Jersey-variant British passport

Jersey-variant British passport
The front cover of a post-2020 Jersey-variant British biometric passport.
The biodata page of the Jersey-variant British biometric passport
Type	Passport
Issued by	Lieutenant Governor of Jersey, on behalf of Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom (on the advice of the Lord Chancellor being also British Secretary of State for Justice), at the request of the States of Jersey
Eligibility	British citizenship

The Jersey-variant British passport is a type of British passport issued in the British Crown dependency of Jersey by the Passport Office in St Helier.

Jersey-variant British passports are full British passports and are simply an alternative design used by the Jersey passport authorities to distinguish passports issued by the island. As such, they can theoretically be issued to any British citizens, however in practice are only issued to British citizens connected to Jersey.^[1]

Eligibility[]

The Passport Office of the Jersey Government issues British passports only to British citizens living in the Channel Islands, the United Kingdom or the Isle of Man who have a connection to Jersey—e.g. were born, or live in Jersey or are a child born outside Jersey to parents born in Jersey.^[2]

Applicants cannot be physically abroad at the time of application.^[3]

Passport statement[]

Endorsements[]

Jersey-variant British passports before 2020 may have an observation included to the following effect:

The holder is not entitled to benefit from European Community Provisions relating to employment or establishment

British citizens who had only a connection to Jersey were European Union citizens (an EU citizen being defined by the Treaty of Maastricht as a person holding the nationality of a Member State) but did not have EU Freedom of Movement Rights.

However, if British citizens connected to Jersey also had a connection to the United Kingdom (e.g. they had lived in the UK for five years, had been born in the UK, or had parents or grandparents born in the UK), their passports did not include such an endorsement and they were fully eligible to benefit from European Union Freedom of Movement rights.^[4] This observation ceased to be used from 1 January 2021.^[5]

Design[]

1827 Jersey-variant British passport

The design generally follows that of other British passports; however, like many other British territories and dependencies with separate passport offices, it replaces the text "United Kingdom" with other text.

Current issue British passports are navy blue, as are Jersey-variant passports.^[5][6][7]

The blue passport sports the Royal coat of arms emblazoned in the centre of the front cover. "BRITISH PASSPORT" is inscribed above the coat of arms and "BAILIWICK OF JERSEY" inscribed below. The biometric passport symbol appears at the bottom of the front cover. The rear cover of blue passports are also embossed with the floral emblems of England (Tudor rose), Northern Ireland (Shamrock), Scotland (Scotch thistle) and Wales (daffodil).^[8]

Jersey passports contain on their inside cover the following words in English only:

Her Britannic Majesty's Lieutenant Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Jersey (Channel Islands) and its dependencies requests and requires in the Name of Her Majesty all those whom it may concern to allow the bearer to pass freely without let or hindrance and to afford such assistance and protection as may be necessary.

Prior to 1988, all Jersey-variant British passports were navy blue, like the other British passports. Between 1988 and 2020, they were burgundy and endorsed with the words "EUROPEAN UNION BRITISH ISLANDS". British Islands refers to the collective territory of the United Kingdom and Crown dependencies.

References[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Passports of Jersey.

External links[]

• Official website