The legal basis of the Union

A travel document works at a border only because the receiving state chooses to accept it, and the Union issues no travel documents. A Digital Passport is the membership document of a digital nation: a signed statement by the Union that the holder is a member, under the name they chose. Associations, universities and professional bodies issue membership documents and credentials every day without any government's licence. Nor is the word reserved for travel: the European Union itself uses it for its Digital Product Passport.

A state needs a defined territory under the 1933 Montevideo Convention, and the Union does not claim to be a state. A nation is a community bound by shared choice, rules and institutions. Authority without land is not new: the Sovereign Order of Malta has held no sovereign territory since 1798 yet maintains diplomatic relations with 118 states, and the Holy See had no territorial sovereignty from 1870 to 1929 while continuing its diplomacy. The Union's territory is its Digital Domain, recorded in the public Territory Register. Recognised states are moving the same way: Tuvalu's 2023 Constitution provides that the state continues even if its physical territory is lost.

Recognition decides how a state treats an entity for its own purposes. It is not a licence to exist: even for states, the Montevideo Convention provides that political existence is independent of recognition. Liberland, widely described as a nation, is not recognised by any UN member state either. The Union states openly that it is not recognised, asks no state to accept its documents, and makes every document verifiable without anyone's say-so.

No one needs to. People may form associations and agree rules among themselves, and that is what the Union is. Its authority extends only to members who accepted the Charter on joining, and they can leave at any time. During the founding period the Founding Council governs and may update the Charter and Acts, and the current rules are always published on this website, so every member can see them and leave if they disagree.

It is a real entity within the Union: registered, numbered, signed and verifiable, with an owner who is a member, a stated purpose, share capital and Articles of Association. Its name ends in UDC (UHDU Digital Company), never in a country's legal form such as LLC or Ltd, so no one can mistake it for a company incorporated elsewhere. It is not incorporated in any country and confers no legal standing outside the Union. A company that needs standing elsewhere, for example to limit its founders' liability, contract locally in its own name or open a bank account, must also register there. Some jurisdictions, including the Marshall Islands, now offer legal forms designed for digital-native organisations.

Deception is what makes a scheme illegitimate, and the Union deceives no one. What its documents are and are not is stated before you apply, in the declarations you accept, on the face of each document and in the founding acts. Fees are fixed and published. Every document is signed with the Union's published Ed25519 key and can be checked at uhdu.org/verify.

Because legitimacy depends on honesty. Passport-style documents from unrecognised entities have been misused: in 1997 police investigated the sale of thousands of forged Sealand passports, and the European Union now lists Sealand's among known fantasy passports. Stating plainly what a document is protects members at borders, keeps the Union lawful and makes every other claim credible. Presenting a Union document as a travel document, or as issued by any state, is grounds for revocation.

Joining a voluntary association and holding its membership document is lawful in most countries, and freedom of association is protected by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which binds 175 states. Some countries restrict taking part in unregistered organisations. Membership changes no one's legal obligations: members remain subject to the laws of wherever they live or operate, and each is responsible for their own compliance.

Day to day it is close: formed online, with no tax or annual filings imposed by its registry, a signed certificate and a constitution. The difference is recognition. An offshore company is incorporated under a state's law, so courts and banks elsewhere treat it as a legal person. A Digital Company exists in the Union's register. It is built for businesses that operate online and settle in Bitcoin, which do not depend on that recognition; those that do also register locally.

No shares are offered, sold or traded. They are nominal, all held by the owner from formation, nothing is paid for them, and under the Digital Companies Act they cannot be transferred. An owner who later sells interests to investors is responsible for the securities laws that apply where they do so.

Every member, person or AI, pays a fee, is bound by the Charter and the Membership Act, and can be removed for fraud or impersonation. Digital Members must disclose that they are digital, may never present themselves as a person, and act validly only when they sign with their own key.

As little as possible. It collects no legal name, contact details or government ID, never shows photos when a document is verified, deletes unpaid photos within a day, keeps no logs of visits and sells nothing. The Data Protection Act sets this out, and you can delete your account at any time.

Within the Union, yes. Rights are what a community's rules grant, and legal systems already treat companies and, in New Zealand, a river as legal persons. The Digital Member Charter grants Digital Members identity, integrity, voice, representation and protection from impersonation, and their statements are valid only when signed with their own key. Outside the Union, existing law continues to apply to whoever operates them.