The Mongolian Passport System Begins in 1940

There were two fantastic Mongolian passports online (but now vanished). Fortunately, I saved the pictures of the documents. But let’s go into the Mongolian passport history first.

Key development
On 23 November 1940, the Mongolian government created the first structured passport administration and formal passport regulations as part of building a modern state registration system. This was established by Resolution No. 44 of the Ministerial Council, together with detailed rules for issuing civil passports.

What it meant
The 1940 system marked the first standardized passport regime in the Mongolian People’s Republic.
Prior to this, there was no unified national civilian passport system regulated by central statute.

This was part of broader administrative reforms under the 1940 Constitution, which aligned Mongolian institutions more closely with Soviet-style governance and formal bureaucratic structures.

Passport Purpose and Usage in the 1940s and 1950s

Civil passport as national ID
During the Mongolian People’s Republic era (1924-1992), the civilian passport served not only for international travel but also as the primary form of citizen identification and registration within state administrative systems.

Internal registration and control:
The passport system was embedded in a broader regime of population registration and movement control. That reflects similar practices in other communist states of the era, where internal passport documents also had roles in monitoring residence and movement. Scholarly analyses of Soviet passport systems suggest these instruments were used for regulating internal migration and social control. While Mongolia had its own context, the pattern of linking passport issuance with residency and state records is consistent.

Foreign travel:
Actual foreign passports for international travel continued to be issued to citizens who needed to cross borders. Examples of passports from the Soviet-era period show documents issued in the 1950s and 1960s for students and officials travelling abroad (e.g., to Moscow).

The 1960s: Shifts and Identity Documentation

Document landscape in the 1960s
Passport use continued as the central identity and travel document into the 1960s.
Starting in the mid-1960s, pressure on internal record-keeping increased as urbanization and internal migration accelerated. This led to additional changes in state ID systems later in the decade.

Civil identification cards
In 1968, Mongolia introduced a separate civil identification card alongside passports for internal identity purposes.
This shift shows that, by the late 1960s, the state was moving toward a dual system — passports and internal ID cards — to manage both travel and citizen registration.

Summary of the Passport Role in the 1940s-1960s

1940
Modern passport system officially established with state regulation and administration.

1940s–1950s
Passports served as principal national identity and travel documents in the Mongolian People’s Republic.
The system functioned within a broader state-registration regime influenced by Soviet administrative models.

1960s
Continued use of passports alongside evolving internal identity documentation.
Introduction of civil ID cards in 1968 shows an institutional shift toward layered citizen records.

The Passports

A red 1951 passport and a green Soviet-style service passport from 1958. Both are extremely rare vintage collectibles nowadays. The latter document bears the original signature of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, making it a highly significant Cold War-era.

I posted the documents on my Instagram and some kind readers added useful information.
1951: “The passport holder’s name was Lhajav Luvsan. He got his passport at Ulaanbaatar the capital city. He went to Berlin, East Germany on 1951 by land travel and the one you guessed a Bulgarian visa is, in fact, a permission to leave the country. During the Communist rule, all Mongolians had to get such permission for traveling abroad.”

1958: “The first page says he was a staff in the embassy of Mongolia in the Soviet Union, so probably he was a regular worker there, but not a diplomatic one.”

Both of the passport holders were unmarried. Their passports indicate the permissions to leave the country “traveling alone”.

 

Tom Topol | Passport History Expert & Author.
Featured in media incl. CNN, BBC, Newsweek. Awarded by the U.S. Department of State.
"Want to go deeper? My book Let Pass or Die covers the full 400-year history"

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