On a more serious note, does anybody know if they check for death certificates now when one applies for a passport with a birth certificate now?
In the US, especially so in the finance industry, many companies are now making it a requirement that before any type of acceptance, your social security number is checked with the SSDI. I don't know what it is like in any other country.
Also consider, as said above, terrorism has placed many countries in a high security status, I'm sure a lot of the material provided in that book is no longer valid. I'm sure procedures have changed. I would hope so anyway.