The Palestinian Passport: People may ask what kind of passports Palestinians have since Palestine is not a state yet? Other questions on this subject revolve around the Palestinian diaspora, do they have passports or travel documents? This is a difficult subject with many questions to be answered.
Palestinians are considered in five different categories:
- Palestinians who live in the West Bank and Gaza Strip hold Palestinian passports.
- Palestinians who have permanent resident permits living in Jerusalem, who can apply for a temporary Jordanian passport.
- Palestinians who live in Israel as Israeli citizens hold Israeli passports.
- Palestinians who live in Jordan and hold Jordanian citizenship with Jordanian passports.
- Palestinians who live outside of Palestine in Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, and Iraq hold travel documents issued by the authorities in the countries they live in.
What is a Palestinian Passport?
The legality of the Palestinian passport follows what was agreed upon at the Oslo accord in 1993. These passports were first issued in April of 1995 by the Palestinian Authority to facilitate Palestinian travel. The Passport is valid for five years and Palestinians who hold a Palestinian ID (Mainly Palestinians who live in the West Bank and Gaza Strip) are eligible to get it.
Palestinians who live in diaspora (Refugee camps in Arabic countries and around the world) and don’t have a Palestinian ID. They do hold a travel document for refugees and basically, they are not allowed to get a Palestinian passport unless there is a special situation.
How many countries can Palestinians travel to?
The Palestinian passport allows its holder to enter 38 countries most are African countries with E-visa, without a visa or a visa on arrival as follows:
- Countries requiring E-Visas are: The E-Visa is an alternative to visa where the person do it online and fill all required information and pay its fees online before arrival. These countries are India, Antigua and Barbuda, Rwanda, Cambodia, Lesotho, Nigeria Qatar, Saint Kitts and Nevis São Tomé and Príncipe, Sri Lanka, Zambia, Benin, Gabon, Kyrgyzstan.
- Countries Palestinians can enter without a visa are: Malaysia, Micronesia, Nicaragua, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Swaziland, Venezuela, Bolivia, Dominica, Ecuador, Haiti, Indonesia, Jordan.
- Countries in which Palestinians can get their visa upon arrival are: Iran, Samoa, Maldives, Mauritania, Mozambique, Nepal, Palau, Saint Lucia, Bangladesh, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tuvalu, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Cape Verde, Comoros, Djibouti, Guinea-Bissau, Laos, Seychelles.
According to Passports global ranking, Palestinian passports are ranked 89th which is the same ranking as Iran and Myanmar. This ranking is decided by how many countries the passport allows the holder to enter without a visa or with a visa on arrival. You can check it here: https://www.passportindex.org/
How do Palestinians hold Jordanian Passports and Why?
In 1960 Jordan held the power of the West Bank. During this administration, many Palestinians received Jordanian nationality but for those who did not receive this, they obtained a temporary Jordanian passport which made their travels easier, especially to those countries which do not accept a Palestinian passport and do not recognize the agreements of the Oslo accord.
How countries recognized the Palestinian passport?
The Palestinian passport is considered as a passport to some countries and to others just a travel document. This why on the cover of the passport written both “passport and travel document” while in Arabic is only written passport “جواز سفر”.