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If by "most countries in the world" you mean first world countries - the EU numbers 28, add in the US, Canada, Australia, Japan, etc. you might get up to 40-50 countries where this is a reasonable expectation. I am sure there are even edge cases along the US-Canada border where the crossings aren't all electronic since it is overkill when 99% of the people crossing are locals. There are 180-200 countries in the world. You characterisation of the vast majority of them as "very third-world" is rather crass. You are also ignoring possible police stops inside of foreign countries. In order to ask for a bribe, they check that you have all of your paperwork in order. For (1), The Schengen area has already implemented this for EU countries with national identity card schemes. In contrast, the US doesn't have a national identity card scheme so you still need a passport (booklet by air, card by land or sea). Even illegal immigrants can get an ID card or Driver's license in California, for instance. For (2), some countries just want to collect a little fee and don't care much beyond that as long as you stay for less than 30 or 90 days. For (3), the US, for instance, extends the Visa Waiver Program to any country when the Visa reject rate drops low enough. I think you are greatly overestimating the level of cooperation between countries on visa policy. it seems to be the trend, like the elimination of cash. Again, this trend is limited to very first world countries. In most of the world, cash is still king. |