Visa requirements for British citizens
Entry restrictions by the authorities of other states placed on citizens of the United Kingdom
Visa requirements for British citizens are administrative entry restrictions by the authorities of other states placed on citizens of the United Kingdom.
As of 2025, British citizens have visa-free or visa on arrival access to 186 countries and territories, ranking the British passport 6th in the world according to the Henley Passport Index.
Additionally, the World Tourism Organisation also published a report on 15 January 2016 ranking the passport 1st in the world (tied with Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and Singapore) in terms of travel freedom, with the mobility index of 160 (out of 215 with no visa weighted by: 1, visa on arrival weighted by 0.7, e-Visa weighted by 0.5 and traditional visa weighted by 0).
The United Kingdom left the European Union on 31 January 2020 and thus lost the freedom of movement to EU countries on 31 December 2020. However, UK citizens are still eligible for visa-free access for short-term visits to the Schengen Area.
Visa requirements for other classes of British nationals such as British Nationals (Overseas), British Overseas Citizens, British Overseas Territories Citizens, British Protected Persons or British Subjects are different.
History.
Visa requirements for British citizens were lifted by many European nations in the few years after World War II. The first changes occurred in 1947. These were removed by France on 1 January 1947.
This was then quickly followed by Belgium on 15 February 1947, Luxembourg 15 February 1947, Norway on 1 March 1947, Denmark on 22 March 1947, Sweden on 1 April 1947, Netherlands on 15 April 1947, Switzerland on 24 June 1947 Liechtenstein on 24 June 1947 and Iceland on 1 July 1947.
The requirement was lifted by Italy on 1 January 1948, Monaco (8 November 1948), Austria (15 May 1955), Paraguay (27 November 1966), United States (1 July 1988), Poland (1 July 1992), Bulgaria (March 1997), Romania (1 January 2001), Serbia and Montenegro (31 May 2003), Ukraine (1 May 2005), Georgia (1 June 2006), Moldova (1 January 2007), Kyrgyzstan (27 July 2012), Armenia (10 January 2013), Kazakhstan (15 July 2014), Indonesia (13 June 2015), Vietnam (1 July 2015) Belarus (12 February 2017), Cape Verde (1 January 2019), Uzbekistan (1 February 2019), Turkey (2 March 2020) and Oman (December 2020).
Electronic visas for British citizens were introduced: India (15 August 2015), Djibouti (18 February 2018), Malawi (October 2019) and Mongolia (November 2021). In April 2021, India announced that it would stop issuing Electronic visas for British citizens from August 2021, however this was reinstated in December 2022.
Honduras cancelled a visa-free regime for British citizens as a reciprocal measure in August 2024. Similarly, Namibia will introduce visas for British citizens for reciprocity reasons, starting April 2025.
Visa requirements.
<templatestyles src="template:sticky header/styles.css"/>
Common Travel Area.
The United Kingdom, together with its Crown Dependencies of Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man and the Republic of Ireland make up a Common Travel Area where:
However, there are occasionally checks on coaches and trains moving between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. British citizens living in Ireland have many of the same rights and entitlements as an Irish citizen. Citizens of third countries must have passports and, if required, visas to travel between the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland.
British visas don't enable travel to Ireland for people without agreement with Ireland, and vice versa. Passengers travelling between the Common Travel Area and the Schengen Area are subject to systematic passport/identity checks.
British Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories.
<templatestyles src="template:sticky header/styles.css"/>
Territories and disputed areas.
<templatestyles src="template:row hover highlight/styles.css"/><templatestyles src="template:sticky header/styles.css"/>
Non-ordinary passports.
Holders of exclusive categories of British passports have this visa-free access, to: China , Kuwait , Mongolia , Qatar and the United Arab Emirates . Holders of diplomatic or service passports of any country have visa-free access to Ethiopia, and Zimbabwe. Holders of British official and diplomatic passports require a visa for South Africa.
Travel consequences of Brexit.
On 23 June 2016, a majority of the British electorate who voted, did so to leave the European Union in a nationwide referendum.
In March 2017, the UK sent notification of their intention to leave the EU to the European Council through Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty. British citizens ceased to be EU citizens upon the UK's departure from the EU thus forfeiting the rights of citizens.
The UK withdrew from the EU on 31 January 2020, but British citizens retained the right of freedom of movement until the transitional period ended on 31 December 2020.
From 1 January 2021, when EU law ceased to apply to the United Kingdom, British citizens are afforded visa-free visits to the Schengen Area, for 90 days in any 180-day period. British citizens also enjoy visa-free entry to Bulgaria and Romania.
From sometime in 2025, most visa-exempt travellers seeking entry to the EU and EEA must apply and pay for travel authorisation through ETIAS. This was confirmed on 12 September 2018 and has no exception, yet agreed, for British citizens. This excludes British-Irish travel which is governed by laws that pre-date the European Community.
When in a non-EU country where there is no British embassy, British citizens no longer have the right to consular protection from the embassy of any other EU country present in that country.
Consular protection of British citizens abroad.
When in a country where there is no British embassy, British citizens may get help from the embassy of any other commonwealth country present in that country. There are also informal arrangements with some other countries, including New Zealand and Australia, to help British nationals in some countries.
See also List of diplomatic missions of the United Kingdom.
References and notes.
<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />
<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />

Passport
Documents for international travel issued by national governments
A passport is an official travel document issued by a government that certifies a person's identity and nationality for international travel. A passport allows its bearer to enter and temporarily reside in a foreign country, access local aid and protection, and obtain consular assistance from their government. In addition to facilitating travel, passports are a key mechanism for border security and regulating migration; they may also serve as official identification for various domestic purposes.
State-issued travel documents have existed in some form since antiquity; the modern passport was universally adopted and standardized in 1920. The passport takes the form of a booklet bearing the official name and emblem of the issuing government and containing the biographical information of the individual, including their full name, photograph, place and date of birth, and signature. A passport does not create any rights in the country being visited nor impose any obligation on the issuing country; rather, it provides certification to foreign government officials of the holder's identity and right to travel, with pages available for inserting entry and exit stamps and travel visas—endorsements that allow the individual to enter and temporarily reside in a country for a period of time and under certain conditions.
Since 1998, many countries have transitioned to biometric passports, which contain an embedded microchip to facilitate authentication and safeguard against counterfeiting. As of July 2024, over 150 jurisdictions issue such "e-passports"; previously issued non-biometric passports usually remain valid until expiration.
Eligibility for a passport varies by jurisdiction, although citizenship is a common prerequisite. However, a passport may be issued to individuals who do not have the status or full rights of citizenship, such as American or British nationals. Likewise, certain classes of individuals, such as diplomats and government officials, may be issued special passports that provide certain rights and privileges, such as immunity from arrest or prosecution.
While passports are typically issued by national governments, certain subnational entities are authorised to issue passports to citizens residing within their borders. Additionally, other types of official documents may serve a similar role to passports but are subject to different eligibility requirements, purposes, or restrictions.
<templatestyles src="Template:TOC limit/styles.css" />
History.
Etymology and origin.
Etymological sources show that the term "passport" may derive from a document required by some medieval Italian states in order for an individual to pass through the physical harbor (Italian "passa porto", "to pass the harbor") or gate (Italian "passa porte", "to pass the gates") of a walled city or jurisdiction. Such documents were issued by local authorities to foreign travellers—as opposed to local citizens, as is the modern practice—and generally contained a list of towns and cities the document holder was permitted to enter or pass through. On the whole, documents were not required for travel to seaports, which were considered open trading points, but documents were required to pass harbor controls and travel inland from seaports. The transition from private to state control over movement was an essential aspect of the transition from feudalism to capitalism. Communal obligations to provide poor relief were an important source of the desire for controls on movement.:10
Antecedents.
One of the earliest known references to paperwork that served an analogous role to a passport is found in the Hebrew Bible. Nehemiah 2:7–9, dating from approximately 450 BC, states that Nehemiah, an official serving King Artaxerxes I of Persia, asked permission to travel to Judea; the king granted leave and gave him a letter "to the governors beyond the river" requesting safe passage for him as he traveled through their lands.
The ancient Indian political text Arthashastra (third century BCE) mentions passes issued at the rate of one "masha" per pass to enter and exit the country, and describes the duties of the (lit. 'Superintendent of Seals') who must issue sealed passes before a person could enter or leave the countryside.
Passports were an important part of the Chinese bureaucracy as early as the Western Han (202 BC – 9 AD), if not in the Qin dynasty. They required such details as age, height, and bodily features. These passports () determined a person's ability to move throughout imperial counties and through points of control. Even children needed passports, but those of one year or less who were in their mother's care may not have needed them.
In the medieval Islamic Caliphate, a form of passport was the "bara'a", a receipt for taxes paid. Only people who paid their "zakah" (for Muslims) or "jizya" (for dhimmis) taxes were permitted to travel to different regions of the Caliphate; thus, the "bara'a" receipt was a "basic passport".
In the 12th century, the Republic of Genoa issued a document called "Bulletta", which was issued to the nationals of the Republic who were traveling to the ports of the emporiums and the ports of the Genoese colonies overseas, as well as to foreigners who entered them.
King Henry V of England is credited with having invented what some consider the first British passport in the modern sense, as a means of helping his subjects prove who they were in foreign lands. The earliest reference to these documents is found in a 1414 Act of Parliament. In 1540, granting travel documents in England became a role of the Privy Council of England, and it was around this time that the term "passport" was used. In 1794, issuing British passports became the job of the Office of the Secretary of State. In the Holy Roman Empire, the 1548 Imperial Diet of Augsburg required the public to hold imperial documents for travel, at the risk of permanent exile.
In 1791, Louis XVI masqueraded as a valet during his Flight to Varennes as passports for the nobility typically included a number of persons listed by their function but without further description.:31–32
A Pass-Card Treaty of October 18, 1850 among German states standardized information including issuing state, name, status, residence, and description of bearer. Tramping journeymen and jobseekers of all kinds were not to receive pass-cards.:92–93
Modern development.
A rapid expansion of railway infrastructure and wealth in Europe beginning in the mid-nineteenth century led to large increases in the volume of international travel and a consequent unique dilution of the passport system for approximately thirty years prior to World War I. The speed of trains, as well as the number of passengers that crossed multiple borders, made enforcement of passport laws difficult. The general reaction was the relaxation of passport requirements. In the later part of the nineteenth century and up to World War I, passports were not required, on the whole, for travel within Europe, and crossing a border was a relatively straightforward procedure. Consequently, comparatively few people held passports.
During World War I, European governments introduced border passport requirements for security reasons, and to control the emigration of people with useful skills. These controls remained in place after the war, becoming a standard, though controversial, procedure. British tourists of the 1920s complained, especially about attached photographs and physical descriptions, which they considered led to a "nasty dehumanisation". The British Nationality and Status of Aliens Act was passed in 1914, clearly defining the notions of citizenship and creating a booklet form of the passport.
In 1920, the League of Nations held a conference on passports, the Paris Conference on Passports & Customs Formalities and Through Tickets. Passport guidelines and a general booklet design resulted from the conference, which was followed up by conferences in 1926 and 1927. The League of Nations issued Nansen passports to stateless refugees from 1922 to 1938.
While the United Nations held a travel conference in 1963, no passport guidelines resulted from it. Passport standardization came about in 1980, under the auspices of the ICAO. ICAO standards include those for machine-readable passports. Such passports have an area where some of the information otherwise written in textual form is written as strings of alphanumeric characters, printed in a manner suitable for optical character recognition. This enables border controllers and other law enforcement agents to process these passports more quickly, without having to input the information manually into a computer. ICAO publishes Doc 9303 "Machine Readable Travel Documents", the technical standard for machine-readable passports. A more recent standard is for biometric passports. These contain biometrics to authenticate the identity of travellers. The passport's critical information is stored on a tiny RFID computer chip, much like information stored on smartcards. Like some smartcards, the passport booklet design calls for an embedded contactless chip that is able to hold digital signature data to ensure the integrity of the passport and the biometric data.
Historically, legal authority to issue passports is founded on the exercise of each country's executive discretion. Certain legal tenets follow, namely: first, passports are issued in the name of the state; second, no person has a legal right to be issued a passport; third, each country's government, in exercising its executive discretion, has complete and unfettered discretion to refuse to issue or to revoke a passport; and fourth, that the latter discretion is not subject to judicial review. However, legal scholars including A.J. Arkelian have argued that evolutions in both the constitutional law of democratic countries and the international law applicable to all countries now render those historical tenets both obsolete and unlawful.
Types.
Governments around the world issue a variety of passports for different purposes. The most common variety are ordinary passports issued to individual citizens and other nationals. In the past, certain countries issued collective passports or family passports. Today, passports are typically issued to individual travellers rather than groups. Aside from ordinary passports issued to citizens by national governments, there are a variety of other types of passports by governments in specific circumstances.
While individuals are typically only permitted to hold one passport, certain governments permit citizens to hold more than one ordinary passport. Individuals may also simultaneously hold an ordinary passport and an official or diplomatic passport.
Emergency passport.
Emergency passports (also called temporary passports) are issued to persons with urgent need to travel who do not have passports, e.g. someone abroad whose passport has been lost or stolen who needs to travel home within a few days, someone whose passport expires abroad, or someone who urgently needs to travel abroad who does not have a passport with sufficient validity. These passports are intended for very short durations, e.g. to allow immediate one-way travel back to the home country. Laissez-passer are also used for this purpose. Uniquely, the United Kingdom issues emergency passports to citizens of certain Commonwealth states who lose their passports in non-Commonwealth countries where their home state does not maintain a diplomatic or consular mission.
Diplomatic and official passports.
Pursuant to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, and the immunity afforded to officials of a foreign state under customary international law, diplomats and other individuals travelling on government business are entitled to reduced scrutiny at border checkpoints when travelling overseas. Consequently, such individuals are typically issued special passports indicating their status. These passports come in three distinct varieties:
 Typically issued to accredited diplomats, senior consular staff, heads of state or government, and to senior foreign ministry employees. Individuals holding diplomatic passports are usually entitled to certain degrees of immunity from border control inspections, depending on their home countries and their countries of entry.
 Issued to senior government officials travelling on state business who are not eligible for diplomatic passports. Holders of official passports are typically entitled to similar immunity from border control inspections. In the United States of America, official and service passports are two distinct categories of passport, with official passports being issued to senior government officials while service passports are issued to government contractors.
 Issued to Chinese citizens holding senior positions in state-owned companies. While public affairs passports do not usually entitle their bearers to exemption from searches at border checkpoints, they are subject to more liberal visa policies in several countries primarily in Africa and Asia (see: Visa requirements for Chinese citizens).
Passports without right of abode.
Unlike most countries, the United Kingdom and the Republic of China issue various categories of passports to individuals without the right of abode in their territory. In the United Kingdom's case, these passports are typically issued to individuals connected with a former British colony while, in the ROC's case, these passports are the result of the legal distinction between ROC nationals with and without residence in the area it administers. In both cases, holders of such passports are able to obtain residence on an equal footing with foreigners by applying for indefinite leave to remain (UK) or a resident certificate (ROC).
Republic of China (Taiwan).
A Republic of China citizen who does not have household registration () in the area administered by the ROC is classified as a National Without Household Registration (NWOHR; ) and is subject to immigration controls when clearing ROC border controls, does not have automatic residence rights, and cannot vote in Taiwanese elections. However, they are exempt from conscription. Most individuals with this status are children born overseas to ROC citizens who do hold household registration. Additionally, because the ROC observes the principle of "jus sanguinis", members of the overseas Chinese community are also regarded as citizens. During the Cold War, both the ROC and PRC governments actively sought the support of overseas Chinese communities in their attempts to secure the position as the legitimate sole government of China. The ROC also encouraged overseas Chinese businessmen to settle in Taiwan to facilitate economic development and regulations concerning evidence of ROC nationality by descent were particularly lax during the period, allowing many overseas Chinese the right to settle in Taiwan. About 60,000 NWOHRs currently hold Taiwanese passports with this status.
United Kingdom.
The United Kingdom issues several similar but distinct passports which correspond to the country's several categories of nationality. Full British citizens are issued a standard British passport. British citizens resident in the Crown Dependencies may hold variants of the British passport which confirm their Isle of Man, Jersey, or Guernsey identity. Many of the other categories of nationality do not grant bearers right of abode in the United Kingdom itself.
British National (Overseas) passports are issued to individuals connected to Hong Kong prior to its return to China. British Overseas Citizen passports are primarily issued to individuals who did not acquire the citizenship of the colony they were connected to when it obtained independence (or their stateless descendants). British Overseas Citizen passports are also issued to certain categories of Malaysian nationals in Penang and Malacca, and individuals connected to Cyprus as a result of the legislation granting independence to those former British colonies. British Protected Person passports are issued to otherwise stateless people connected to a former British protectorate. British subject passports are issued to otherwise stateless individuals connected to British India or to certain categories of Irish citizens (though, in the latter case, they do convey right of abode).
Additionally, individuals connected to a British overseas territory are accorded British Overseas Territories citizenship and may hold passports issued by the governments of their respective territory. All overseas territory citizens are also now eligible for full British citizenship. Each territory maintains its own criteria for determining whom it grants right of abode. Consequently, individuals holding BOTC passports are not necessarily entitled to enter or reside in the territory that issued their passport. Most countries distinguish between BOTC and other classes of British nationality for border control purposes. For instance, only Bermudian passport holders with an endorsement stating that they possess right of abode or belonger status in Bermuda are entitled to enter America without an electronic travel authorisation.
Border control policies in many jurisdictions distinguish between holders of passports with and without right of abode, including NWOHRs and holders of the various British passports that do not confer right of abode upon the bearer. Certain jurisdictions may additionally distinguish between holders of such British passports with and without indefinite leave to remain in the United Kingdom. NWOHRs do not, for instance, have access to the Visa Waiver Program, or to visa free access to the Schengen Area or Japan. Other countries, such as India which allows all Chinese nationals to apply for eVisas, do not make such a distinction. Notably, while Singapore does permit visa free entry to all categories of British passport holders, it reduces length of stay for British nationals without right of abode in the United Kingdom, but does not distinguish between ROC passport holders with and without household registration.
Until 31 January 2021, holders of British National (Overseas) passports were able to use their UK passports for immigration clearance in Hong Kong and to seek consular protection from overseas Chinese diplomatic missions. This was a unique arrangement as it involved a passport issued by one state conferring right of abode (or, more precisely right to land) in and consular protection from another state. Since that date, the Chinese and Hong Kong governments have prohibited the use of BN(O) passports as travel documents or proof of identity and it; much like British Overseas Citizen, British Protected Person, or ROC NWOHR passports; is not associated with right of abode in any territory. BN(O)s who do not possess Chinese (or any other) nationality are required to use a Document of Identity for Visa Purposes for travel. This restriction disproportionally affects ease of travel for permanent residents of Indian, Pakistani, and Nepali ethnicity, who were not granted Chinese nationality in 1997. As an additional consequence, Hongkongers seeking early pre-retirement withdrawals from the Mandatory Provident Fund pension scheme may not use BN(O) passports for identity verification.
Latvia and Estonia.
Similarly, non-citizens in Latvia and in Estonia are individuals, primarily of Russian or Ukrainian ethnicity, who are not citizens of Latvia or Estonia, but who have settled during the Soviet occupation, and thus have the right to a special non-citizen passport issued by the government as well as some other specific rights. Approximately two thirds of them are ethnic Russians, followed by ethnic Belarusians, ethnic Ukrainians, ethnic Poles and ethnic Lithuanians. According to the UN Special Rapporteur, the citizenship and naturalization laws in Latvia "are seen by the Russian community as discriminatory practices". Per Russian visa policy, holders of the Estonian alien's passport or the Latvian non-citizen passport are entitled to visa free entry to Russia, in contrast to Estonian and Latvian citizens who must obtain an electronic visa.
Regional and subnational passports.
China.
The People's Republic of China (PRC) authorises its Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau to issue passports to their permanent residents with Chinese nationality under the "one country, two systems" arrangement. Visa policies imposed by foreign authorities on Hong Kong and Macau permanent residents holding such passports are different from those holding ordinary passports of the People's Republic of China. A Hong Kong Special Administrative Region passport (HKSAR passport) and Macau Special Administrative Region passport (MSAR passport) gain visa-free access to many more countries than ordinary PRC passports.
On 1 July 2011, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China launched a trial issuance of e-passports for individuals conducting public affairs work overseas on behalf of the Chinese government. The face, fingerprints, and other biometric features of the passport holder is digitized and stored in pre-installed contactless smart chip, along with "the passport owner's name, sex and personal photo as well as the passport's term of validity and [the] digital certificate of the chip". Ordinary biometric passports were introduced by the Ministry of Public Security on 15 May 2012. As of January 2015, all new passports issued by China are biometric e-passports, and non-biometric passports are no longer issued.
In 2012, over 38 million Chinese citizens held ordinary passports, comprising only 2.86 percent of the total population at the time. In 2014, China issued 16 million passports, ranking first in the world, surpassing the United States (14 million) and India (10 million). The number of ordinary passports in circulation rose to 120 million by October 2016, which was approximately 8.7 percent of the population. As of April 2017 to date, China had issued over 100 million biometric ordinary passports.
Kingdom of Denmark.
The three constituent countries of the Danish Realm have a common nationality. Denmark proper is a member of the European Union, but Greenland and Faroe Islands are not. Danish citizens residing in Greenland or Faroe Islands can choose between holding a Danish EU passport and a Greenlandic or Faroese non-EU Danish passport.
As of 21 September 2022, Danish citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 188 countries and territories, thus ranking the Danish passport fifth in the world (tied with the passports of Austria, the Netherlands, and Sweden) according to the Henley Passport Index. According to the World Tourism Organization 2016 report, the Danish passport is first in the world (tied with Finland, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Singapore, and the United Kingdom) in terms of travel freedom, with the mobility index of 160 (out of 215 with no visa weighted by 1, visa on arrival weighted by 0.7, eVisa by 0.5 and traditional visa weighted by 0).
Serbian Coordination Directorate Passports in Kosovo.
Under Serbian law, people born or otherwise legally settled in Kosovo are considered Serbian nationals and as such they are entitled to a Serbian passport. However, these passports are not issued directly by the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs but by the Serbian Coordination Directorate for Kosovo and Metohija instead. These particular passports do not allow the holder to enter the Schengen Area without a visa.
As of August 2023, Serbian citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 138 countries and territories, ranking the Serbian passport 38th overall in terms of travel freedom according to the Henley Passport Index. The Serbian passport is one of the 5 passports with the most improved rating globally since 2006, in terms of the number of countries that its holders may visit without a visa.
American Samoa.
Although all U.S. citizens are also U.S. nationals, the reverse is not true. As specified in  § 1408, a person whose only connection to the United States is through birth in an outlying possession (which is defined in  § 1101 as American Samoa and Swains Island, the latter of which is administered as part of American Samoa), or through descent from a person so born, acquires U.S. nationality but not the citizenship. This was formerly the case in a few other current or former U.S. overseas possessions, i.e. the Panama Canal Zone and Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. The passport issued to non-citizen nationals contains the endorsement code 9 which states: "THE BEARER IS A UNITED STATES NATIONAL AND NOT A UNITED STATES CITIZEN." on the annotations page. Non-citizen nationals may reside and work in the United States without restrictions, and may apply for citizenship under the same rules as resident aliens. Like resident aliens, they are not presently allowed by any U.S. state to vote in federal or state elections.
Passports issued by entities without sovereign territory.
Several entities without a sovereign territory issue documents described as passports, most notably Iroquois League, the Aboriginal Provisional Government in Australia and the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Such documents are not necessarily accepted for entry into a country.
Details and specifications.
Criteria for issuance.
Each country sets its own conditions for the issue of passports. Under the law of most countries, passports are government property, and may be limited or revoked at any time, usually on specified grounds, and possibly subject to judicial review. In many countries, surrender of one's passport is a condition of granting bail in lieu of imprisonment for a pending criminal trial due to the risk of the person leaving the country. When passport holders apply for a new passport (commonly, due to expiration of the previous passport, insufficient validity for entry to some countries or lack of blank pages), they may be required to surrender the old passport for invalidation. In some circumstances an expired passport is not required to be surrendered or invalidated (for example, if it contains an unexpired visa).
Requirements for passport applicants vary significantly from country to country, with some states imposing stricter measures than others. For example, Pakistan requires applicants to be interviewed before a Pakistani passport will be granted. When applying for a passport or a national ID card, all Pakistanis are required to sign an oath declaring Mirza Ghulam Ahmad to be an impostor prophet and all Ahmadis to be non-Muslims. In contrast, individuals holding British National (Overseas) status are legally entitled to hold a passport in that capacity.
Countries with conscription or national service requirements may impose restrictions on passport applicants who have not yet completed their military obligations. For example, in Finland, male citizens aged 18–30 years must prove that they have completed, or are exempt from, their obligatory military service to be granted an unrestricted passport; otherwise a passport is issued valid only until the end of their 28th year, to ensure that they return to carry out military service. Other countries with obligatory military service, such as South Korea and Syria, have similar requirements, e.g. South Korean passport and Syrian passport.
Validity.
Passports have a limited validity, usually between 5 and 10 years. Many countries require passports to be valid for a minimum of six months beyond the planned date of departure, as well as having at least two to four blank pages. It is recommended that a passport be valid for at least six months from the departure date as many airlines deny boarding to passengers whose passport has a shorter expiry date, even if the destination country does not have such a requirement for incoming visitors.
There is an increasing trend for adult passports to be valid for ten years, such as a United Kingdom passport, United States Passport, New Zealand Passport (after 30 November 2015) or Australian passport.
Some countries issue passports that valid for longer than 10 years, which ICAO does not recommend due to the security concerns and even some countries including all member states of the European Union do not accept passports older than 10 years.
Cover designs.
Passport booklets from almost all countries around the world display the national coat of arms of the issuing country on the front cover. The United Nations keeps a record of national coats of arms, but displaying a coat of arms is not an internationally recognised requirement for a passport.
There are several groups of countries that have, by mutual agreement, adopted common designs for their passports:
Request page.
Passports sometimes contain a message, usually near the front, requesting that the passport's bearer be allowed to pass freely, and further requesting that, in the event of need, the bearer be granted assistance. The message is sometimes made in the name of the government or the head of state, and may be written in more than one language, depending on the language policies of the issuing authority.
Languages.
In 1920, an international conference on passports and through tickets held by the League of Nations recommended that passports be issued in the French language, historically the language of diplomacy, and one other language. Currently, the ICAO recommends that passports be issued in English, French, and Spanish; or in the national language of the issuing country and in either English, French, or Spanish. Many European countries use their national language, along with English and French.
Some additional language combinations are:
Limitations on use.
A passport is merely an identity document that is widely recognised for international travel purposes, and the possession of a passport does not in itself entitle a traveller to enter any country other than the country that issued it, and sometimes not even then, as with holders of the British Overseas citizen passport. Many countries normally require visitors to obtain a visa. Each country has different requirements or conditions for the grant of visas, such as for the visitor not being likely to become a public charge for financial, health, family, or other reasons, and the holder not having been convicted of a crime or considered likely to commit one. Where a country does not recognise another, or is in dispute with it, entry may be prohibited to holders of passports of the other party to the dispute, and sometimes to others who have, for example, visited the other country; examples are listed below. A country that issues a passport may also restrict its validity or use in specified circumstances, such as use for travel to certain countries for political, security, or health reasons.
Many nations implement border controls restricting the entry of people of certain nationalities or who have visited certain countries. For instance, Georgia refuses entry to holders of passports issued by the Republic of China. Similarly, since April 2017, nationals of Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sudan, Syria, Yemen, and Iran have been banned from entering the parts of eastern Libya under the control of the Tobruk government. The Pakistani passports explicitly mention that these passports are valid in all countries except Israel. The majority of Arab countries, as well as Iran and Malaysia, ban Israeli citizens; however, exceptional entry to Malaysia is possible with approval from the Ministry of Home Affairs. Certain countries may also restrict entry to those with Israeli stamps or visas in their passports. As a result of tension over the former Republic of Artsakh dispute, Azerbaijan currently forbids entry to Armenian citizens as well as to individuals with proof of travel to Artsakh.
Between September 2017 and January 2021, the United States of America did not issue new visas to nationals of Iran, North Korea, Libya, Somalia, Syria, or Yemen pursuant to restrictions imposed by the Trump administration, which were subsequently repealed by the Biden administration on 20 January 2021. While in force, the restrictions were conditional and could be lifted if the countries affected meet the required security standards specified by the Trump administration, and dual citizens of these countries could still enter if they presented a passport from a non-designated country.
Value.
One method by which to rank the value of a passport is to calculate its mobility score (MS). The mobility score of a passport is the number of countries that allow the holder of that passport to enter for general tourism visa-free, visa-on-arrival, eTA, or eVisa issued within 3 days. As of 2023, the strongest passport in the world is the Singaporean passport.
However, another way to determine passport mobility score is the number of countries it allows holders to live and work in. For example, by this measure, the Irish passport would be most powerful because it allows the holder to live in all European Union/European Economic Area countries, as well as Switzerland and the United Kingdom, as the Irish passport is the


Life in the Fast Lane
"Life in the Fast Lane" is a song written by Joe Walsh, Glenn Frey and Don Henley, and recorded by American rock band Eagles for the band's fifth studio album "Hotel California" (1976). It was the third single released from this album, and peaked at No. 11 on the "Billboard" Hot 100.
Content.
The song tells the story of a couple who take their excessive lifestyle to the edge. On "In the Studio with Redbeard", Glenn Frey revealed that the title came to him one day when he was riding on the freeway with a drug dealer known as "The Count". Frey asked the dealer to slow down and the response was, "What do you mean? It's life in the fast lane!" In that same interview, Frey indicated that the song's central riff was played by Walsh while the band was warming up in rehearsals and Walsh was told to "keep that; it's a song". Don Henley recalled that the "song actually sprang from the opening guitar riff. One day, at rehearsal, Joe [Walsh] just busted out that crazy riff and I said 'What the hell is that? We've got to figure out to make a song out of that." Henley and Frey, the primary lyricists for the band, then wrote the lyrics for the song.
Critical reception.
"Cash Box" said that "with the influence of six-stringer Joe Walsh, the Eagles are harder and funkier than ever here." "Record World" said that it's "the album's most hard-edged rocker, dominated by a Walsh-signature guitar line." In 2016, the editors of "Rolling Stone" rated "Life in the Fast Lane" as the Eagles' eighth-greatest song. In 2017, "Billboard" ranked the song number four on their list of the 15 greatest Eagles songs, and in 2019, "Rolling Stone" ranked the song number eight on their list of the 40 greatest Eagles songs.
Personnel.
Partial credits from liner notes.
Covers.
In 2007, Swedish country and pop singer Jill Johnson recorded the song on her tenth studio album "Music Row".
The song was used as the soundtrack for the roller coaster "Eagles' Life in the Fast Lane", which opened at Hard Rock Park in May 2008.
On July 25, 2019 the rock band Hinder released their cover of the song as a non album single.
References.
<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />

Fast Lane (Bad Meets Evil song)
"Fast Lane" is the lead single by hip hop duo Bad Meets Evil, a group composed of Royce da 5'9" and Eminem, from their first EP "". The single was produced by Eminem, Supa Dups, and Jason "JG" Gilbert, and released on May 3, 2011 by Shady Records. It features uncredited vocals by Sly Jordan on the chorus. A music video was created by director James Larese of music video direction group Syndrome. The music video features animated visuals and kinetic typography, with cameo appearances by Mr. Porter and Slaughterhouse. Fans and critics considered it a return to Eminem's Slim Shady alter ego. Texas rapper Chamillionaire released a remix.
The song was well received compared to the rest of the EP and was considered a highlight of "Hell: The Sequel". Critics favored the song for its change from Eminem's theme in "Recovery". "Rolling Stone" called it "1999-style". Bad Meets Evil performed this song at the 2011 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival and the Lollapalooza music festival.
Background.
Bad Meets Evil first formed in 1998. The group's first single under the name was "Nuttin' to Do" / "Scary Movies". However, the group went their own separate ways in late 2002. Royce da 5'9" and Eminem have since collaborated on other songs, but not under the name "Bad Meets Evil". In late 2010, Eminem and Royce da 5'9" began collaborating as Bad Meets Evil after 11 years of inactivity within the group. "Fast Lane" was released as the lead single for their then-upcoming extended play, titled "Hell: The Sequel". The song was released May 3, 2011 by Shady Records.
"Fast Lane" was recorded by Mike Strange at Effigy Studios, in Ferndale, Michigan. Recorded a few months before its release, the song was written by Eminem, and Sly "Pyper" Jordan (from "Seduction" and "Kush"), who also sings the chorus to the song. According to an interview with MTV, Eminem requested that Sly perform the chorus, after hearing Dr. Dre's "Kush". Supa Dups and Jason "JG" Gilbert produced the song and Eminem and Mike Strange mixed the song. JG and Supa Dups also sample their own vocals. According to Supa Dups, he was asked to make a beat with JG, without knowing it was for Bad Meets Evil. He said that "[They] didn't even have Eminem in mind [when they made the beat]." According to this interview with "Mixtape Daily", Supa Dups had little knowledge about the project, but simply submitted the beat to Eminem:
I didn't even know the project was coming out. I didn't know what the beat was for; I just knew Eminem asked me for the files and I sent it to them. ... When I saw Eminem in L.A. for Grammy weekend, Eminem said, 'Yeah, he ripped the track.' Later on that day, I met Royce, and Royce was like, 'Yeah, download that track man. We ripped that track. That's the first single.' I was like, 'What?' But until then, I still wasn't sure.
Months after recording the song, on April 28, 2011, when it leaked onto the Internet, Supa Dups was impressed by the finished version, "I was like, 'Damn, this record is crazy.'" He was impressed by the song, lyrically, and was proud to have participated in the project.
"Fast Lane" is a midwestern hip hop song. It has two main parts to the song. The first half of the four-minute song begins with a verse performed by Royce da 5'9", followed by Eminem's verse. After the chorus, the second half has two verses by each rapper, followed by the chorus for the final time.
Critical reception.
"Fast Lane" was received favorably by critics. Upon the release on the EP, "", "Billboard" editor Jason Lipshutz published a track-by-track review. According to Lipshutz, "Fast Lane" is "G-funk on steroids, with sing-song refrain breaking up crushing mic-trading bout between Royce da 5'9" and Eminem." He also referred to "Fast Lane" as one of the highlight songs of the album. "Rolling Stone" gave a positive review. According to Jon Dolan of "Rolling Stone", "Eminem kicks 'Fast Lane' 1999-style, reconnecting with the hungry young lunatic who sounded like he only had a stanza to blow us away or it was back to the auto plant." Dolan also commented on the infamous lyric "I hope that I don't sound too heinous when I say this, Nicki Minaj, but I wanna stick my penis in your anus," saying that Eminem has been much more heinous before. According to Kyle Anderson of "Entertainment Weekly", Royce da 5'9" performs extremely well on the "hard-hitting" song, even calling him a "lyrical beast". Although music website "Consequence of Sound" gave a rather mixed review on the EP as a whole, editor Winston Robbins favored "Fast Lane" and said that it is "hands down one of the best hip-hop tracks of 2011" and that the rapping is "second to none".
Music video.
The music video was directed by James Larese of collective group Syndrome, a group that also directed videos for two other Eminem songs: "3 a.m." and "Crack a Bottle". A 40-second video teaser was released on May 27, 2011, on Eminem's YouTube channel, which shows the part of the video during the first time the chorus plays, confirming Sly Jordan's appearance in the video and the use of cartoon animation. In an interview with Bootleg Kev, Royce da 5'9" revealed that a lot of the ideas for the animated visuals featured in the music video were Eminem's ideas. The video was first expected to release on May 31, 2011. However, the date was delayed. The video premiered on June 8, 2011, at noon EST on VEVO and Bad Meets Evil's official website.
The music video features animated visuals of the lyrics and kinetic typography of some lyrics, with the duo rapping in a warehouse-like setting. Royce da 5'9" and Eminem both interact with the animations and occasionally hold and use them as actual objects. When transitioning between rappers, Eminem and Royce push each other out when it is their turn. Notable scenes include a cartoon blonde girl who gets 'drowned' by Eminem, inside a fish-bowl and then decapitated. Another scene includes Bad Meets Evil riding a green animated car, crashing into several obstacles, during the chorus. Sly Jordan appears in the video, singing the chorus.
The music video features cameo appearances from American rapper and producer Mr. Porter of D12, who lip syncs part of the chorus, and members of hip hop supergroup Slaughterhouse near the end of the video. Near the end of the video, Royce and Eminem try to stand in front of each other for attention. The video ends with them being pushed out of the way by the Bad Meets Evil logo. The video became notable for its humorous content. There's an "Director's Cut" version to the music video in where instead of holding words when talking about Nicki Minaj Eminem can be seen as holding a sausage and a hot dog bun.
Live performances.
Eminem and Royce da 5'9" made their debut live performance as Bad Meets Evil for "Fast Lane" and "Lighters" at the 2011 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival. According to James Montgomery of MTV, "what stood out the most about Em[inem]'s performance was the sheer tenacity with which he attacked it." Other than Royce, he was also accompanied by his hypeman Mr. Porter of D12 and performed wearing a black Bad Meets Evil T-shirt, under a black hoodie. The duo's performance was complemented by the "Fast Lane" music video playing in the background. "Fast Lane" was performed with Porter on the second day of Lollapalooza 2011, which took place in Chicago. The song was referred to by Gil Kaufman of MTV as a "low-rider anthem". Prior to the performance, Eminem changed into the Bad Meets Evil T-shirt.
Remixes and appearances in other media.
Texas rapper Chamillionaire recorded a remix of the song which was released on May 8, 2011. The song was not officially released to iTunes, however. The remix features two added verses by Chamillionaire between Eminem's and Royce Da 5'9"'s verses; one before the first time the chorus plays, and another verse after the chorus. He also replaces Sly Jordan with a modified chorus with different lyrics. The remix is five and a half minutes long.
The track was featured on both the soundtracks of the 2011 film "Real Steel", and on 2K Sports' NBA 2K12. The track was also used for HBO's "Entourage" season 8 trailer and the Extended First Look trailer for "Fast & Furious 6". The song was featured in the "Final Fantasy XV" trailer "Ride Together'
Credits and personnel.
Credits adapted from "Hell: The Sequel" album digital booklet.
References.
<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />

Life on the Fast Lane
"Life on the Fast Lane", known as "Jacques to Be Wild" in the United Kingdom, is the ninth episode of the American animated television series "The Simpsons". It originally aired on Fox in the United States on March 18, 1990. It was written by John Swartzwelder and directed by David Silverman. Albert Brooks (in his second of ten appearances) guest starred as Jacques, a French bowling instructor, with him being credited as "A. Brooks".
The episode deals with how Homer's thoughtlessness precipitates Marge's infatuation with her bowling instructor Jacques, leading to a marriage crisis between her and Homer. In the original plan for the episode, Brooks (who improvised much of his dialogue) was to voice a Swedish tennis coach called Björn, with the episode to be titled "Björn to Be Wild".
The episode features a parody of the film "An Officer and a Gentleman" and won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less Than One Hour) in 1990.
The character of Jacques would return in the season 34 episode "Pin Gal", with Brooks reprising his role.
Plot.
After forgetting Marge's 34th birthday, Homer rushes to the Springfield Mall, where he buys a bowling ball with his inscribed name for himself and disguises it as her gift. At her birthday dinner, Marge is pleased with Bart and Lisa's gifts for her—a bottle of French perfume and a macaroni-and-glue portrait of her as the "Mona Lisa" respectively. As Homer presents the bowling ball to her, it breaks through the bottom of its box and squashes her birthday cake. Offended, Marge calls Homer out for giving her a gift for himself, pointing out that she has never gone bowling in her life and that the ball is inscribed with his name.
Determined to learn how to bowl to spite Homer, Marge visits Barney's Bowl-A-Rama. While there, she meets a French bowling instructor named Jacques, who develops an infatuation with her and offers to give her lessons. After several lessons, Jacques and Marge agree to meet for brunch, which goes well until they see Helen Lovejoy, the gossipy preacher's wife, who seems delighted to find Marge with a man other than her husband. After deflecting Helen's prying by feigning a discussion of bowling theory, Jacques asks Marge to meet him the next day at his apartment, causing her to faint. While unconscious, she sees herself dancing with Jacques in his luxurious, bowling-themed apartment. Regaining consciousness after her romantic fantasy, Marge accepts Jacques's invitation.
Meanwhile, Homer finds the personalized bowling glove Jacques gave Marge and realizes he may lose her to another man. Soon Bart realizes Lisa's suspicion that their parents are drifting apart is true. Bart advises Homer to keep quiet about Marge's suspected affair to avoid making things worse.
Marge leaves for her rendezvous with Jacques but remembers her lifetime commitment to Homer during the drive. She comes to a fork in the road, between the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant and Jacques's apartment. After agonizing over her decision, Marge surprises a distraught Homer at the plant and kisses him warmly. An ecstatic Homer abandons his work post for ten minutes and takes Marge to the backseat of his car.
Production.
The episode was written by John Swartzwelder and directed by David Silverman. When the episode was originally planned, it called for Albert Brooks to voice "Björn", a Swedish tennis instructor, but Brooks thought it would be funnier to make the character French and so the change was made. The title was originally to be "Bjorn to Be Wild", thus accounting for the episode's alternate title "Jacques to Be Wild". Brooks improvised almost all his dialogue, producing over three hours of material. Marge's laugh during her bowling lesson was an ad-libbed, natural laugh by Julie Kavner, who was laughing at something Albert Brooks had just said. The line "four onion rings!" is only one of many lines Brooks ad-libbed and blew by losing Jacques's French accent. An extended audio clip of Albert Brooks's unused dialogue was made available on Disc Three of "The Simpsons The Complete First Season" DVD.
The sequence in which the family throws the pizza box away was specifically designed by John Swartzwelder to look surreal, with the family panning into each other. The moon was designed to resemble a bowling ball in the scene in which Jacques drops Marge home. The restaurant that Jacques and Marge visit is called "Shorty's"; it was originally intended that a chef's hat would be shown moving around in the background, implying that the owner was short, but the concept was dropped as it seemed to be too much of a silly idea. The episode's conclusion is a reference to "An Officer and a Gentleman", which David Silverman had to watch first, so that he knew how to set the scene out. Homer's line, "too exciting", when he sees the lingerie store was written by James L. Brooks. During Marge's phone conversation with Patty and Selma, Maggie can be seen sucking her pacifier repeatedly, a concept dropped in later episodes as it was deemed too much of a distraction from the dialogue.
First appearances.
The episode features the first appearance of the bowling alley Barney's Bowlarama. The original backstory for Barney's Bowlarama was that it was owned by Barney Gumble. Over time it changed to Barney just being an employee, as the writers could not imagine Barney owning anything. It was later revealed that Barney's uncle was the owner. The exterior of the Bowlarama was designed by No Doubt member Eric Stefani. The episode also marks the first appearances of Lenny Leonard and Helen Lovejoy.
Cultural references.
Marge's dream resembles a dance number from "The Gay Divorcee". The end scene, in which Marge walks into the power plant, and Homer carries her away, is a reference to the film "An Officer and a Gentleman", and features an instrumental of the song "Up Where We Belong". The Eagles song "Life in the Fast Lane" inspired the episode title.
Reception.
In its original broadcast, "Life on the Fast Lane" finished 11th in ratings for the week of March 12–19, 1990, with a Nielsen rating of 17.5, equivalent to approximately 16.1 million viewing households. It was the highest-rated show on Fox that week, beating "Married... with Children".
Since airing, the episode has received mostly positive reviews from television critics. Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, the authors of the book "I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide", called it "a very good, very assured episode that has seen some viewers (particularly female ones) tearing out their hair at the conclusion". Nathan Rabin of "The A.V. Club" praised the episode, stating: "There would be many funnier and faster episodes of "The Simpsons" but few can match "Life on the Fast Lane" for emotional depth and characterization." IGN named Albert Brooks' guest performance in this episode, along with his four other appearances, the best guest appearance in the show's history.
In a DVD review of the first season David B. Grelck rated this episode a 4(of 5), placing it along with "Homer's Night Out" as his favorites of the season. Colin Jacobson at DVD Movie Guide said in a review that it was "another good but not great episode" and added that "Albert Brooks seriously enlivened 'Life [on the Fast Lane]'... Jacques becomes funny not so much due to the lines themselves; it's Brooks' readings that make them work." Another DVD review from The Digital Bits called it "one of the first season's best loved episodes".
This episode won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming One Hour or Less) in 1990, defeating fellow "Simpsons" episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", and becoming the first "The Simpsons" episode to win the award.
In a 2000 "Entertainment Weekly" article, Matt Groening ranked this episode as his second favorite episode of all time, behind "Bart the Daredevil". "Entertainment Weekly" placed the episode twenty-first on their top 25 "The Simpsons" episode list, calling it "a showcase for the series' bedrock of character and heart." The "Orlando Sentinel"'s Gregory Hardy named it the fifteenth best episode of the show with a sports theme. The episode's reference to "An Officer and a Gentleman" was named the 23rd greatest film reference in the history of the show by "Total Film"'s Nathan Ditum. "Simpsons" co-developer Sam Simon named it his favorite episode of all time in 2009.
Legacy.
The March 15, 2004 edition of the Dear Abby column was pulled, as it had emerged that one of the letters was a fake. A newspaper editor noticed that the problem cited in the letter was identical to the plot of "Life on the Fast Lane". Kathie Kerr, a spokeswoman for the Universal Press Syndicate, said "it did sound too similar not to be a hoax".
References.
<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />
Bibliography.
<templatestyles src="Refbegin/styles.css" />

Fast Life (Kool G Rap song)
"Fast Life" is the second single from American hip hop artist Kool G Rap's 1995 album "4,5,6", featuring Nas. Released with the song "4,5,6" as a B-side, it later also featured on the compilation album "Greatest Hits" (2002).
Background.
Produced by Buckwild, "Fast Life" is a track that glorifies the criminal lifestyle with Kool G Rap and Nas Escobar portraying themselves as powerful and wealthy cocaine kingpins, boasting of their luxurious possessions and ruthless efficiency. The Mafioso theme of "Fast Life" is set early as the song opens with a sound bite from the 1983 film "Scarface" (Al Pacino's Tony Montana saying "The time has come, we gotta expand, the whole operation. Distribution, New York, to Chicago, L.A. We gotta set our own market, and enforce it.") and Nas later references such mob figures as Lucky Luciano, Bugsy Siegel and Frankie Yale. G Rap and Nas go line for line in the third and final verse of the song which "Complex" has described as "mind-blowing". The song's chorus goes as follows:
Livin the fast life, in fast cars
Everywhere we go, people know who we are
A team from out of Queens with the American Dream
So we're plottin' up a scheme to get the seven figure C.R.E.A.M.
Speaking of his collaboration with fellow Queens rapper Nas in a 2014 interview, Kool G Rap stated:<templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" />"Fast Life" was looked at as a passing of the torch to Nas, because before I had been shopping him around. He recorded his whole demo in my studio. By the time we did "Fast Life" together, Nas had already started to make his entry into the game. That was the first time we had rapped together on a song, and the timing made it a passing of the torch. Before that, I set up a meeting with Lyor Cohen and Kevin Liles at Def Jam to talk about Nas. Kevin Liles was the one who said that he sounds too much like a G Rap, and so Def Jam passed. I knew I had some influence on him but I knew he had his own identity.
Music video.
The music video for "Fast Life" was directed by Brian "Black" Luvar and shows Kool G Rap and Nas "Escobar" living lavishly as they plot the construction of a mythical "Fast Life Hotel and Casino".
Samples.
"Fast Life" samples the following songs:
And was later sampled on:
References.
<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />

Fast Lane (Bilal song)
"Fast Lane" was the third single released in 2001 by American R&B singer-songwriter Bilal, from his debut studio album, "1st Born Second". The song peaked at No. 41 on the "Billboard" R&B singles chart. The music video for the remix featuring Dr. Dre and Jadakiss was directed by Sanaa Hamri.
References.
<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />

Fast Lanes and Country Roads
"Fast Lanes and Country Roads" is a song written by Roger Murrah and Steve Dean, and recorded by American country music artist Barbara Mandrell. It was released in November 1985 as the second single from the album "Get to the Heart". The song reached number 4 on the "Billboard" hot Country Singles & Tracks chart.
References.
<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />

Livin' in the Fast Lane
Livin' in the Fast Lane is the fourth studio album by the American hip hop group The Sugarhill Gang, released in 1984 on Sugar Hill Records.
Track listing.
Samples and notes

Clare Torry
British singer (born 1947)
Clare H. Torry (born 29 November 1947) is a British singer, known for performing the improvised, wordless vocals on the song "The Great Gig in the Sky" on Pink Floyd's 1973 album "The Dark Side of the Moon". She sang the theme of the 1977 film "OCE" in the same style, and also covered the Dolly Parton single "Love Is Like a Butterfly" for the opening titles of the BBC TV series "Butterflies", which ran for four series between 1978 and 1983.
Early life.
Clare Torry was born in November 1947 in Marylebone, London, to Geoffrey Napier Torry (1916–1979), who combined careers as Lieutenant-Commander in the Fleet Air Arm and Flight Lieutenant in the RAF, and his wife Dorothy W. Singer (1916–2017), who was secretary to six BBC Directors-General.
Career.
In the 1960s Torry began a career as a singer, mostly performing covers of popular songs which included session work at Abbey Road Studios. She later worked as a staff songwriter for EMI.
In January 1973, Pink Floyd were finishing work on "The Dark Side of the Moon" at Abbey Road, and a female singer was needed to add vocals to an instrumental composition by Richard Wright to be called "The Great Gig in the Sky". Engineer Alan Parsons remembered having been impressed by Torry's voice, and she was booked for a session on Sunday 21 January.
<templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" />"They simply said, 'Who shall we get to sing this?' And I said, 'Well, I know a great singer.' I just knew her through one album of hit cover versions she'd done – you know, the cover albums that proliferated in the early 1970s. They were always done in a day. And I was very impressed with her. There was a bit of direction given: they said, 'Sorry, we've got no words, no melody line, just a chord sequence – just see what you can do with it.' She was only there for a couple of hours. As I remember, she did two or three tracks, from which we assembled the best bits for a master version. But somewhere in the archives are the bits we didn't use, and I'm sure it would make for an interesting remix version one day." – Alan Parsons.
On 4 November 1973, Torry sang "The Great Gig in the Sky" at the Rainbow Theatre in London. She sang it with Pink Floyd again at their 1990 concert at Knebworth, and with Roger Waters at some of his 1980s solo shows. She also contributed to Waters' 1986 soundtrack "When the Wind Blows" and to his 1987 album "Radio K.A.O.S.".
Torry performed as a session singer on 1970s UK TV adverts, and as a live backing vocalist with Kevin Ayers, Olivia Newton-John, Shriekback, The Alan Parsons Project (for whom she also sang lead vocal on one track on 1979's "Eve"), Procol Harum mainman Gary Brooker, Matthew Fisher, Cerrone, Meat Loaf (a duet on the song "Nowhere Fast", and the hit "Modern Girl"), Johnny Mercer and Doctors of Madness.
She performed Dolly Parton's "Love Is Like a Butterfly" as the theme music to the 1970s Wendy Craig/Geoffrey Palmer, Carla Lane sitcom "Butterflies". The song was released as a single in 1981. Torry also released "Love for Living" in 1969, which was produced by Ronnie Scott and Robin Gibb. She sang the theme of the 1977 film "OCE" in the same style as "The Great Gig in the Sky".
In the 1970s she appeared on the French disco composer Cerrone's "Angelina", the Alan Parsons Project's "Don't Hold Back", and albums by Olivia Newton-John and Serge Gainsbourg. Her voice can be heard singing "Love to Love You Baby" (originally by Donna Summer) during the opening scene of the cult BBC "Play for Today" production of "Abigail's Party" in 1977. Torry sang backing vocals on the track "The War Song" from Culture Club's "Waking Up with the House on Fire" album in 1984, as well as on the track "Yellowstone Park" on the Tangerine Dream album "Le Parc" the following year.
Torry is also credited on the 1987 album "En Dejlig Torsdag" ("A Lovely Thursday") by the Danish pop rock band TV-2, where she sings in a fashion similar to "The Great Gig in the Sky" at the end of the tracks "Stjernen I Mit Liv" ("The Star in my Life") and "I Baronessens Seng" ("In the Bed of the Baroness").
On 20 October 2010, Torry was presented with a BASCA Gold Badge Award in recognition of her unique contribution to music.
Lawsuit.
In 2004, Torry sued Pink Floyd and EMI for songwriting royalties on the basis that her contribution to "The Great Gig in the Sky" constituted co-authorship with keyboardist Richard Wright. In 1973, as a session singer, she was paid only the standard flat fee of £30 for Sunday studio work (the equivalent of £400 in 2022). She said in 1998, "If I'd known then what I know now, I would have done something about organising copyright or publishing." In 2005, an out-of-court settlement was reached in Torry's favour, although the terms of the settlement were not disclosed. All releases after 2005 carry an additional credit for "Vocal composition by Clare Torry" in the "Great Gig in the Sky" segment of the booklet or liner notes.
Later work.
In February 2006, Torry released "Heaven in the Sky", a collection of her early pop recordings from the 1960s and 1970s. In 2011, she released a collaboration with musician and composer John Fyffe.
References.
<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />

Better Off Dead (film)
1985 American black comedy film
Better Off Dead is a 1985 American teen black comedy film written and directed by Savage Steve Holland. It stars John Cusack, David Ogden Stiers, Diane Franklin and Kim Darby. The film was released in August 1985.
Initially met with mixed reviews on release, it has since developed a cult following for its unconventionally surreal and absurdist humor.
Plot.
In the town of Greendale, Northern California, high school student Lane Meyer's two main interests are skiing and his girlfriend of six months, Beth. Shortly before Christmas, Beth dumps him for the handsome and popular captain of the ski team, Roy Stalin.
Roy is an arrogant bully who unfairly rejects Lane at ski team tryouts. Beth also criticizes Lane's car, an old station wagon. Although Lane also owns a 1967 Camaro, he has not been able to get it running and it sits dilapitated in the driveway.
Lane lives in a suburban development with his mother Jenny, a ditzy housewife who routinely concocts creepy (and creeping) family meals; his genius little brother Badger, who never speaks but at the age of "almost 8" can build powerful lasers and attract trashy women from "How-to" books; and his lawyer father, Al, who daily tries to stop the menacing paperboy, Johnny, from breaking his garage door windows with thrown newspapers.
Furthermore, Johnny claims that the Meyers owe him two dollars for newspapers, and persistently hounds Lane, yelling "I want my two dollars!" Lane also regularly encounters two Japanese drag racers, one who only speaks in Japanese and the other who learned to speak English by listening to Howard Cosell.
Lane cannot move past Beth's rejection, so decides that death is the only way out of his misery. He makes several half-hearted attempts at suicide, which all comically fail. With the help of his best friend, Charles de Mar (who in lieu of not being able to get "real drugs" in their "bodaciously small town," constantly inhales everyday substances like Jell-O, snow, and nitrous oxide from a whipped cream can), Lane tries to ski the K-12, the highest peak in town, in hopes of getting Beth back, but wipes out.
Lane is further embarrassed when he gets fired from his humiliating fast food job at Pig Burgers in front of Roy and Beth, who are there on a date. To top it all, he increasingly begins to suffer from neurotic hallucinations owing to the mounting frustrations in his life.
As Lane attempts to either end his life or win back his ex-girlfriend, he gradually gets to know a new girl: a French foreign-exchange student named Monique, who has a crush on him. She is staying with Lane's overbearing neighbor Mrs. Smith, who continually tries to force Monique into being a girlfriend for her socially awkward son Ricky.
The Smiths are so annoying that Monique pretends she cannot speak English. She is a Los Angeles Dodgers fan, who turns out to be an excellent auto mechanic and skier. Monique both helps Lane fix his Camaro and tries to build his confidence.
When Roy insults Monique, Lane challenges him to a ski race down the K-12, with the winner to be captain of the ski team. She helps Lane prepare for the race, which he ultimately wins despite losing a ski and being pursued by Johnny. Beth rushes to embrace Lane at the finish line, but he rejects her and after besting Ricky (who attempts to keep Lane from rescuing Monique from the restraints of his mother) in a ski-pole swordfight, drives off with Monique in his Camaro.
Lane and Monique are last seen kissing on home plate at Dodger Stadium, with Johnny bicycling towards them, while in a mid-credit scene Badger launches a homemade space shuttle from his room through the roof of the house.
Cast.
<templatestyles src="Div col/styles.css"/>
Production.
Parts of the film were shot in Alta, Brighton, and Snowbird, in Utah. The Meyers home is located at 1636 Virginia Avenue, in Glendale, CA. Across the street, at 1633 Virginia, is the home of the Smith family and French exchange student Monique Junot. Lane's high school is Hollywood High School, located at 1521 North Highland Avenue, in Los Angeles, CA. Pig Burgers was filmed at Sandy's Char Burger at 6223 Lankershim Blvd. The restaurant has since gone out of business, but the building still sports the burger signage. The exterior of the school dance sequence was shot at Anderson W. Clark Magnet High School in La Crescenta, CA. The street on which Lane is consistently challenged by the Japanese drag racers is located near the foothills of Monrovia, CA. Several other driving scenes were shot in the Los Angeles suburbs of Duarte and Sierra Madre.
The hand-drawn animation in the movie was animated by Savage Steve Holland's collaborator