Border Patrol Travel Documents, Part 1

Here are examples of almost all U.S. travel and identity documents now used to enter, exit or operate within the United States. Each document has been provided with a brief description. All of the images are facsimiles, of purposely of low resolution, and not necessarily the correct color.

In accordance with the 14th amendment to the US Constitution, any person born in and subject to the jurisdiction of the United States is a citizen of the US at birth. US citizenship may also be acquired through derivation from a US citizen parent when children are born abroad or through naturalization after meeting the necessary residency requirements.

The United States Passport

The United States Passport is a document issued by the State Department to persons who have established that they are citizens of the United States by birth, naturalization, or derivation of citizenship. The primary purpose of the passport is to facilitate travel to foreign countries by establishing US citizenship and acting as a vehicle to display any appropriate visas and / or entry / exit stamps that may be necessary.

Passports are also very reliable documents which may be used within the United States to establish citizenship, identity, and employment authorization.

There are about fifteen different versions of the US passport that are presently valid and vary from the 1998 version illustrated below: