Comment by alter_eco123

You know, in practice, even your passport has always been a "permission to leave".

It's also a "permission to enter" some other country. But without it, you won't be flying anywhere.

Then you've got visas, which are "permissions to exist" in a certain geographical area (within a certain time-frame).

We've all had a default assumption that we can get a new passport any time, but it's actually never been guaranteed.