Identity
Most governments on Tear, whether they are nation states or city states, will classify individuals into one of six basic groups that determine the rights, privileges and obligations of the individual. While there are many differences between states, in general people are recognized as being either citizens, residents, tenants, outsiders, penal workers or foreigners. Identity documentation issued by a state is required for an individual to claim their rights.
Identification
All states on Tear, whether they are nation states or smaller city states, issue identification documentation of different kinds, and require persons born in or entering their state to have identity documentation. Generally, because of its importance, identity documentation is always created on high quality, water resistent vellum, and if taken care of, will last a lifetime. Replacing lost, stolen or destroyed identity documentation can be difficult, and it is each individual's responsibility to care for their documentation.
Identity documentation is held by law everywhere to be a protected part of a person, and is theirs under their right to life and their right to bodily and psychic integrity. Authorities may not confiscate identity documentation, and willfully destroying someone's identity documentation is a serious crime, and is punishable by death in most places.
There are three major pieces of identity documentation that are normally considered; birth documentation, citizenship documentation and passports.
Birth Documentation
In any settlement larger than a few dozen persons there will generally be someone whose respsonsiblity it to record births and issue (or at least send for) new birth identity documents. However, in many cases, particularly for tenants living far from the administrative centers of a state, recording a birth with the authorities and getting birth identification issued may be more complex.
Additionally, some species don't care as much about having a legal identity as others; spriggan, lizari and sectiles, for example, tend to need to use non-standard paths toward establishing a legal identity and acquiring identification.
Typical birth identity documentation includes the name, date and place of birth of the individual, as well as their species and parentage, and in some cases additional generations of their lineage. In most cases, the document will also include an age agnostic description of the individual (such as hair, fur, skin and eye color, and often the description of a distinctive birthmark).
The documentation also includes the names, signatures and seals of certain witnesses to the birth and of the state officials who create the document. This might normally include the person responsible for natal care (such as a delivering doctor or midwife), the person responsible for religious or spiritual care (such as a priest), and will certainly include the name, signature and seal of the local civil authority issuing the document.
Citizenship Documentation
Citizenship documentation is separate from basic identity documentation, and simply records the citizenship status of a person; whether they are a tenent, resident or citizen. Since in most places tenancy is the default citizenship status of all individuals at birth, the birth documentation itself serves as proof of tenancy, and additional citizenship documentation is only issued to supplment the information on the birth documentation for those individuals who ascend to become residents or citizens.
Passports
Passports are documents that are created by a state for the purpose of providing additional identity support for persons leaving the state to travel abroad. Normally these are only created for for residents or citizens who are engaged in foreign trade or business. Persons entering a state are not usually required to have a passport but having one will certainly make it easier to enter, and will certainly be required to recieve a visa permitting them to legally engage in work or trade.
Attempting to enter a foreign state without a passport or other identification means entering with a refugee visa and becoming an outsider.