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UGLOBAL IMMIGRATION MAGAZINE
With blockchain, however, the possibility of doing away
with passports (and visas) altogether emerges. This is
because passports, which only tell national authorities’
basic information such as where an individual comes
from, cannot compete with the potentially limitless quota
of information that can be stored on a digital ledger such
as blockchain.
As one’s national identity alone is an insufficient proxy
for the character of an individual, the more important
question for immigration officers to ask in the future will
be “who are you?” as opposed to merely “where are you
from?” With more detail available to authorities about
each individual, there will be less impetus to impose
blanket visa restrictions on all citizens from a given
country. For citizens originating from countries with
passports that inhibit their global mobility, blockchain
ushers in the possibility for prioritizing the individual
again.
“ With more detail available
to authorities about each
individual, there will be
less impetus to impose
blanket visa restrictions on
all citizens from a given
country. ”
The negative consequences of blockchain will mainly
be for those who are attempting to hide something from
authorities. However, there are also well-known cases of
countries being unwilling to admit certain individuals if
they have recently visited a geopolitical rival. Think, for
instance, of trying to visit Israel having travelled in the
Arab world, or vice versa. A dual citizen would probably be
able to do this by traveling on two different passports, but
with blockchain, their anonymity would be compromised.
AS IT RELATES TO FUTURE GOVERNANCE
Deploying blockchain to police citizenship is one thing,
but the technology alone will not fundamentally alter the
status quo of how most people rationalize the actual
concept of citizenship. Blockchain might make it easier
for somebody who is pre-qualified for travel to pass
through passport control, but it will not help anyone who
is brilliant and worthy but happens to be from Yemen (for
example) to overcome deficiencies in the strength of their
passport which, according to the latest Henley Passport
Index, only has access to 33 destinations worldwide visa-
free. Put differently, blockchain will certainly simplify