Passport fraud is an act of intentional deception that involves forgery, alteration, or false use of a travel document, such as a passport.[1] Common reasons to perpetrate passport fraud include illegally entering a country, avoiding deportation, committing financial crimes, and smuggling.[2]
One way to commit passport fraud is through the creation of a fake passport or camouflage passport.
Misusing a passport is a crime in many jurisdictions.
The Passport Law of the People’s Republic of China, adopted in 2006, prohibits applying for a passport fraudulently. It provides that 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".[3]
Passport fraud is a federal crime. Usually, this crime is 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.
In 1940, the State and Justice Department convicted American Community Party members Earl Browder and Welwel Warszower of "unlawful use of passports."[4]
, the State Department discovered 900 cases of passport fraud a year.[5]
Passport fraud is usually committed by:
Possible violations of the following statutes are investigated by the United States Diplomatic Security Service:
Statutes do not specify that the passport must be a US passport.
If a person lied on a passport application form, they can be fined up to $250,000 and sentenced up to 10 years in prison. If the crime includes human trafficking, narcotics, or both, the sentencing can be raised up to 15 years in prison. If terrorism is involved, the penalty can be raised to 20 years in prison.As well as being charged with further penalties, if the person is caught engaging in any of these additional illegal activities.