ANew Granada camouflage passport. The design on this cover includes the name of a country that no longer exists (New Granada) and a fictional coat of arms based on thecoat of arms of Dominica.
Acamouflage passport is a document, designed to look like a realpassport, issued in the name of a non-existentcountry or entity. It may be sold with matching documents, such as aninternational driver's license, club membership card, insurance documents or similar supportingidentity papers.[1] A camouflage passport is not a real, valid passport and is to be distinguished from a validsecond passport, which an individual withdual citizenship may be eligible to hold, a noveltyfantasy passport, or afake of a real passport.
False identity documents have a long history, but in 1998, the idea of the camouflage passport was credited by theFinancial Times to Donna Walker of Houston, who said she had got the idea ten years earlier when an American on a hijacked aircraft was shot because of his nationality.
Walker said that she started by asking theSri Lankan embassy whether they still had rights over the nameCeylon and, finding they did not, went on to ask the U.S. State Department whether producing a passport in that name would be legal, and they "couldn't show (her) it wasn't". Walker went on to produce hundreds of passports in different country names, trading as International Documents Service, and described her "finest hour" as being during theIraqi invasion of Kuwait when a group of European oil executives were able to use her documents to pass through Iraqi checkpoints and escape toJordan.
She said the basic idea was to look like "a not very interesting man from a not very interesting country".[2]
Camouflage passports are generally produced in the name of countries that no longer exist or have changed their name.[3]
Often these are former colonies that changed their name on independence, or use the names of places or political subdivisions that exist within a real country but have never issued or cannot issue passports (for instance, the British Hebrides which are islands off the west coast ofScotland that have never been separately independent).
Usually, the names chosen have a plausible or familiar ring to them. Names that have been used include:
In 2011, theEuropean Union resolved that a "non-exhaustive list of known fantasy and camouflage passports" should be drawn up that "should not be subject to recognition or non-recognition. They should not entitle their holders to cross the external borders and should not be endorsed with a visa".[5] A list was subsequently published and last updated in October 2025[3].
The producers of camouflage passports are generally internet based businesses that specialise in producing various types of identity documents that may be in real or false names. Other services often offered includeoffshore company formation, introductions tooffshore banking andfinancial services providers and similar services all targeted at international mobile individuals and those interested in avoiding tax and government regulation. Despite several companies withdrawing from this market in recent years, others continue to operate, offering passports that purport to include UV tags and holograms for verisimilitude.
Fantasy passports are passport-like documents issued as a novelty or souvenir, to make a political statement or to show loyalty to a political or other cause, such asindependence movements, as well assovereign citizen,freemen on the land andredemptions movements.[6] Souvenir United States state passports have also been issued, forNevada or theRepublic of Texas for instance, but these typically are clearly marked as novelties. Examples include:
Intergovernmental Institution for the use of Micro-algae Spirulina Against Malnutrition (IIMSAM) issued dubious UN-likeLaissez Passer[7] that were also blacklisted by the European Union[8]
Manchukuo passports. Issued by the Manchukuo Temporary Government[11]
Newfoundland passports. Found at various tourist shops to serve as souvenirs ofNewfoundland and Labrador. These mark the distinct culture of the most eastern Canadian province and oldest place of European colonization in North America. They are also reminders that Newfoundland was once an independent BritishColony of Newfoundland andDominion of Newfoundland before joiningCanada in 1949.
Republic of Taiwan passports. Issued by various groups supportingTaiwan independence.[13] In 2001, a Los Angeles resident successfully obtained aBrazilian visa on such a passport, and used it to travel to Brazil. In news interviews, he stated that he faced no difficulties in entering the country, while in contrast a fellow traveller using aRepublic of China passport was "heckled" by Brazilian officials, possibly because they confused it with aPeople's Republic of China passport and took the man to be mainland Chinese.[14] Others claim to have successfully obtainedBelizean residence permits on Republic of Taiwan passports.[15][16]
Expo Passport. First introduced inExpo 67,[20][21] Expo Passport is one of the most popularsouvenirs inWorld Expos. Visitors can collect stamps on their passports while visiting pavilions.[21]
ThePrincipality of Sealand previously sold fantasy passports for a total of around 22 years. In 1997, the Bates family revoked all Sealand passports, as it was uncovered that they were at the center of an international money laundering ring.[27]
^"A quick guide to sovereign citizens"(PDF).UNC School of Government. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 18 November 2013. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 18 March 2023. Retrieved18 March 2023.
^Pennarola, Rita (8 January 2008)."Prodi / Massoni? No Problem".La Voce delle Voci (in Italian). Archived fromthe original on 14 December 2010. Retrieved27 December 2010.Cosi' vengono a galla anche i passaporti taroccati: «Usano passaporti diplomatici accreditati in tutti i Paesi del mondo.
^"Fraude documental aumentou 22% em 2006 (Documentary fraud increased 22% in 2006)".Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). 2006-07-07. Retrieved2009-05-27.A maior parte das situações fraudulentas são logo detectadas no aeroporto, seguindo para o laboratório pericial do SEF. Encontra-se de tudo, desde contrafacções só visíveis através de raios infravermelhos, até à falsificação em que tudo é diferente do original, da cor do papel ao tipo de letra. Ou passaportes passados pela International Parliament for Safety and Peace, pela World Service Authority e tendo Roma como país, a que os inspectores chama "documentos fantasistas".[permanent dead link]
^Pennarola, Rita (16 February 2009)."Dai Vicoli di Palermo alla Security di Obama" [From the streets of Palermo to the Security of Obama].La Voce delle Voci (in Italian). Archived fromthe original on 30 April 2009. Retrieved29 May 2009.Il suo nome – come abbiamo in seguito accertato – ricorreva nelle carte giudiziarie di numerose Procure italiane impegnate, negli anni novanta, a sgominare traffici di denaro, falsi passaporti diplomatici e perfino materiale radioattivo. A parte i precedenti giovanili, quando era stato raggiunto da un ordine di cattura emesso dall'autorita' giudiziaria di Roma per associazione a delinquere, truffa e falso, con l'accusa di aver costituito una organizzazione dedita a smerciare titoli onorifici inesistenti, le indagini a suo carico diventano piu' serie nel 1989, quando 'Lord President' Busa' risulta coinvolto, insieme ad un altro massone conclamato, il principe Alliata di Monreale, in una clamorosa indagine su un giro di falsi diplomi di laurea venduti a peso d'oro.
^"News Release, PUBLIC WARNING, FALSE IDENTITY DOCUMENTS, Camouflage and Fantasy Passports". Information Centre,Government of the Isle of Man. Archived fromthe original on 20 July 2009. Retrieved27 May 2009.Spurious passports have the appearance of a passport, but are issued by organisations with no authority and to which no official recognition has been given. Such passports are therefore not an acceptable statement of either nationality or identity. Spurious passports and other documentation known to the authorities are: ... International Parliament for Safety and Peace ...
^"Part V: Information concerning known fantasy and camouflage passports (to which a visa may not be affixed)".Visa 381 comix 861(PDF).Brussels:Council of the European Union. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 2018-08-27. Retrieved2019-02-23.A. Fantasy passports: ... International Parliament for Safety and Peace ...
