Passport fraud

Passport fraud is an act of intentional deception that involves forgery, alteration, or false use of a travel document, such as a passport, in a false or unauthorized manner. Common reasons to perpetrate passport fraud include illegally entering a country, avoiding deportation, committing financial crimes, and smuggling. ^{[1] [2]}

Passport fraud can be committed in various ways using both legal and illegal documents. For example, via identity theft, document forgery or modifying an existing passport. People may also make use of camouflage passport, which are otherwise legal to create, in fraudulent circumstances. ^{[3] [4]}

International Law

China

Under the Passport Law of the People’s Republic of China (2006), obtaining a passport fraudulently is prohibited. Fraudulently obtained passports are null and void, and that "the holder of the passport shall be fined not less than RMB 2,000 yuan but not more than 5,000 yuan". ^[5]

United States

Passport fraud is a federal crime in the United States, often committed to facilitate another crime such as, illegal immigration, contraband smuggling, economic crime, or terrorism. The US department of state's law enforcement, Diplomatic Security Service, have special agents who work with law enforcement agencies in over 160 countries all over the world to investigate passport fraud. Millions of stolen passports are used by terrorists and other dangerous criminals at any given time and it is considered the single largest threat to U.S. national security.

Convictions for passport fraud in the U.S. can result in fines up to $250,000 and prison sentences of between 10 and 20 years, depending on mitigating factors.

History

Passport fraud is a worldwide issue. By 1977, the US State Department recorded approximately 900 cases of passport fraud annually. [6] In 1940, members of the American Communist Party, Earl Browder and Welwel Warszower, were convicted for unlawful use of passports. ^[7] In 2017 a significant state-level passport fraud was exposed by CNN, who alleged that the Venezuelan embassy in Iraq was issuing passports to members of Hezbollah. ^[8]

See also

• Brian Kim (hedge fund manager)
• Charles Stopford
• Identity document forgery
• Passport fraud in Venezuela and Iraq

References

1. "Passport and Visa Fraud". United States Department of State. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
2. "Identity and travel document fraud". www.interpol.int. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
3. "Passport and Visa Fraud". United States Department of State. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
4. "Passport and Visa Fraud: A Quick Course". 2009-2017.state.gov.
5. "Passport Law of the People's Republic of China". www.china-embassy.org. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
6. Investigations, United States Congress Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on (1982). Federal Identification Fraud: Hearings Before the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Committee on Governmental Affairs, United States Senate, Ninety-seventh Congress, Second Session, June 15 and 16, and September 23, 1982. U.S. Government Printing Office.
7. "Communist Party USA in the 1940s | Research Starters | EBSCO Research". EBSCO. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
8. Romo, Scott Zamost,Drew Griffin,Kay Guerrero,Rafael (2017-02-09). "Whistleblower reveals passport fraud". CNN. Retrieved 2025-11-11.