Talossan Passport Cover

[Alexandreu Mitxeu Hårleu Furxheir]

My take at a Talossan passport cover (if identity documents were to be issued):

[Eðo Grischun]

Liked.

[esbornatfiglheu]

Very nice.

[Éovart Andrinescù]

I can practically feel the red imitation leather.  ;)

[Marcel Eðo Pairescu Tafial, UrGP]

When are we going to have passports/IDs already?

[Eðo Grischun]

When are we going to have passports/IDs already?

Passports? Probably never.  Passport covers like above can be done. The best price we can find for that so far is around £20 GBP + shipping. But no definitive plan has been set yet.

But, as discussed last week, we are looking at ID cards and certificates. I have built a prototype wizard generator that can create citizenship certificates in PDF on demand. It needs a little more work, but hopeful that this can be something we get done soon.

[Marcel Eðo Pairescu Tafial, UrGP]

Passports? Probably never.

Aww.

[Eðo Grischun]

Passports? Probably never.

Aww.

It's been discussed in depth before.  The main issues all surround international legalities.  First, the passports would hold zero legal weight in actually acting like a passport.  It would never get you through customs.  Fair enough, it could just be a novelty item then.  But, we can't remove the possibility of someone ever trying to use it that way for a variety of reasons.  Some kinds of media press are best avoided.

And we would perhaps see an uptick in non-English speakers applying for immigration to be buying them thinking they are legit travel docs...

All kinds of problems.

[Sir Ian Plätschisch]

Passports? Probably never.

Aww.

It's been discussed in depth before.  The main issues all surround international legalities.  First, the passports would hold zero legal weight in actually acting like a passport.  It would never get you through customs.  Fair enough, it could just be a novelty item then.  But, we can't remove the possibility of someone ever trying to use it that way for a variety of reasons.  Some kinds of media press are best avoided.

And we would perhaps see an uptick in non-English speakers applying for immigration to be buying them thinking they are legit travel docs...

All kinds of problems.

What if we wrote on the cover "For ceremonial purposes only: not to be to used to authorize international travel."

[Marcel Eðo Pairescu Tafial, UrGP]

It's been discussed in depth before.  The main issues all surround international legalities.  First, the passports would hold zero legal weight in actually acting like a passport.  It would never get you through customs.  Fair enough, it could just be a novelty item then.  But, we can't remove the possibility of someone ever trying to use it that way for a variety of reasons.  Some kinds of media press are best avoided.

And we would perhaps see an uptick in non-English speakers applying for immigration to be buying them thinking they are legit travel docs...

All kinds of problems.

That's completely understandable, but still terribly disappointing.

What if we wrote on the cover "For ceremonial purposes only: not to be to used to authorize international travel."

Alternatively, we could write these disclaimers in big red letters on the visa stamp pages, smth like "NOT SUITABLE FOR INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL, VISA MAY NOT BE AFFIXED"

[Eðo Grischun]

That could be a solution.

Bear in mind last time the discussion happened seriously would have been, oh... like 8 years ago or something. 

The government at that time had no appetite for it and demand amongst the citizenry wasn't high enough to overwhelm... things may be different today?

[Baron Alexandreu Davinescu]

We have had many immigrants who were confused about the scope of Talossan sovereignty and its diplomatic status.  One citizen has claimed that he tried to proclaim his Talossan citizenship while crossing the border into Pakistan, and says he was subsequently detained and abused by Pakistan's FIA (although the true extent of what happened is unclear to me).  Almost all of these immigrants speak English as a second language.  Having things that are visually and symbolically identical to valid passports, even if accompanied by a clear disclaimer, will probably lead to at least a few problems, and governments of the past have been too worried about being charged with issuing false documents under US law to venture into the practice.  It's a very specific crime to privately make a passport with the intention that it be used: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1543  That said, there are a ton of fake passports and passport covers out there -- so many there's even a Wikipedia article on the matter: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camouflage_passport   Times may just have changed enough so that it's not an issue really, as long as we make it clear when it's sold and probably in big letters on the inside that it cannot be used as a valid passport document and we are not responsible for anyone wishing to do so.

[Açafat del Val]

I am not a licensed attorney, nor admitted anywhere in the world (even Talossa) to any bar or similar professional legal organization.

That said, I don't interpret 18 U.S.C. § 1543 as prohibiting a Talossan passport per se.

It'd be one thing if we were on a market (black market or otherwise) trying to sell off a "passport" as a means around sanctions, embargoes, or other international disputes. We are not. In fact, it would be plainly obvious to any attorney or judge that a Talossan passport is not a false passport nor a "instrument purporting to be a passport"; it would be instead a true passport, but of a nation which the U.S. does not recognize.

If we were to issue passports, the real threat that I see is not prosecution under that section; it is retaliation against an "assault" on the sovereignty of the United States. I'd imagine that a U.S. Attorney or any federal LEO would take not very kindly to a foreign nation existing within U.S. borders.

[Alexandreu Mitxeu Hårleu Furxheir]

Very nice.

¡Graschias!

[Alexandreu Mitxeu Hårleu Furxheir]

Liked.

¡Graschias!