There isn't just one person, but typically three individuals who travel without needing a passport: the reigning British Monarch (currently King Charles III) and Japan's Emperor and Empress (Naruhito and Masako), due to their unique status as sovereigns and symbols of their nations, bypassing standard procedures through diplomatic channels. A British passport is issued in the monarch's name, making it redundant, while Japan's Foreign Ministry deemed it inappropriate for its Emperor and Empress to carry one.
The Japanese Emperor and Empress, along with the British monarch, are uniquely exempt from needing passports for international travel.
Even Queen Camilla is not privy to this long-standing law and must therefore carry a passport while traveling internationally. Even the most senior of royals do not benefit from the same exemption as the monarch, and therefore must adhere to standard passport regulations and requirements like the rest of us!
There are 3 people in the world who can travel without a passport — the Emperor and Empress of Japan, and the British Monarch. Find out why. Everybody in the world requires a passport to cross international borders.
Even citizens of Japan — one of the strongest passports in the world — need one. But there's an exception. Japan considers it inappropriate to issue passports to the Emperor and Empress — Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako.
The Holy See and the Vatican City State are two subjects of international law and are presided over by the Pope through the Secretariat of State of the Holy See and the Governorate of Vatican City State respectively. Each of these two entities issues its own passports.
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Three Asian passports now command the top of the leaderboard: Singapore, with visa-free access to 193 destinations worldwide; South Korea, with access to 190; and Japan, with 189.
She never had a passport
Since passports are issued on the monarch's behalf (“Her Britannic Majesty's Secretary of State requests and requires in the name of Her Majesty all those whom it may concern to allow the bearer to pass freely”), she herself didn't and couldn't own one.
There are many reasons why you might not get passport, including: missing paperwork, errors in the application, valid warrants of arrest, or being on the passport denial list. Keep reading to discover the most common rejection reasons for passport photos, how to avoid them, and how to recover if you do make an error.
The most commonly used color for passports in the world is red. One of the biggest reasons why red is so common among passports is that just about all of the member states of the European Union use red passports. The only country in the European Union that does not use a red passport is Croatia.
When travelling overseas, the Sovereign does not require a British passport. As a British passport is issued in the name of His Majesty, it is unnecessary for The King to possess one. All other Members of the Royal Family, including The Queen and The Prince of Wales, have passports.
Meghan Markle
Her biographer, Andrew Morton, researched Meghan Markle's ancestry for his book Meghan: A Hollywood Princess and claims he found a distant family relationship between her and Robert the Bruce. Through 25 generations on Meghan's grandmother's side, her ancestor, Roger Shaw, connects her to the King.
From 1988, the UK adopted machine readable passports in accordance with the International Civil Aviation Organization standard 9303. At this time, the passport colour was also changed to burgundy red, to bring it into line with the European Community passports of the other member states.
If you don't have a passport, you can still board a domestic flight in the US as long as you can provide proof of US citizenship and your identity by presenting one of the following: US passport card (a wallet-sized plastic passport without visa pages; not valid for international travel) Real ID. US military ID.
You can travel to these EU countries with only a national ID card:
"57 countries visa-free" refers to the number of destinations Indian passport holders can access with visa-free entry, visa-on-arrival (VoA), e-Visa, or Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA), as per recent reports of the Henley Passport Index for 2025. Key visa-free or easy-access spots include Thailand, Malaysia, Maldives, Nepal, Qatar, Mauritius, Sri Lanka, and Fiji, covering Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific.
The British monarch, Japan's emperor, and Japan's empress are uniquely passport-exempt globally.
If you've failed to make payments on a loan from the Department of State you would need to pay it off before sending in your application. Certain court orders, being convicted of a felony, or if you're wanted on an arrest warrant, can also result in a passport denial.
Only Irish citizens may hold an Irish passport, but it is not necessary to have an Irish passport to be an Irish citizen.
With just 500 in circulation, the diplomatic passport of the Knights of Malta has been declared the rarest on the planet.
In the period July 1962 to February 1968, his exemption from immigration control under the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962 and 1968 relied on his possession of a United Kingdom passport.
Rhere is no official law in the U.K. that prevents Harry from becoming a citizen of another country. If Harry does not decide to become a U.S. citizen, he is considered a permanent resident here instead, meaning he could keep his title.
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Least Powerful Passports in 2025 Based on visa-free access, these passports offer the fewest travel freedoms. Afghanistan ranks lowest with access to just 25 countries, while Iran tops this list with 42 destinations. Travel power reflects global mobility—and the challenges many citizens face at borders.