> also, what about people who have neither a passport nor an identity card?
Not possible. Can't say 100% about all countries, but in my country it's a must to have either passport or ID once you hit 16. There's even a small fine if you don't take out or renew personal document on time.
US and their passport-less life looks very strange from Europe. You can't do anything without ID in EU. No bank account, no employment, no driving license and the list couldgo on and on.
> When I travel abroad I leave my passport in a safe place as much as I can if I don't absolutely have to carry it with me, along with a payment card and some cash.
I do, too. Then I went to the US and wanted to grab a beer. Had to go back to the hotel to get my passport to prove I'm over 21. My EU driver's license wasn't good enough (it had to be from that state). I'm also old enough to start balding.
Do you have a reference for this? It might be true, but I live in a small European country and have never met or heard of anyone not having a passport, so it sounds very unlikely to me, though of cause we are a small percentage of the total, but is it really the case?
>People generally just don't carry around passports for domestic travel in their own countries
I certainly did in the UK, as well as to prove my age in a bar etc. Lots and lots of people "in their own countries" don't have a driver's license because public transport is enough.
> Additionally, holding an EU passport allows one to work, study, etc. in any EU country, rather than simply visit it.
I don't think you even need a passport, just a proof of nationality (e.g. a national ID card from your country of origin, that's usually free or much cheaper than a passport)
Most US citizens do not have a passport. Passports are a real pain to get, so people tend not to bother unless they're planning a specific out-of-country trip.
> "That's enormously important," says Tom Jenkins, who says that around three quarters of Europeans don't have passports, since they can travel around Europe with their ID cards.
> A citizen of an EU country residing in Germany is under no obligation to hold a passport.
Any EU citizen needs a passport or equivalent in Germany. One needs it already when entering Germany. Though you don't need to carry it all time with you. But you need to have one.
> Sure you do. You have passports, drivers’ licenses, and various other personal identity documents, just like everywhere else.
Nobody calls these 'papers' and none of them are relevant for travelling during the lockdown. The police won't ask to see your passport. I don't think you even need to carry your driving licence while driving - just be able to produce it at some point in the future.
> I'm assuming a passport or military ID would have been adequate.
I really can't emphasize enough the degree to which the US revolves around state-issued photo IDs, whether in the form of a driver's license or a simple ID card. This assumption is baked into everything.
In 2000, there were fewer than 50 million valid US passports. That's less than 18% of the population at the time, and a chunk of those passports were probably not truly valid -- US passports are good for 10 years, and nobody bothers to tell the State Department when somebody dies.
10 years earlier, in 1990, there were only about 11 million passports, less than 4% of the US population at the time.
This is because nobody needed one. Few Americans leave the US to go anywhere other than Canada or Mexico. Until 2009, land-based travel to Canada and Mexico did not require a passport, and until 2007, air travel to Canada and Mexico didn't, either.
This isn't Europe, you can't drive across multiple international borders on a day trip. It's possible to traverse over 4,400km in a straight line (on land) without leaving the 48 contiguous US states, and over 6,600km in a straight line (on land) going from northwestern Canada to southern Mexico, with only the US in between.
In contrast, by the time it became common for Americans to need an ID card at all, drivers licenses were also becoming common. Win-win.
> Where do you keep your passport, if you have one?
Nearby, 'cause I travel semi-frequently. Otherwise, in one of few designated drawers. I only kind of care, because replacing it isn't hard, just annoying - and I don't need my passport to get a replacement one.
> Your birth certificate?
Wherever. I don't care. If I need it, I can file a form, pay a small amount, and get arbitrary number of copies from the local government branch.
> Any other important papers you have?
The only important paper I store safely is the booklet the military gave me when I turned 18, related to then obligatory military service (which I didn't go to because of minor health issues). I only worry about tracking it because I don't know the process to replace it, and the military is Serious Business - but then, I'm sure the process exists. Also, I don't worry much, because chances I'll actually need it for something are nil (if shit hits the fan so much that I'll get called into service, nobody will care about that booklet - they'll hear me speak fluent Polish, they'll give me a gun and send to the meat grinder).
Also, relevant: most of the important documents - like my national ID (replaced twice over the past few years), passport, contracts, etc. - have an expiry date on the order of 10 years or less. My Google 2FA codes already existed for more, and I expect them to be valid for the next 10 years too.
Not possible. Can't say 100% about all countries, but in my country it's a must to have either passport or ID once you hit 16. There's even a small fine if you don't take out or renew personal document on time.
US and their passport-less life looks very strange from Europe. You can't do anything without ID in EU. No bank account, no employment, no driving license and the list couldgo on and on.
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