British passports issued for the Isle of Man are slightly different from regular United Kingdom passports. Passports printed from 5 April 2019 do not include the words ‘European Union’ on the front cover. Because the Isle of Man is not part of the United Kingdom, its passports do not carry the words United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on the front cover and on the biodata page. In their place, they have the words British Islands: Isle of Man. The request inside the passport's front cover "to allow the bearer to pass freely" and to give "such assistance and protection as may be necessary" is made by the Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man. In United Kingdom passports, this request is issued in the name of "Her Britannic Majesty's Secretary of State". Unusually, therefore, the words European Union and Isle of Man appeared together on Isle of Man British citizen passports, even though the territory of the Isle of Man was not part of the European Union. This is because the bearer is a full British and European Union citizen, although an endorsement may apply in the case of some citizens. The illustration shows the Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom, instead of The Arms of Her Majesty in Right of the Isle of Man. The Isle of Man will transition to issuing the new blue-covered passports in 2020.
Eligibility
of the British Home Office allows the Isle of Man Government to accept and process applications for the Isle of Man variant of the British passport from:
British citizens or British subjects with the right of abode in the United Kingdom living in the Isle of Man or
British citizens born in the Isle of Man but resident in the UK
or
Naturalised / Registered in the Isle of Man but resident in the UK
or
Naturalised / Registered in the UK and living in the Isle of Man
Endorsements
Some British passports issued by the Isle of Man Government will have an endorsement included to the following effect: This appears when a British citizen passport holder was born or naturalised in either the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands and has no connection through residency or descent to the United Kingdom. This endorsement results from Protocol 3 to the UK's Act of Accession to the European Community, which defines the relationship between the Isle of Man and what is now the European Union. The Protocol defined the term "Manxman" specifically to mean a person connected by birth or naturalisation with the Isle of Man who has no connection to the UK, which is different from the term's usual, wider meaning. The Protocol means that those defined as Manxmen do not have a direct right to live and work freely in EU member states other than the UK, where they have a right to live and work freely under UK domestic law in common with other British citizens.