From 1945 to 1991, when present-day North Macedonia was a constituent republic of Yugoslavia, citizens traveled with Yugoslav passports.

The fourth generation passport became red with the French translation of the official country name, "République de Macédoine," added above and "Passeport" below the coat of arms.

Effective 16 November 2009, the five-pointed red star that had been part of the national coat of arms was removed from the emblem.

The trilingual stamp states “This passport is property of the Republic of North Macedonia” in English, French, and Macedonian.

[4][5] North Macedonian passports are burgundy in colour with the national coat of arms emblazoned in the centre of the front cover.

The Macedonian words "Република Северна Македонија", optionally followed by the Albanian version "Republika e Maqedonisë së Veriut," the Turkish version "Kuzey Makedonya Cumhuriyeti," or any other recognized minority languages, as well as the English "Republic of North Macedonia" and the French "République de Macédoine du Nord" are inscribed above the coat of arms.

The following documents are required to obtain a passport: As of November 2022,[update] North Macedonian citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access (including eTAs) to 127 countries and territories, ranking the North Macedonian passport 39th in the world in terms of travel freedom according to the [1].