I'm all in favor of projecting confidence and authority and such....but I have had times when original documents were necessary. Typically, genuine docs have watermarks or holograms or whatnot which do not photocopy. There do exist border guards, soldiers and cops who know the difference.
In Africa, it's not uncommon for border guards to let people through without proper documentation--letting them sneak around border posts along well-worn pathways, for example, or merely waving them through--in order that they can be pulled aside at roadblocks just down the highway and forced to pay bribes. I've been places where this is standard operating procedure, and understood as such by all participants.
Usually, this doesn't affect obvious tourists like ourselves, but it can if they decide to expand the scam to include us. Fortunately, everyone knows that there are relatively few of us compared to the vast migrations of locals in search of work, safety and family....and that we tourists tend to whine and complain a lot, often to people with a lot more clout than your average border post guard.
enjoy,
Mark
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