Passport For Military Personnel & Dependents

The following passport type I see for the very first time. Passport Military Personnel Dependents

The document is much smaller than the standard passport and has the size of the little Seaman’s passport booklet. The serial number starts with Dp, presumingly for “Dependent passport.” The travel document bears a special endorsement.

Page 1: Passport for use by a dependent of American Military, Naval, or Civilian Personnel

Page 5: This passport is valid only for use in connection with the bearer’s residence abroad as a dependent member of the American Military or Naval Forces on active duty outside the continental limits of the United States. It is valid under the same circumstances for use by a dependent of a civilian government employee residing abroad.

From 1946 to 1952, the dependent passport was 3^11/12 x 6^1/8 inches and contained 16 pages. In April 1952, the size was reduced to 3^3/8 x 5^1/4 inches, and the booklet contained 24 pages. The legend was amended to include the phrase “…or a dependent of a civilian employee of the government…” Dependent passports were discontinued in August 1956, and regular passports were issued in their place on a non-fee basis. These passports had a preprinted endorsement at the bottom of page 5, which contained the same language used in the 1952 booklet. The endorsement was placed on page 5 when the regular passport was redesigned in 1961. In 1971, the endorsement was changed to read: passport Military Personnel Dependents

“This passport is valid only for use in connection with the bearer’s residence abroad as a dependent of a member of the American military or naval forces on active duty outside the continental limits of the United States.” passport Military Personnel Dependents.

The above document was issued to an African-American woman with two children in May 1955. Her husband was stationed in Germany, as the entries show. Not only is this type pretty rare to find, but being issued to an African-American in 1955 makes it even more special. Americans at that time did, in general, not possess passports, and the share of African-Americans with a passport was even smaller.

The dependent passport type was issued only from 1946 to 1956.