What Should I Enter If My Passport Was Issued by a Different Country?

Enter the country that issued the passport, not automatically the country where you collected it or where an embassy is located. This can feel confusing when a passport was obtained abroad, especially for a child. The passport may have been handed over at a consulate in another country, while the passport itself was issued by the holder’s country of nationality.

What “passport issued by country” means

“Passport issued by country” means the passport issuing country. In plain terms, this is the country that made and issued the passport as an official travel document.

For example, a child may live in France and receive a passport from their country’s embassy in Paris. The document was physically obtained in France, but the issuing country is the country represented by that embassy.

When a form asks for:

• Country of issue
• Passport issuing country
• Document issuing country
• Country or region of issue

it usually wants the country that issued the passport.

The wording can vary from one airline, visa application, or travel form to another. Read the field carefully before choosing an answer. If the form asks for a city or office, it may be asking for the passport issue place instead.

Issuing country versus nationality

Your nationality describes the country or countries you are legally a national of. Your issuing country describes the country that issued the passport.

These are often the same, but the terms mean different things.

A person might be a national of Country A and hold a passport issued by Country A. In that simple case, the nationality and passport issuing country match.

The confusion usually starts when a form uses both fields. It may ask for:

1. Nationality
2. Passport issuing country
3. Place of issue

If the passport was issued through an embassy abroad, the first two may still refer to the same country. The third may refer to the embassy, consulate, or city where the document was processed or collected.

Keep the fields separate:

Do not change the issuing country simply because the passport was obtained in another country.

Issuing country versus place of issue

The place of issue is not always the same as the country of issue.

A passport issued overseas may show an embassy or consulate as its place of issue. That office might be in a city such as Madrid, Toronto, or Singapore. The passport issuing country can still be a different country.

Think of it like this:

• The embassy or consulate is the office that handled the passport service.
• The country of issue is the country that issued the passport.
• The place of issue is the location or office connected with the passport’s issue.

Some passports show a clear issue place. Others show an issuing authority or use wording that is less obvious. That is why you should check the passport itself instead of guessing from the name of the city.

If a form asks for the country of issue, enter the country. If it asks for the place of issue, use the place or office shown in the passport’s issuing details, as long as the form accepts that type of entry.

What to enter when an embassy or consulate issued the passport abroad

Suppose a child lives outside their passport country. A parent applies at an embassy or consulate, and the child receives the passport there.

In that situation, the country where the embassy is located is not automatically the passport issuing country. The embassy is acting for the country that issued the passport.

So, if a passport from Country A was issued through Country A’s consulate in Country B:

• Enter Country A for the passport issuing country.
• Enter the child’s nationality in the nationality field.
• Enter the consulate, embassy, or city only when the form asks for the passport issue place.

This is the key point for the document issuing country passport field: follow the country connected to the passport, not simply the country where the document was picked up.

The same approach usually applies when a passport is renewed or replaced through an overseas embassy. Still, check the actual passport and the form’s instructions because labels are not identical everywhere.

How to answer country of issue on an airline or visa form

Start with the exact wording on the form. Then compare it with the passport’s issuing information.

A simple process is:

1. Find the passport’s issuing details.
2. Check whether the form asks for a country, region, city, office, or authority.
3. For country of issue, enter the country shown as the passport’s country or region of issue.
4. For place of issue, enter the place shown in the passport’s issue details.
5. Review the spelling and country name used by the form.

Some airline systems use “country or region of issue.” Guidance from JAL, for example, says to enter the country or region of issue as it appears on the passport. That means you should not replace the passport country with the country where an overseas embassy is located.

If the form offers a drop-down list, choose the matching country or region. Do not select the country of residence just because the traveller lives there.

A visa form may ask for more detail than an airline form. One might ask for the issuing country, while another asks for the issuing authority or place of issue. Answer each field on its own terms.

What to do when the form says issuing country and nationality must match

Some travel forms say that the passport issuing country and nationality must be the same. This can be confusing if your situation does not fit the form’s wording.

First, check whether you may have misunderstood one of the fields. A form might be asking for:

• The nationality printed or selected in a specific format
• The country that issued the passport
• The country where the passport was issued
• The traveller’s country of residence

Those are not always the same thing.

If the passport was issued by an embassy abroad, the passport issuing country may still be the country represented by that embassy. The place where the passport was obtained does not automatically change the issuing country.

If the form rejects the correct entry, do not keep choosing random countries until the system accepts it. Check the airline’s instructions, the visa application guidance, or the destination authority’s instructions. You may need to contact the organisation that operates the form, particularly when applying for a child.

Keep a note of the wording shown on the passport. It can help explain why the nationality, issuing country, and place of issue are being entered differently.

Examples for passports obtained outside the holder’s country

A child’s passport collected at an embassy

A child lives in Country B but holds a passport issued by Country A. The passport was collected at Country A’s embassy in Country B.

For passport issuing country, enter Country A.

For passport issue place, use the embassy or city details shown in the passport, if the form asks for them.

A passport renewed at a consulate

An adult renews a passport at their country’s consulate while living overseas. The new passport is handed over in the consulate’s city.

The renewal location does not automatically become the country of issue. The passport issuing country is the country that issued the passport. The consulate’s location matters only for a place-of-issue or issuing-office field.

A form asks for both nationality and country of issue

A traveller has nationality from Country A and a passport issued by Country A through an embassy in Country B.

Enter Country A for both nationality and issuing country if those are the correct facts for the traveller and passport. Enter Country B only if the form specifically asks for the country where the passport was obtained or the embassy is located.

When to check the passport, airline, or destination authority’s instructions

Check the passport before completing the form, especially if it was issued overseas or for a child. Look for the section that identifies the issuing details, then match it with the form’s exact wording.

The safest rule is:

For the country of issue, use the passport’s issuing country or region. For the place of issue, use the location or office shown by the passport.

If the system rejects the entry, compare the form’s field with the passport’s issuing details again. Then check the relevant airline or destination authority instructions before changing the answer.