Name: Let Pass or Die
Price: 39.00 EUR
Availability: InStock
Author: Tom Topol

Camouflage and fantasy passports are passport-like documents that are not real, valid passports. They are issued in the name of a non-existent country or entity, or as a novelty or souvenir, to make a political statement or to show loyalty to a political or other cause.

These documents may be sold with matching documents, such as an international driver’s license, club membership card, insurance documents or similar supporting identity papers. Sometimes we can find them on eBay.

Camouflage passports

are generally produced in the name of countries that no longer exist or have changed their name, or use the names of places or political subdivisions that exist within a real country but have never issued or cannot issue passports.

Fantasy passports

are similar to camouflage passports, but they are delivered as a novelty or reminder, to make a political statement or to demonstrate faithfulness. They are also not real, valid passports.

Legality

While owning a fantasy or camouflage passport may not be illegal, using it for fraudulent purposes or misrepresenting oneself as a citizen of a non-existent country or entity can have legal implications. In some cases, using a camouflage passport to enter a country may result in detention, deportation, or other legal consequences.

There are ~180 fantasy and camouflage passports, and documents of territories that are not internationally recognized. Migrants increasingly used such documents to attempt to enter the EU countries that have reported them to a centralized hub.

The United Nations currently has 193 member states

Does it mean there are 193 different passports? No, because there are another 54 countries or territories that presently are not in the United Nations. That gives a total of 247 “states.” So there are 247 different passports in the world? Again – NO! Confusing? YES! Within these 247 states are so-called “Dependencies.”

Examples

French Polynesia is an overseas country of the French Republic, and its citizens do have a French passport. The Cayman Islands are a British territory, but the Britons issue a British Passport – Cayman Islands! Why, e.g., Yugoslavia or East Germany is not listed in “B. Camouflage passports” is not clear to me.

There are less than 247 passports but more than 193 internationally recognized passports worldwide. If we also consider the passport types (e.g., Alien, Stateless, Temporary, Emergency…), we will come to an estimated 800 passport types worldwide. Finally, add to this number the “old passports of States no longer in existence” then a passport collector can probably collect an estimated amount of 825 “modern” passports and passport types.

FANTASY AND CAMOUFLAGE PASSPORTS

Tom Topol | Passport History Expert & Author.
Featured in media incl. CNN, BBC, Newsweek. Awarded by the U.S. Department of State.
"Want to go deeper? My book Let Pass or Die covers the full 500-year history"

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