World Passport - As An Identity Document

As An Identity Document

The World Service Authority promotes the World Passport not just as a document for international travel, but a "neutral, apolitical document of identity". Investor Doug Casey, himself a World Passport holder, has suggested that a World Passport is useful at hotels and other non-governmental institutions where security is uncertain; if one is asked to hand over one's passport in such situations, one can provide the World Passport instead of a national passport. Governmental authorities do not share this assessment.

In the United Kingdom, the Criminal Records Bureau of the United Kingdom's Home Office states that registered bodies should not accept the World Passport as a proof of identity, warning that "a fake ‘World Passport’ can be purchased online by members of the public and should not be confused with a genuine passport". The Isle of Man's Financial Supervision Commission, which regulates the isle's banks and company formation agents, states that the World Passport is not an acceptable document to prove either the nationality or identity of the bearer. Specifically, it classifies it as a spurious or fantasy passport, a term which it defines to mean as documents which "have the appearance of a passport, but are issued by organisations with no authority and to which no official recognition has been given".

With regards to the United States, the Social Security Administration will also not accept any World Service Authority document (including the World Passport and World Donor Passport) as evidence of identity, age, citizenship, alien status, or marital status for either claims or enumeration purposes. The Virginia Department of Social Services explicitly classifies all World Service Authority documents as "unacceptable documents" for verification of identity. The United States Department of State instructs all U.S. embassies and consulates not to provide any notarial, apostille, or other authentication services in respect of World Passports, whether regarding the World Passport itself or documents relating to an application for a World Passport. They warn that such documents could be used for fraudulent or criminal purposes. In 1996, an Indiana man was able to obtain a World Passport in a name other than his own legal name, but was detected after repeated attempts to use it to prove his identity when opening business accounts at various area banks. He was convicted of fraud on a financial institution, and his conviction was upheld on appeal.