Collective Passports for Young People

  • These documents are issued in accordance with the European Agreement on Travel by Young Persons on Collective Passports between the Member Countries of the Council of Europe of 16 December 1961.
  • The collective passport may be used to travel to all countries which are signatories of the agreement, subject to conditions set by the destination country, and to other certain other countries which have decided to accept these collective passports. The collective passport is valid for stays of up to 3 months.
  • Young people who will be aged 20 years and under at the end of the trip may be included in the collective passport, and must be nationals of the issuing country. In some cases young refugees and stateless persons residing in the issuing country may be included in the collective passport. However, not all countries which accept collective passports will accept collective passports containing stateless persons or refugees.
  • Up to 50 young people may be included in the collective passport, and it must contain at least 5 people. However, some countries will only accept collective passports with 25 or fewer people included. The collective passport must separately designate a group leader, who must be aged 21 years or over and hold an individual national passport. All young people included in the collective passport and the group leader must travel together.
  • Young people included in a collective passport may be required to also hold a document to prove their identity, depending on the destination country. This may only apply to persons above a certain age. Some countries issue separate identity cards alongside the collective passport for this purpose. Alternatively, photographs of the young people may be attached to the collective passport.
  • The collective passport must at minimum include:
    • The issuing authority, and the date and place of issue.
    • A description of the travelling party.
    • The destination country or countries.
    • The period of validity.
    • The surname, first names and passport number of the group leader.
    • The surname (in alphabetical order), first names, date of birth, place of birth and place of residence of each young person in the party.