had been issued vs have been issued

Both "had been issued" and "have been issued" are grammatically correct, but they are used in different contexts. "Had been issued" is used when something was issued in the past before another point in the past, while "have been issued" is used to talk about something that was issued in the past and is still relevant in the present.

Explained by Vince
Editor at TextRanch

Last updated: August 08, 2024

had been issued

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English to refer to something that was issued in the past before another point in the past.

Use "had been issued" when you want to talk about something that was issued in the past before another point in the past. For example, "The certificates had been issued before the event was canceled."

Examples:

The passports had been issued before the travelers arrived at the airport.
The permits had been issued prior to the construction work starting.
The tickets had been issued a week before the concert.
The licenses had been issued before the new regulations came into effect.
The visas had been issued before the travel restrictions were imposed.

Show examples from the web [+]

They informed that two new air carriers had been issued an Air Operator Certificate (AOC), namely Martabuana Abadion on 18 October 2012 and Komala Indonesia on 8 January 2013, and that Intan Angkasa Air Services had been re-certified.
The Commission considers that prevention of the use of bogus or false identities could best be achieved by enabling more reliable checking of whether the person who presented a document was identical to the person to whom the document had been issued.
They had been issued with three-day visas and these were extended for two weeks.
In a letter of 20 October 2014, DGCA informed the Commission that four new air carriers had been certified since the last update, namely AOC No 121-042 had been issued to PT.
The aforementioned person had been issued with a Schengen visa in another Member State, owing to a mistake in the transliteration of this person's name.
The CAAN also provided information that two new air carriers had been certified. Saurya Airlines had been issued an AOC with number 083/2014 on 13 November 2014 and Himalaya Airlines had been issued an AOC with number 084/2015 on 09 March 2015.
In this case, however, no such restructuring decision had been issued prior to accession [8].
Elang Lintas Indonesia on 28 February 2014 and AOC No 135-053 had been issued to PT.
The review investigation established that the Advanced Licences used for importing raw materials during the RIP had been issued before 13 May 2005.
were accompanied by a valid certificate of conformity which had been issued
In support of his application, the owner of the undertaking allegedly produced invoices for non-existent transactions totalling EUR 165000 that had been issued by two companies based in Sava.
The detailed arrangements and amount of the levy were regulated in Lower Saxony and Thuringia by a Levy Collection Regulation [Umlageerhebungsverordnung (UmlErhVO)] which had been issued 'in consultation' with the relevant Land association.
When making an assessment with respect to this point, Member States may have regard in particular to the fact that the marriage, partnership or adoption was contracted after the sponsor had been issued his/her residence permit.
The said report had been issued on 8 October 2004 by the notified body Force Technology to Messrs Pres-Vac Engineering A/S, who are manufacturers of similar equipment and who would seem to have provided the specimens tested, namely two units of HPV valves of size 4.
At the same time, the Court ruled that the new operative part of the regulation should remain in force until new legislation had been issued.
Subsequently, the services of the competent ministry issued a circular stating that classification certificates and government certification which had been issued or confirmed by 30 August 2010 would be valid until 28 February 2011.
Moreover, in the original version of his report, Mr Kreissl-Dörfler went as far as to demand that criminals for whom an arrest warrant had been issued should be granted asylum before they were arrested.
And even though a warning had been issued, it is evident that a warning was not enough.
With respect to other capacity in the Netherlands, the Commission notes that a significant part of that capacity became available only in late 2003, after the required permits had been issued to the main competing pyrolysis installation.
However, the State issuing the residence document or visa shall not be responsible, if it can establish that a fraud that was instrumental in determining the allocation of responsibility was committed after the document/visa had been issued.

Alternatives:

were issued
had already been issued
had been distributed
had been granted
had been provided

have been issued

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English to talk about something that was issued in the past and is still relevant in the present.

Use "have been issued" when you want to refer to something that was issued in the past and is still valid or applicable in the present. For example, "The new passports have been issued to all citizens."