Difference Between Passport and Visa | The terms passport and visa are the most used terms for travel but what is the difference between the two? You will track down it in this article.
Two of the most commonly used terms for travel are ‘passport’ and ‘visa’. To travel outside your country, a passport is a necessary document. Every year, each country is ranked according to its passport strength. Basically, how many countries you need to get a visa to travel on a particular passport.

What is a passport?
A passport is a document issued by the government of that country to a citizen of that country. A passport is an identity document and contains a person’s name, date of birth, gender, address and place of birth. The purpose of a passport is to identify the holder of the document. For Indians, the navy blue normal passport needs to be renewed every 10 years.
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What is a visa?
A visa is an official permission that a particular country requires a passport holder of another country to give before visiting their country. A visa is a temporary permission for a passport holder to travel to a country other than that of the passport holder. If any person wants to visit any other country outside his country, then that person has to take the permission of that country is called visa.
A visa is usually stamped on the passport, but sometimes, it can be a separate document.
Types of passports
The Government of India provides three types of passports to Indian citizens.
Ordinary passport
- A normal passport is navy blue in color and is issued for general travel or business trips.
Diplomatic passport
- The cover of diplomatic passport is maroon in color. It is issued only to Indian diplomats, diplomatic couriers or high-ranking government officials.
Official Passport
- In addition to navy blue and maroon passports, the Government of India also issues white cover passports to individuals who represent the Government of India on official business.
- Apart from this, if an Indian traveling abroad loses his passport abroad, the Indian Embassy in the country usually issues an emergency certificate with which the person can return to India.
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Types of visas
There are a few basic types of visas that each country offers to its visitors, but the specific categories of visas vary from nation to nation. The sorts of visa are as per the following.
1) Tourist Visa
- A country grants a tourist visa to a visitor for travel purposes. It is mandatory for people who are traveling from their country to another country to take a Tourist Visa.
2) Transit Visa
- A transit visa is issued if a person is traveling through a particular country and not staying there. Transit visas are usually valid for 5 days or less (depending on the country serving as the transit point) and are issued if a person is passing through another country to reach a third country.
3) Business visa
- Business visas are issued to businessmen who wish to travel to a country for business activities.
4) Temporary Worker Visa
- This category of visa is for workers who are temporarily employed abroad.
5) Student visa
- As the name suggests, student visas are for students who are going to study abroad.
Difference Between Passport and Visa
The main difference between a visa and a passport is that a passport is issued by the government of your country and allows you to enter and exit your country of residence. On the other hand, a visa is issued by the authorities of a foreign country and allows you to enter that particular country.
Another difference is that you must have a passport to apply for and receive a visa. The visa is usually attached directly to the same passport that you used to complete the application process. If you change your passport, the approved visa will usually expire, and you will need to apply for a new one before you can continue to travel. Thank You!
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