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British passports may be issued to people holding any of the various forms of British nationality, and may be used as evidence of the bearer's British nationality, and also, if applicable, evidence of the right of abode in the United Kingdom or evidence of citizenship of the European Union, or both. In 2015, British citizens had visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 147 countries and territories, ranking the British passport 1st in the world (tied with German).〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=https://www.henleyglobal.com/files/download/HP/hvri/HP%20Visa%20Restrictions%20Index%20151001.pdf )〕〔http://www.emirates247.com/news/visa-free-travel-countries-with-the-best-and-worst-passports-are-2015-10-04-1.605576〕 ==Issuance== In the United Kingdom, British passports (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) are issued by HM Passport Office. In conjunction with the Post Office, it is possible to submit most passport applications at a number of branches. On the Isle of Man and in Jersey and Guernsey, British passports are issued by the Lieutenant-Governor of the respective Crown Dependencies, on behalf of the Government of the Isle of Man and the States of Jersey and Guernsey, respectively. In British overseas territories, British Overseas Territories Citizen passports are issued by the Governor of the territory, whilst British Citizen passport application are forwarded to the Passport Section of the appropriate Foreign Office mission covering the territory (e.g. the United States for all the Caribbean British Overseas Territories). In Commonwealth and foreign countries, British passports used to be issued by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in the Passport Section of a British consulate, embassy, or High Commission. Since 2009, some British embassies ceased issuing full passports (though quickly available emergency passports of limited validity were still issued for one-way travel to the UK or to another part of the Commonwealth), and applications had to be sent by the applicant to a centralised processing point; applications from Chile, for example, had to be sent to ''UK Passport Service Centre for the Americas and Caribbean'', Washington DC, USA. The FCO says: "In their 2006 report on consular services, the National Audit Office recommended limiting passport production to fewer locations to increase security and reduce expenditure." In other countries, such as Australia and New Zealand, applications for British passports could be submitted in person at the counter in a number of post office branches. As of 2010, British passport applications must be made directly to the Passport Office in the United Kingdom. Holders of the following categories of British nationality can apply for a British passport: * British citizens (GBR) * British Overseas Territories Citizens (GBD) (formerly British Dependent Territories Citizens) * British Overseas citizens (GBO) * British subjects (GBS) * British protected persons (GBP) * British Nationals (Overseas) (GBN) The three-character codes appearing after each type of nationality above are the ISO/IEC 7501-1 machine-readable passport alpha-3 country codes of such British passports. All British passports are issued in the exercise of discretion by Her Majesty's Government under the royal prerogative.〔https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/the-issuing-withdrawal-or-refusal-of-passports〕 In any event, discretion must be exercised reasonably and not on a whim, and even though there is no statute governing the issue of passports, such prerogative powers are susceptible to the normal processes of judicial review (See ''Council of Civil Service Unions v Minister for the Civil Service'' () AC 374 and ''R v Foreign Secretary ex parte Everett''〔() QB 811, () EWCA Civ 7, () 2 WLR 224 http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/1988/7.html〕). The only exception applies to British Nationals (Overseas), who are ''entitled'' to hold a passport in that status.〔(UK Border Agency: ''Chapter 50: British Nationals (Overseas) - Hong Kong Act 1985 & Hong Kong (British Nationality) Order 1986 - general information'' )〕 Since all British passports are issued in the name of the Crown (as of 2014 "in the Name of Her Majesty", without regnal name), the reigning monarch does not require a passport. British citizens (except those solely connected to a Crown Dependency), British subjects with the right of abode and British Overseas Territories citizens from Gibraltar are UK nationals for the purposes of EU law and are usually entitled to move freely within the European Economic Area and Switzerland with no more than a check on their identity and nationality at an external border of a Member State. In exceptional circumstances, entry may be refused on grounds of public policy, public security or public health.〔DIRECTIVE 2004/38/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL, Chapter VI〕 The right of abode in the UK, i.e., the right to enter and live in the United Kingdom freely, is held by all British citizens automatically. It is also held by some British subjects and those other Commonwealth citizens who were patrials under the Immigration Act 1971. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「British passport」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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