When we're talking about ID or passport, do we use "date of issue" or "date of issuance"?
Learn English – Date of Issuance or date of issue
nounsword-choice
nounsword-choice
When we're talking about ID or passport, do we use "date of issue" or "date of issuance"?
Best Answer
The two are synonyms. The word issuance is used pretty much only in a bureaucratic context, whereas issue is a common English word with many other meanings (but “date of issue” is not ambiguous). You may find that a particular administration uses “date of issue” and another uses “date of issuance”, that's a stylistic choice.
“Issuance” is mostly used in the US, it's rare in British English. The Cambridge dictionary lists it only in a business sense, e.g. “bond issuance” (“bond issue” is also used, but unlike “date of issue”, it is ambiguous, since “bond issue” could also mean “the problem/concern with bonds”). The American Merriam-Webster defines issuance as an “official act”. Google Ngrams shows that “date of issue” and “date of issuance” are about as common in modern US English whereas “date of issue” is by far the more common in British English. “Date of issuance” seems to be on the rise in British English, but looking at the citations, a lot of them look like they're actually texts from the US, so the rise of issuance may just be due to the rise of publications crossing the Atlantic.