The African Union Passport is a common
passport document that is set to replace existing nationally issued
African Union member state passports and exempt bearers from having to obtain any visas for all 55 states in
Africa.[1][2][3] It was launched on July 17, 2016, at the 27th Ordinary Session of the
African Union that was held in
Kigali in
Rwanda by
Rwandan President
Paul Kagame and the late
Chadian President
Idriss Déby.[4][5][6] As of June 2018, the passport was planned to be rolled out and ready for use at borders worldwide by 2020,[7] however the rollout has since been delayed into 2021.[8]
Types
There are three types of African Union passport that will be issued:
Ordinary passport
These passports are issued to citizens and are intended for occasional travel, such as vacations and business trips. They contain 32 pages, and are valid for 5 years.
Official/Service passport
These passports are issued to officials attached to government institutions who have to travel on official business.
Diplomatic passport
Issued to diplomats and consuls for work-related travel, and to their accompanying dependents.
Temporary passport
These passports are issued to travelling citizens or natives of African countries that cannot get hold of their passports due to various reasons including robbery, theft or accidents. They may last for 6 months to a year.
Design
The passport has inscriptions in
Arabic,
English,
French,
Portuguese, and
Swahili.[9] The African Union anthem's lyrics are printed on the page immediately after the picture page.