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Comment by chromacity | Hacker News Reader

It's a meaningless, feel-good rule. Every country has countless carve-outs. To give you a trivial example: in the US, you can't get a passport if you owe more than $2,500 in child support.

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Whilst I agree, to be fair, a passport is usually only needed when entering a country, not leaving one, right? Under the cited rule, the US needs to allow you to leave, not help you in entering some other country.

I have yet to leave a country (well, a state technically) without having to show a passport - with the exception of the Schengen area.

I mean, really not trying to frame this in any way, but asylum seekers do it all the time.

Ok, fair enough, but if I were German - I don't really think I would asylum anywhere on the basis of Germany maybe intending to conscript me in the future.

I'm reasonably sure Russia would take you.

I rather doubt it, but - can you back that up by some examples at least?

That's mostly because transport companies have to pay to ship you back if you get turned away at the border, so they will want to see your permission to enter your destination country before you leave. I've traveled internationally a fair bit and I've never had to show my passport to government officials when leaving the US.

Don't the TSA count as government agents? I don't have a problem with these checks, but I do believe the TSA does them, no?

TSA needs some form of ID but they’ll accept non-passport ID even if you’re traveling internationally.

Ah, that's right. But don't airlines check passports then? I vaguely remember needing to provide a passport at boarding time.

Yes, that's what I said above. The US government doesn't give a toss, but the airline has to fly you back if you're refused entry at your destination, so they will do their best to ensure you have the documents you need.

TSA doesn't even need an ID, if you don't have one they just take your information and check it against some databases to "confirm" your identity.

Would they do that for an international departure? They know where you’re flying, and I’d think they’d just tell you to stop being an idiot and show them the passport you obviously must have. But policies can be weird, so maybe not.

I can drive to Canada with my driver license.

It is quite difficult to leave a country without simultaneously entering another

It is trivial for any country that is not land-locked. You just have to sail to international waters. What is difficult is to stay there.

You generally do present your passport when leaving. Most places you get an exit stamp (which matches your entry stamp). They usually confirm things such as not overstaying a visa.

ex:

overstaying in Thailand results in a on-the-spot fine

China lately has exit checks when traveling to SEA (they try to intercept people traveling to scam centers)

As of 2015 (FAST Act), your passport will be revoked if you owe more than $66,000 in unpaid taxes.

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