministry of justice with a question. The official
answer
arrived today with an apologize for the very long time used. Obviously
not
much of a priority.
However as I'm interpreting the answer there's ,contrary to other
countries
where the passport is supposed to be a "loan" from the government , no
such
law in the Swedish lawtext. My passport is perfectly my property.
Furthermore, according to the answer,
a cancelled passport is an invalid document and I'm perfectly allowed to
keep it.

In the UK, a passport explicitly states that it is the property of the
crown. However, when you renew, they allways send the old one back to you
(with a corner clipped)

Lennart Petersen writes:

Whether one's passport was one's own property or not was a discussion here
some time ago. I did the best to claim that my Swedish passport was my own
property as nothing else was indicated in the passport text nor in the law.
In the typical way a number of persons had better knowledge trying to
convince me I was wrong.
So I mailed the ministry of justice with a question. The official answer
arrived today with an apologize for the very long time used. Obviously not
much of a priority.
However as I'm interpreting the answer there's ,contrary to other countries
where the passport is supposed to be a "loan" from the government , no such
law in the Swedish lawtext. My passport is perfectly my property.

Perhaps that is true in Sweden. In the U.S., a passport is a government
document. It's a bit like a credit card (a credit card belongs to the
bank that issued it, not to the cardholder).

--
Transpose hotmail and mxsmanic in my e-mail address to reach me directly.

"freeda" wrote in message
...
Whether one's passport was one's own property or not was a discussion
here
some time ago. I did the best to claim that my Swedish passport was my
own
property as nothing else was indicated in the passport text nor in the
law.
In the typical way a number of persons had better knowledge trying to
convince me I was wrong.
So I mailed the ministry of justice with a question. The official
answer
arrived today with an apologize for the very long time used. Obviously
not
much of a priority.
However as I'm interpreting the answer there's ,contrary to other
countries
where the passport is supposed to be a "loan" from the government , no
such
law in the Swedish lawtext. My passport is perfectly my property.
Furthermore, according to the answer,
a cancelled passport is an invalid document and I'm perfectly allowed to
keep it.

In the UK, a passport explicitly states that it is the property of the
crown. However, when you renew, they allways send the old one back to you
(with a corner clipped)

You get your old passport back partly because it is possible that it
has a visa in it, the validity of which exceeds the validity of the old
passport. Presumably it is easier just to send them all back than
to check

tim

snip

law in the Swedish lawtext. My passport is perfectly my property.
Furthermore, according to the answer,
a cancelled passport is an invalid document and I'm perfectly allowed
to
keep it.

In the UK, a passport explicitly states that it is the property of the
crown. However, when you renew, they allways send the old one back to
you
(with a corner clipped)

You get your old passport back partly because it is possible that it
has a visa in it, the validity of which exceeds the validity of the old
passport. Presumably it is easier just to send them all back than
to check

Back in the old days of Black Passports.
If you had a visa that went beyond the validity of your passport, they used
to glue the old passport to the back of the new one. Well it happened to me
once..

"erilar" wrote in message
...
In article , Mxsmanic
wrote:

Perhaps that is true in Sweden. In the U.S., a passport is a government
document. It's a bit like a credit card (a credit card belongs to the
bank that issued it, not to the cardholder).


But I have an old U S passport in a file...


I have my old British passports too BUT it clearly
states

"This passport remains the property of Her Majesty's
government in the United Kingdom and may be withdrawn
at any time"

Keith

In article , Mxsmanic
wrote:

Lennart Petersen writes:

Whether one's passport was one's own property or not was a discussion
here
some time ago. I did the best to claim that my Swedish passport was my
own
property as nothing else was indicated in the passport text nor in the
law.
In the typical way a number of persons had better knowledge trying to
convince me I was wrong.
So I mailed the ministry of justice with a question. The official
answer
arrived today with an apologize for the very long time used.
Obviously not
much of a priority.
However as I'm interpreting the answer there's ,contrary to other
countries
where the passport is supposed to be a "loan" from the government , no
such
law in the Swedish lawtext. My passport is perfectly my property.

Perhaps that is true in Sweden. In the U.S., a passport is a government
document. It's a bit like a credit card (a credit card belongs to the
bank that issued it, not to the cardholder).


But I have an old U S passport in a file...

--
Mary Loomer Oliver(aka erilar)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
There is no such thing as too many books. Bookshelves, on the other hand . . .
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Erilar's Cave Annex:
http://www.airstreamcomm.net/~erilarlo

erilar writes:

But I have an old U S passport in a file...

You're allowed to keep expired passports, like expired credit cards.
That doesn't mean that they belong to you, however.

A passport is a legal document communicating your status from one state
(the issuing state) to another (whatever state you visit). It belongs
to the issuing state, not you. However, you're generally allowed to
keep it because the whole idea is to show it when you travel. In some
cases, the government may take it back, however (no government is
_required_ to give you a passport or permit you to travel
internationally).

--
Transpose hotmail and mxsmanic in my e-mail address to reach me directly.

"Mxsmanic" skrev i meddelandet
...
erilar writes:

But I have an old U S passport in a file...

You're allowed to keep expired passports, like expired credit cards.
That doesn't mean that they belong to you, however.

A passport is a legal document communicating your status from one state
(the issuing state) to another (whatever state you visit). It belongs
to the issuing state, not you.
The issuing state ? Every issuing state ?
Now you're generalizing once again. As I said my passport is my property.
And with close to 200 independent countries, all with their own legislation
there are reason to believe that official ownership of a passport
(bearer-state) may vary.

Lennart Petersen writes:

The issuing state ? Every issuing state ?

Whichever state issued the passport.

Now you're generalizing once again.

It's an accurate generalization.

As I said my passport is my property.

Maybe.

And with close to 200 independent countries, all with their own legislation
there are reason to believe that official ownership of a passport
(bearer-state) may vary.

Maybe.

--
Transpose hotmail and mxsmanic in my e-mail address to reach me directly.