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General Information
Worth knowing
A valid travel document, i.e. a passport or an identity card, is required
for travel abroad. You are not permitted to travel abroad on a travel
document that has expired. A travel document used to provide proof of
identity also has to be still valid. You are permitted to hold both a
passport and a Dutch identity card.
Travel documents issued on or after 26 August 2006 will contain a
contactless chip. By introducing the new generation of electronic travel
documents the Netherlands is complying with the requirements laid down in EU
Council Regulation on standards for security features and biometrics in
passports and travel documents issued by Member States ((EC) No. 2252/2004
of 13 December 2004).
You can see from the e-symbol whether the travel document contains a chip,
as it has been agreed internationally that all travel documents containing a
chip will bear this symbol. In the Dutch passport the e-symbol is shown on
the cover, the data page and the front and back endpaper. On the Dutch
identity card ('NIK') it is shown on the front.
The following data is stored in the chip:
- Your photograph in colour, referred to as the 'facial image'. To enable
the passport photo to be stored in the chip in the format required for the
facial image, it must meet the requirements laid down in Appendix L to the
Passport Regulations, the Photo Matrix (2007 Model).
- Your name (first name(s), surname and any prefixes); the document number; your nationality, date of birth and sex; the expiry date; the country of issue; your personal ID number (tax and social security or "SoFi" number); and the type of document. The same data are also shown on the data page and the machine-readable zone of the travel document.
Safeguarding your travel document
Dutch passports and identity cards are the property of the Kingdom of the
Netherlands.
Travel documents are highly valuable documents, enabling you to
travel and to identify yourself. You should therefore treat them with the
utmost care.
Never let your document go out of your possession, unless instructed to do so by an authorised official! That way you can avoid anyone making improper use of it.
Never let your document go out of your possession, unless instructed to do so by an authorised official! That way you can avoid anyone making improper use of it.
You may not alter the document yourself. Any such alteration invalidates the
document and is a criminal offence.
If you crease the document repeatedly or keep it folded for a long
period of time you may damage the plasticized page and/or the chip. Please
bear this in mind when storing your travel document. Do not, for example,
keep it in the back pocket of your trousers, or bend it when you carry it or
put it away.