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The biggest misnomer in the world of dual citizenship and global mobility - "Citizenship" & "Passport"

Sometimes misnomers are propagated far and wide for years or decades because a fundamental lack of understanding about the things involved, plus an initial inertia that's difficult to overcome.

Unfortunately, these ridiculous misnomers are often parroted by prestige publications with enormous audiences such as Forbes, Business Insider, Travel & Leisure, Condé Nast Traveler, and many others.

Calling citizenships "passports" is one of those instances.

Am I just being an annoying pedant?

Let's briefly discuss the concepts of citizenship, passport, and find out. 👇

A thread 🧵 (1/8)

Parviz Malakouti-Fitzgerald 2y ago

1. But, a passport is always proof of citizenship, right?

No, actually it's not.

In many countries, you can have a passport issued to non-citizens (See Jordanian temp passports for Palestinians, refugee travel documents i.e. "Geneva passport, Armenian special passport, etc.).

Fun fact: even a U.S. passport doesn't necessarily demonstrate the holder is a U.S. citizen (they may be a U.S. non-citizen national).

In my experience, most American citizens don't even know there is such a thing as a U.S. non-citizen national.

(2/8)

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/travel-legal-considerations/us-citizenship/Certificates-Non-Citizen-Nationality.html

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Parviz Malakouti-Fitzgerald 2y ago

2. But citizenship and passport are both yours by law, right?

No, actually a passport is usually government property (seizable, cancellable, refutable), whereas a citizenship is not.

(3/8)

Parviz Malakouti-Fitzgerald 2y ago

3. But your mobility benefits and core residency rights come from a passport, right?

No, actually the benefits stem from citizenship, nationality (or a residency permit), not the passport.

(4/8)

Parviz Malakouti-Fitzgerald 2y ago

4. But if you're a citizen, you can pretty much always get a passport from your country of citizenship, right?

No, not at all.

As any real immigration or citizenship practitioner knows, there are millions of people around the world who cannot get a passport for one reason or another (passport attack vectors). 👇

(5/8)

https://www.malakoutilaw.com/passport-attack-vectors-mobility-concepts

Parviz Malakouti-Fitzgerald 2y ago

5. But it's clear when people say "having multiple passports" they're referring to dual citizenship, right?

A passport is a travel document, in the form of a blue, burgundy, green or black booklet.

Here's an incomplete list of people who can have multiple passports without being a multiple citizen:

1. Vintage passport collectors

2. Holders of valid passports issued to non-citizens of the issuing country (see examples above)

3. Citizens of only one country with multiple valid passports from the same country

4. Citizens of only one country with a valid passport and expired passport (which may be used as ID or proof of citizenship even if not valid as a travel document anymore).

(6/8)

Parviz Malakouti-Fitzgerald 2y ago

6. So you're saying citizenship is what matters, not the passport?

No, I'm not saying that. Passports are very important for global mobility and residency, too.

Unfortunately, due to our modern nation-state system, people need passports (or a substitute) in order to cross borders without enormous difficulty.

A sovereign individual type needs multiple citizenships AND their corresponding multiple passports.

(7/8)

https://www.malakoutilaw.com/handcuffs-of-the-passport-system-mobility-concepts

Parviz Malakouti-Fitzgerald 2y ago

Clarity of Thought, Economy of Expression

Passports are simply not citizenships.

As the global interest in multiple citizenship and freedom of movement is spiking, it's time to bin this ridiculous misnomer that's grown legs and run all around the world.

Let's call a citizenship a citizenship, and a passport a passport.

(8/8)

#citizenship #passport #dualcitizenship #freedomofmovement