Democratic Republic of the Congo passport

The Democratic Republic of the Congo issues passports to its citizens for international travel.

Not to be confused with Republic of the Congo passport.

DRC passport
The front cover of a contemporary DRC biometric passport.
TypePassport
Issued by Democratic Republic of the Congo
PurposeIdentification
EligibilityDR Congo citizenship

On 1 January 2010, the Government officially invalidated all passports not of the series OB, even if the expiry date was beyond 1 January 2010. Because passports not of the series OB were no longer considered valid travel documents from that date onwards, holders were obliged to apply for new DRC passports in order to travel.[1]

The passport costs 185 US dollars. It has been reported that the Congolese government receives a share of 65 US dollars, with the remainder going to the Belgian company Semlex and the Emirati company LRPS. The contract with these companies has not been awarded in a public tender, and it has been alleged that both companies have ties to the Congolese President Joseph Kabila.[2]

As of 1 January 2017, Democratic Republic of the Congo citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 40 countries and territories, ranking the Democratic Republic of the Congo passport 94th in terms of travel freedom (tied with Djiboutian and North Korean passports) according to the Henley visa restrictions index.[3]


Appearance of the passport

Identity page

The identity page of the Democratic Republic of the Congo passport includes the following data:

  • Photograph of the holder (Width: 35mm, Height: 45mm; Head height (up to the top of the hair): 34.5mm; Distance from top the of the photo to the top of the hair: 3mm)[4]
  • Type ("P" for "personal")
  • Country code
  • Passport number
  • Name of the holder
  • First names of the holder
  • Place of birth of the holder
  • Date of birth of the holder
  • Sex of the holder
  • Profession of the holder
  • Place of issue of passport
  • Date of issue of passport
  • Date of expiry of the passport.

Visa requirements
Main article: Visa requirements for Democratic Republic of the Congo citizens

As of 1 January 2017, Democratic Republic of the Congo citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 40 countries and territories, ranking the Democratic Republic of the Congo passport 94th in terms of travel freedom (tied with Djiboutian and North Korean passports) according to the Henley visa restrictions index.[3]

See also

References
  1. INVALIDATED PASSPORTS, EFFECTIVE 1 JANUARY 2010
  2. Lewis, David (13 April 2017). "Congo's pricey passports send millions of dollars offshore". Reuters. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  3. "Global Ranking - Visa Restriction Index 2017" (PDF). Henley & Partners. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  4. "DR Congo passport photo 35x45 mm size". visafoto.com. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
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