El Salvador: The issuance of passports for those on official business, and restrictions on their use
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 July 1991 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | SLV9020 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, El Salvador: The issuance of passports for those on official business, and restrictions on their use, 1 July 1991, SLV9020, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ab36a8.html [accessed 17 September 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
The information that follows has been provided by the Embassy of El Salvador in Ottawa (18 July 1991). Additional and/or corroborating information on the subject could not be found among other sources currently available to the IRBDC.
Passports, for those on official government business, are issued to Salvadoreans, whether they are government employees or private citizens, who are scheduled to travel on official government missions. The passports have no expiration date, and their validity depends entirely on the accompanying permit or notice of official travel (called acuerdo de misión oficial in Spanish by the source).
The official travel notice or acuerdo is a separate document which must accompany these passports. It has to bear the signature of the President of the Republic, who is the only one with the authority to entitle a person to travel on official business outside El Salvador. The permit indicates the dates or period of time (it could range from one or more days to a few years, as in the case of ambassadors) for which the passport is valid. If the individual is to travel on official business after a permit has expired, a new permit must be issued. The passport is not replaced. The source indicated that the system of accompanying permits was established after a number of blank official passports were lost, adding that an official passport without an accompanying valid official travel permit is not recognized by Salvadorean authorities as a legal document for travel purposes.
Bibliography
Embassy of El Salvador, Ottawa. 18 July 1991. Telephone Interview with Representative.