Partially answering my own question, from the U.S. State Department Foreign Affairs Manual (
https://fam.state.gov/FAM/07FAM/07FAM1300apD.html):
g. Requests for No Place of Birth Listing in Passports: An applicant requesting that no place of birth be listed on a passport should be advised that the United States will not issue a U.S. passport with no place of birth listing. The “place of birth” designation is an integral part of establishing an individual’s identity. It distinguishes that individual from other persons with similar names and/or dates of birth, and helps identify claimants attempting to use another person’s identity. The information also facilitates retrieval of passport records to assist the Department in determining citizenship or notifying next of kin or other person designated by the individual to be notified in case of an emergency. Inquirers may further be advised that:
(1) A passport, as defined by Section 101(a)(30) of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, is "any travel document issued by competent authority showing the bearer's origin, identity, and nationality if any, which is valid for the entry of the bearer into a foreign country";
(2) For United States passport purposes, the Department of State has defined the term "bearer's origin" to be the bearer's place of birth as it is presently recognized. That entry is included to assist in identifying the individual, not the individual’s nationality. The passport very clearly states that the bearer is a United States national or citizen;
(3) Inclusion of the place of birth entry in the passport is consistent with the 1980 report of the International Civil Aviation Organization of the United Nations, (ICAO), which recommended a standardized passport including the place of birth entry as an essential element; and
(4) Over the last few years, deletion of the place of birth entry from the U.S. passport has been discussed extensively among U.S. Government agencies and with the Congress:
(a) In 1986, Congress directed the Comptroller General to complete a study on the issue;
(b) The August 1987 General Accounting Office (GAO) report (GAO 87-201) on this issue discusses two separate studies conducted by the Department of State, one in 1977 and another in 1986, to determine how the removal of the place of birth would affect travel by American citizens;
(c) Those studies concluded that elimination of the place of birth from the U.S. passport would cause considerable inconvenience to the entire traveling population, since a number of countries would still require place of birth information. Travelers would have to provide place of birth documentation, either when applying for a visa or when entering the country, or run the risk of being denied entry to those countries;
(d) The report also confirmed that U.S. law enforcement agencies could not agree to its removal from the U.S. passport because it is a vital data element used in anti-terrorist, anti-drug, and anti-fraud programs; and
(e) The GAO report reinforced previous conclusions that removal of the place of birth would lead to serious problems for the U.S. Government and for the majority of the American traveling public; and
(5) To assist foreign-born passport applicants who may object to the country name indicating the place of birth, passport procedures permit the placing of the name of the city or town of birth in the passport in lieu of the country of birth. However, in such cases, applicants are cautioned that the use of this option also may cause delay or other difficulties when traveling to, or obtaining visas for entry into, certain foreign countries.
Originally Posted by
BigFlyer
I'm asking this on light of the new Trump rules...why do most countries list place of birth on passports?
It seems to serve no purpose other than making things difficult for the passport holder. For example, an Israel born US citizen not being allowed to leave Israel without a draft clearance. And now, an Iraq born UK citizen not being allowed into the US.
Apparently, there is no international requirement that place of birth be on passports. e.g., there is no place of birth on Swiss passports.
So, why is this information included?