Vatican passport

The Vatican passport is issued to citizens of the Vatican City for international travel. Unlike other nations, the Vatican only issues diplomatic and official passports. Fact|date=May 2008 These are held by mostly clergymen and others who represent the entity abroad.

Availability

Citizenship of the Vatican City is granted "iure officii", which means it is conferred upon some of those who have been appointed to work in certain capacities at the Vatican, and it is usually revoked upon the termination of their employment. During the period of employment citizenship may also be extended to a Vatican citizen's spouse (unless the marriage is annulled or dissolved, or if a conjugal separation is decreed) and children (until, if they are capable of working, they turn 25, or in the case of daughters, if they marry).Fact|date=February 2007 Terms of citizenship are defined in the Lateran Treaty, and laws concerning the creation of the Vatican state in 1929 sought to restrict the number of people who could be granted Vatican citizenship. The only passports issued by the Vatican are diplomatic passports and service passports.

As of 31 December 2005, there were 558 people with Vatican citizenship, of whom 246 are dual-citizens of other countries (the majority being Italian) Fact|date=May 2008. Article 9 of the Lateran Treaty provides that in the event a Vatican citizen has his or her original nationality revoked and also loses Vatican citizenship, he or she will be automatically granted Italian citizenship.Citation
url=http://spcp.prf.cuni.cz/dokument/lateran.htm
title=Lateran Treaty of 1929
publisher=Univerzita Karlova v Praze
accessdate=2008-05-23]

Among the 558 were: [cite web|url=http://www.vatican.va/news_services/press/documentazione/documents/sp_ss_scv/informazione_generale/cittadini-vaticani_en.html|title=Vatican citizenship|accessdate=2006-12-03|publisher=Holy See Press Office]

* The Pope;
* 58 cardinals;
* 293 members of the clergy who serve as diplomatic envoys abroad;
* 62 lesser-ranking clergy members who work in the Vatican;
* 101 officers, NCOs, and men of the Papal Swiss Guard; and
* 43 lay persons.

Italy

Italy does not require passports for travel to Vatican City, and Vatican City does not require passports for travel to Italy. The only way to get to Vatican City is through Italy, inasmuch as Vatican City is surrounded by Rome, so Italian immigration requirements are de facto those of Vatican City. The Vatican issues its own passports to officials of the Roman Catholic Church who reside in or near the Vatican, and who work there. Each Pope is always given Vatican Passport No. 1.

Visa-free travel

The Vatican City is the only European microstate, which is not included by the US Government in its Visa Waiver Program. This may be due to the fact that the city-state does not issue regular passports for its citizenry Fact|date=May 2008, just diplomatic and official passports. Although the entity is not a member of the Schengen zone, it has an open border with Italy, and it is also categorized as an annex II territory. This means that Vatican citizens do not need a visa to enter European countries which are members of the EU or EFTA.

Americas

* [ [http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/visas.asp Countries/Territories requiring visas ] ]

Europe

*

ee also

* Italian passport

References