THE PASSPORTS OF NATIONS
PROVE THAT A "GLOBAL WORLD"
DOES NOT MEAN A "BORDERLESS WORLD."
Passports
( the world's ancient paper wall providing documented passage )
are internationally recognized documentation;
the official documents issued by governments,
certifying the holders' identity and citizenship
& entitling them to travel under its protection
to and from foreign countries.
​
ADVOCATES FOR A U.S. BORDERLESS COUNTry,
PLEASE EXPLAIN THE Billions IN CURRENCIES
AND THE passport efforts INVOLVED TO
MAINTAIN BORDER SECURITY
​
DESPITE THEIR SOPHISTICATION AND RIGORS IN USE,
PASSPORTS ARE WORTHLESS IN CONFRONTING THE
INVASION OF MIGRANTS THROUGH OPEN BORDERS
AND THE SUBSEQUENT ADOPTION OF
SANCTUARY BY GOVERNMENTS.
​
​
Adapted from Wikipedia
Passport History
in a nutshell
One of the earliest known references to paperwork that served in a role similar to that of 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.
Etymology: The term "passport" is from a medieval document that was required in order to pass through the gate (or "porte") of a city wall or to pass through a territory.
The rapid expansion of railway infrastructures and wealth in Europe beginning in the mid-nineteenth century led to massive increases in the volume of international travel and a consequent dilution of the passport system for approximately thirty years prior to World War I.
During World War I, European governments re-introduced border passport requirements for security reasons, and to control the emigration of people with useful skills.
In 1920, the League of Nations held a conference on passports, the Paris Conference on Passports & Customs Formalities and Through Tickets.[14] Passport guidelines and a general booklet design resulted from the conference
Passport standardization came about in 1980, under the auspices of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). ICAO standards include those 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 (radio frequency ID) 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.
A passport is both a travel document for crossing sovereign borders
and one increasingly used for every-day identification.
WHILE ALWAYS IMPORTANT, SINCE 9/11, PASSPORTS HAVE BECOME INCREASINGLY IMPORTANT.
A passport is usually issued by a country's government, that certifies the identity and nationality of its holder primarily for the purpose of international travel. There are classes of passports; for example, "diplomatic" that confirm a diplomat's status which provides rights and privileges such as immunity from arrest or prosecution.
Standard passports contain identifying information such as the holder's name, place, and date of birth, photograph, signature... perhaps more. Passports are issued for a period -- usually 5 years for youths and 10 years for adults -- after which they must be renewed, or they become invalid.
As with magnetic strip and now "chip" credit cards, increasingly, countries' passports are including information on an embedded "chip" thereby making them machine-readable and more difficult to counterfeit. Some countries are experimenting with biometric proof such as retinal scans or thumb-prints. Unexpired, non-chip passports usually remain valid without an upgrade.
​
A passport neither creates any rights in the country being visited nor obligates the issuing country in any way, such as providing consular assistance.
​
Besides a passport for entry, some countries require a visa also to be obtained. However, an application is not automatically granted. Conditions such as financial (fleeing from child support or becoming a financial burden to the state/country) or criminal ( pending trial, probation, pending sentencing) may apply. ODDLY, this information is not required in filing for a U.S. Passport. (See Below)
Passports may also be denied. There are numerous reasons: Inter-country disputes. Lack of sovereign recognition. A previous visit to a questionable pass-through country. Unexplained excessive travel. More.
​
Finally, there are other "recognized travel documents" that are provided by organization and governments to "stateless people" - refugees - which allow the refugee to travel to countries which recognize the document and perhaps return to the issuing country.
Passport vs National ID
​
In the United States, there is no National ID.
While arguments go back and forth, "technologies" -- such as GPS, Mandatory Highway Electronic Toll Passes, Credit and Welfare Card Use, Security Cameras EVERYWHERE, Social Media Tagging, Search Engine Facial Recognition to name a few (and without mentioning NSA's monitoring, etc) -- have directly vitiating three of the ACLU's arguments against having a National ID. (Link Below)
A person's existence is already no longer "private."
Further, The ACLU's remaining two points are indirectly affected the other 3 points. True. Terrorists will always find a way to enter the country and walk the streets, but making it more difficult to do so is an important positive step. Next, the legal community-- for its own protection -- is even gearing up to protect itself against the of the illegal search and seizures which the ACLU fears.
​
CRIMINALS AND TERRORISTS WILL ALWAYS EXIST... DETERRENCE GREATLY REDUCES THE RISK
​
The logic is simple: 1) Since passports have existed from 450 BC, one's knowing the identity of an unknown person has withstood the test of thousands of centuries time. 2) Since people who carry passports -- a form of national ID -- do so freely, and 3) since vehicle drivers also carry ID all the time... and 4) since non-drivers voluntarily obtain State ID, it clear that if provided at minimal cost to the remaining citizens of the U.S., the people who do not want an National ID have something to hide.
​
CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE ACLU'S FULL TEXT
​
​
​
U.S. PASSPORT INFORMATION
Provided to illustrate the serious nature
of personal identification
What Information Does a U.S Passport Contain?
by Gregory Hamel; Updated October 05, 2017
Basic Information
Passports contain basic identifying information, including surname and given names, date of birth, type of document, document code, nationality, place of birth, sex, date of passport issuance and the passport expiration date.
​
Often a passport's date of expiration must be several weeks or even months after the expended return date from a foreign country; countries want to ensure that they do not have people staying in them with invalid passports.
If you are applying for a passport for the first time, you can do so
at one of the 8,400 Passport Application Acceptance Facilities across
the country. Most facilities require an appointment and many have
limited spots available.
​
Photos
As with a driver's license, a passport is an official form of photo identification. A picture must be included with a passport application that is copied next to the basic information cited in section one. A good, clean photograph is important, since immigration officers and other officials are likely to check the passport picture to visually match it up with the traveler. Sometimes additional passport photos are required by certain countries; these are stapled to immigration and customs pages in the passport.
Security Measures
U.S. passports contain security measures to prevent copies and forgeries. The security measures used are similar to those used in other forms of identification of paper bills, such as intricate background patterns, watermarks and holographic images and seals. The material of the passport itself is also not standard paper, but more like cloth, and the information pages are laminated.
Visas
When traveling to certain foreign countries, an additional permission from those countries' consulates or embassies may be required to gain permission to travel. These official stamps or stickers are called visas, and are usually placed on one of the appropriate pages of the passport. Visas usually have a set duration that allows the traveler to stay in the foreign nation for a certain period of time before having to leave or renew the visa.
Immigration and Customs Stamps
Another important set of information contained in a U.S. passport is a log of all the places a person has passed through immigration and customs. Passports contain several pages dedicated to official arrivals and departures from foreign nations. The stamps cite the date and place the person arrived in or departed from the nation, which helps immigration officers keep track of travelers and look into suspicious travel history.
U.S. PASSPORT
BOOKLET
STYLE
​
U.S. PASSPORT CARD
BEFORE APPLICANT'S
IMAGE AND DATA IS PRINTED.
FRONT
BACK
FOR MORE INFO ON PASSPORTS CLICK HERE TO VISIT WIKIPEDIA
BY clicking above, you will open a new browser page outside our domain.
Do travelers from U.S. territories need to present a passport to enter the United States?
​
Basic Information
U.S. Citizens and Lawful Permanent Residents (LPR's) who travel directly between parts of the United States, which includes Guam, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Swains Island and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), without touching at a foreign port or place are not required to present a valid U.S. Passport or U.S. Green Card.
​
However
It is recommended that travelers bring a government issued photo ID and copy of birth certificate.
​
It also is recommended that you carry proof of your LPR status at all times in the event you are asked to prove your status. This may be in the form of a green card or passport.
​
Hawaii is a U.S. state and therefore passport documentation requirements for U.S. citizens and LPR's do not apply.
​
Entry requirements for non-U.S. citizens are the same as for entering the United States from any foreign destination. Upon departure, a passport is required for all but U.S. citizens.
​
Questions
Question about requirements for domestic travel. Call: Transportation Security Administration (TSA) 1-866-289-9673
Passport Card Facts
The passport card is smaller, cheaper & more convenient than the
traditional passport book but it is not for everyone. It facilitates the frequent travel of Americans living in border communities. It can only be used for land and sea travel between the U.S. and Mexico, Canada, the Caribbean and Bermuda.
A passport card serves the same valid purpose as a passport book.
It attests to your United States citizenship and your identity. . However, it is the size of a credit card. The passport card contains a
vicinity-read radio frequency identification (RFID) chip.
Production of the passport card began on July 14, 2008. Millions of
cards have already been issued since that date.
​
At the top there are images of the front and back of the card before the applicant's photo and data are printed on them.
​
The passport card is a fully valid passport that attests to the U.S.
citizenship and identity of the bearer. As such, the passport card is
adjudicated to the exact standards as the passport book. Applicants
must provide documents which attest to their U.S. citizenship such as
birth and naturalization certificates or a previously issued passport.
An identification document, copy of the ID and a passport photo
are also required.
To apply for a NEW U.S. Passport card, (See Left) how to apply for a passport. If you are a previous passport book holder and you are eligible to submit Form DS-82, you may apply for a passport card
as a Renewal by Mail - even if it is your first passport card!
​
Your first passport card will cost $65 if you are an adult and $50 for
any minor under the age of 16. This includes the $35 execution fee.
Adults who received their most recently-issued passport when they
were age 16 or older can apply for the card at a cost of $30 as long
as their passport is still valid or expired no more than 5 years ago.
​
It takes the same amount of time for the U.S. Department of State
Passport Services to process and issue a passport card as it does
for a passport book. This can take from 4 weeks to 3 months
depending on the demand at the time you apply. You can request expedited passport service when you submit the application. There
is an additional fee of $60 for this service. Expedited processing
takes up to 3 weeks by mail. Several, but not all, passport agencies also expedite passport cards if you need to get one in less than 2 weeks. Applicants who need to obtain the travel document this quickly but are unable to visit a regional agency can authorize a registered expediter such as Fastport Passport to submit the application for them.