Why does a passport have a place of birth field on it?
Almost all passports I have seen have a place of birth field on them. For instance, on the US Passport,
Is there a specific reason to this?
Best Answer
It's not the happiest of reasons, but quite a few countries care not just what your country of citizenship is, but where you or your family is originally from. For example, India imposes additional restrictions on anybody of Pakistani origin, anybody born in the ex-USSR must prove they have renounced their citizenship if applying for a Russian visa, people born in Israel may face unwanted extra attention in much of the Middle East, a friend of mine whose birth certificate calls him "Mohammed" with place of birth "Baghdad" had significant trouble getting a US visa even though he's lived in Israel as "Herzl" since age 5 and is more Jewish than a bagel, etc etc. And the "place of birth" field in the passport makes it very easy for these countries to see where the applicant is from.
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Does it say place of birth on passport?
birth fieldThe passport must only show the customer's place of birth (village, town, or city). The passport must not show the customer's country of birth, unless this is the only place of birth shown on their documents.What do I put When Says place of birth?
The place of birth (POB) or birthplace is the place where a person was born. This place is often used in legal documents, together with name and date of birth, to uniquely identify a person.How do you fill in place of birth on a passport?
If you were born in India, write the place of birth (such as village or town or city), district, and the State or Union Territory in which the place is located, under the respective headings. If you were born outside India, write the country in which the place is located.What is the difference between place of birth and nationality?
The Country of Birth is the place you were born, while the Country of Citizenship is the one where you were either born or naturalized and which you pledge allegiance to and Country of Nationality is the one of your citizenship belongs to or the one you consider your nationality to belong to.Why Some Countries Don't Show Birthplace on Passports - AND How They Get Away With It
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Answer 2
I think just the fact that it's one of the few attributes of a person that is generally verifiable (through birth records), and will never change, makes it useful to include on a passport or other document of identity.
You can change your country of citizenship, your name, and even your sex, but the circumstances of your birth will never change.
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