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This document was developed in 1922 by the Norwegian Fridtjof Nansen, the League of Nations Commissioner for Refugees. It was initially issued to Russian migrants, and later to other refugees who could not obtain a regular passport. It was introduced by decision of a conference convened in Geneva. Persons holding a Nansen passport enjoyed the right to move within the countries participating in the conference, and the restrictions imposed on stateless persons did not apply to them. By the decision of the League of Nations of July 12, 1924, Nansen passports were issued to about 320,000 Armenians who had escaped the genocide of 1915 and were dispersed across many countries.

In 1942, this passport was recognized by the governments of 52 countries, and it became the first official document for refugees.

About 450,000 Nansen passports were issued to help stateless refugees find refuge in other countries. This document became a prerequisite for the Refugee Travel Document ratified by the UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees of 1951.

A Nansen passport was issued under two mandatory conditions:

in the presence of documents certifying the identity of the person to whom the passport was issued;
in the presence of a document confirming that the person was an emigrant;
Paid 5-franc stamps with an image of Nansen (Nansen stamps) were pasted onto Nansen passports instead of the coats of arms symbolizing the power of the state, after payment of a fee and gave legal force to the document. The money collected from these stamps was used to form a fund, the proceeds of which were used to facilitate the resettlement and settlement of refugees in overseas countries, primarily in South America. The management of this fund was in the hands of a special body consisting of a representative of the Council of the League of Nations and a representative of the Governing Body of the International Labour Office. Emigrant organizations sought participation in the expenditure of the fund. The Tenth Session of the League of Nations (September 1929) decided that "part of the fund generated by the sale of Nansen stamps should be used to replenish funds established to provide assistance to refugees deserving assistance".

For his humanitarian work, Fridtjof Nansen received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1922.

The Nansen International Office for Refugees received the Nobel Prize in 1938 for its efforts to distribute the Nansen passport.

"We can sit back and talk about peace and humanism, but they will remain empty words unless we are prepared to act when suffering and need confront us." Fridtjof Nansen

Nansen Passport. History of making.