Sweden acts to reduce passport abuse
Photo: Government Offices of Sweden
The act includes the following amendments:
- As a general rule, Swedish citizens may be granted a maximum of three regular passports during a five-year period.
- As a general rule, the regular passport will be revoked and cancelled when a provisional passport is issued to the passport holder.
- The period of validity for a regular passport for children under the age of twelve years will be reduced to three years.
“Stolen passports can be traced to serious organised crime, travel to participate in terrorist wars and human smuggling. This is why the regulatory change now entering into force is important,” says Minister for Home Affairs Anders Ygeman.
Swedish passports and national ID cards are regarded as some of the world’s most secure documents.
With a Swedish passport, you can enjoy visa-free travel to many countries around the world. Due to their design and manufacture, Swedish passports have a good reputation and are therefore sought after by fraudsters with the objective of using them for illegal purposes.
Passport abuse entails a large security risk, as people can travel anonymously and circumvent travel bans by using a passport other than their own.
“Far too many passports have disappeared, been stolen or lost and yet remain valid. A passport can cause the affected person great harm if it falls into the wrong hands,” says Mr Ygeman.
Swedish Government
