United States passport
Encyclopedia
United States passports are passport
s issued to citizens and non-citizen nationals of the United States of America
. They are issued exclusively by the U.S. Department of State
. Besides issuing passports (in booklet form), also limited use passport card
s are issued by the same organization subject to the same requirements.
U.S. passport booklets are valid for travel by Americans anywhere in the world, although travel to certain countries and/or for certain purposes may require a visa
and the U.S. itself restricts its nationals from traveling to or engaging in commercial transactions in certain countries. They conform with recommended standards (i.e., size, composition, layout, technology) of the International Civil Aviation Organization
(ICAO). There are five types of passport booklets; as well, the Department of State has issued only e-passports
as standard since August 2007, though non-biometric passports are valid until their expiry dates.
(1775–1783). Passports were sheets of paper printed on one side, included a description of the bearer, and were valid for three to six months. The minister to France, Benjamin Franklin
, based the design of passports issued by his mission on that of the French passport.
The Department of Foreign Affairs of the war period also issued passports, and the department, carried over by the Articles of Confederation
government (1783–1789), continued to issue passports. In July, 1789, the Department of Foreign Affairs was carried over by the government established under the Constitution
. In September of that year, the name of the department was changed to Department of State
. The department handled foreign relations and issued passports, and, until the mid-nineteenth century, had various domestic duties.
For decades thereafter, passports were issued not only by the Department of State but also by states and cities, and by notaries public. Passports issued by American authorities other than the Department of State breached propriety and caused confusion abroad. Some European countries refused to recognize passports not issued by the Department of State, unless United States consular officials endorsed them. The problems led the Congress in 1856 to give to the Department of State sole authority to issue passports.
From 1776 to 1783, no state government had a passport requirement. The Articles of Confederation government (1783–1789) did not have a passport requirement.
From 1789 through late 1941, the government established under the Constitution required passports of citizens only during the American Civil War
(1861–1865) and during and shortly after World War I
(1914–1918). The passport requirement of the Civil War era lacked statutory authority. After the outbreak of World War I, passports were required, though there was no statutory authority for the requirement. The Travel Control Act of May 22, 1918 permitted the president, when the United States was at war, to proclaim a passport requirement, and a proclamation was issued on August 18, 1918. Though World War I ended on November 11, 1918, the passport requirement lingered until March 3, 1921.
There was an absence of a passport requirement under United States law between 1921 and 1941. World War II
(1939–1945) again led to passport requirements under the Travel Control Act of 1918. A 1978 amendment to the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 made it illegal to to enter or depart the United States without an issued passport even in peacetime.
The contemporary period of required passports for Americans under United States law began on November 29, 1941.
In Europe, general peace between the end of the Napoleonic Wars
(1815) and the beginning of World War I (1914), and development of railroads, gave rise to international travel by large numbers of people. Passports were not usually required; there were limited wars which caused some exceptions. Countries such as Czarist Russia and the Ottoman Empire maintained passport requirements. During World War I (1914–1918), European countries had passport requirements. After that war, many European countries retained their passport requirements. Foreign passport requirements undercut the absence of a passport requirement for Americans, under United States law, between 1921 and 1941.
Even when passports were not usually required, U.S. passports were requested by Americans. Records of the Department of State show that 130,360 passports were issued between 1810 and 1873, and that 369,844 passports were issued between 1877 and 1909. Some of those passports were family passports or group passports. A passport application could cover, variously, a wife, a child or children, one or more servants, or a female traveling under the protection of a man. The passport would be issued to the man. Similarly, a passport application could cover a child traveling with its mother. The passport would be issued to the mother. The number of Americans who traveled without passports is unknown.
The League of Nations
held a conference in 1920 concerning passports and through-train travel, and conferences in 1926 and 1927 concerning passports. The 1920 conference put forward guidelines on the layout and features of passports, which the 1926 and 1927 conferences followed up. Those guidelines were steps in the shaping of contemporary passports. One of the guidelines was about 32-page passport booklets, such as the U.S. type III mentioned in this section, below. Another guideline was about languages in passports. See Languages, below.
A conference on travel and tourism held by the United Nations
in 1963 did not result in standardised passports. Passport standardization was accomplished in 1980 under the auspices of the International Civil Aviation Organization.
The design and contents of U.S. passports changed over the years. For example, in 1926, the Department of State introduced the type III passport. This had a stiff red cover, with a window cutout through which the passport number was visible. That style of passport contained 32 pages.
American passports had green covers from 1941 until 1976, when the cover was changed to blue, as part of the U.S. bicentennial celebration. Green covers were again issued from April, 1993, until March, 1994, and included a special one-page tribute to Benjamin Franklin in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the United States Consular Service.
In 1981, the United States became the first country to introduce machine-readable passport
s. In 2000, the Department of State started to issue passports with digital photos, and as of 2010, all previous series have expired.
In fiscal year 2007, the Department of State issued 18,382,798 passports.
In 2006, the Department of State began to issue biometric passports to diplomats and other officials.
Later in 2006, biometric passports were issued to the public. Since August 2007, the department has issued only biometric passports. An issued non-biometric will remain valid until its stated date of expiration, with the final non-biometric passports expiring on August 1, 2017.
.
Passport Services operates twenty-two regional passport agencies in the United States to serve the general public. The most recent additions include the opening of public counters at the National Passport Center in New Hampshire and at the Arkansas Agency, as well as opening New York's second regional agency in Buffalo in October 2010. Additionally, Passport Services plans to open regional agencies in El Paso, Texas, Atlanta, Georgia and San Diego, California in 2011. Passport applications most of these locations require citizens provide proof of travel within 14 days of the application date, or who need to obtain foreign visas before traveling.
There are about 9,000 passport acceptance facilities in the United States, designated by Passport Services, at which routine passport applications may be filed. These facilities include United States courts, state courts, post offices, public libraries, county offices and city offices.
An application for a United States passport made abroad is forwarded by a U.S. embassy or consulate to Passport Services for processing in the United States. The resulting passport is sent to the embassy or consulate for issuance to the applicant. An emergency passport is issuable by the embassy or consulate. As per Haig v. Agee
, the Presidential administration may deny or revoke passports for foreign policy or national security
reasons at any time. Perhaps the most notable example of enforcement of this ability was the 1948 denial of a passport to U.S. Representative
Leo Isacson
, who sought to go to Paris to attend a conference as an observer for the American Council for a Democratic Greece, a Communist front
organization, because of the group's role in opposing the Greek government in the Greek Civil War
.
As a condition to be registered through the National Hand Courier Program, U.S. passport expediters are held to a strict code of conduct, which includes background screenings of all employees who handle passport applications. Additionally, companies must follow procedures to safeguard applicants' personal information.
"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States ..." Under this provision, "United States" means the 50 states and the District of Columbia only.
By acts of Congress, every person born in Puerto Rico
, the U.S. Virgin Islands
, Guam
, and the Northern Mariana Islands
is a United States citizen by birth. Also, every person born in the former Panama Canal Zone
whose father or mother (or both) are or were a citizen is a United States citizen by birth.
Other acts of Congress provide for acquisition of citizenship by persons born abroad.
Every citizen is a national of the United States. Not every national is a citizen. There is a small class of American Samoans, born in American Samoa
, including Swains Island
, who are nationals but not citizens of the United States, See Passport message, below.
United States law permits dual nationality. Consequently, having and using a foreign passport are permissible. However, when a U.S. citizen uses a passport to leave or enter the United States, they're required to use a U.S. passport. This requirement extends to a U.S. citizen who is a dual national.
Regular (dark blue cover): Issuable to all citizens and non-citizen nationals. Periods of validity: for those age 16 or over, generally ten years from the date of issue; for those 15 and younger, generally five years from the date of issue. A sub-type of regular passports is no-fee passports, issuable to citizens in specified categories for specified purposes. Examples: A U.S. government employee, for travel on official business; an American seaman, for travel connected with his duties aboard a U.S.-flag vessel. Period of validity: generally 5 years from the date of issue. A no-fee passport has an endorsement which prohibits its use for a purpose other than the specified purpose.
Official (brown cover): Issuable to citizen-employees of the United States assigned overseas, either permanently or temporarily, and their eligible dependents, and to members of Congress who travel abroad on official business. Period of validity: generally five years from the date of issue.
Diplomatic (black cover): Issuable to American diplomats accredited overseas and their eligible dependents, and to citizens who reside in the United States and travel abroad for diplomatic work. Period of validity: generally five years from the date of issue.
Travel Document (also known as "Refugee Travel Document" or "Refugee Passport") (blue-green cover): Not a full passport, but issued to aliens who have been classified as refugees or asylees.
Reentry Permit (blue-green cover): Not a full passport, but issued to a permanent resident alien in lieu of a passport. The reentry permit guarantees them permission to reenter the US and is usually valid for a period of 2 years.
Emergency: Issuable to citizens overseas, in urgent circumstances. Period of validity: generally one year from the date of issue. An emergency passport may be exchanged for a full-term passport.
U.S. passport card
: Not a full passport, but a small ID card issued by the US government for crossing land and sea borders with Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda. The passport card is not valid for International air travel. It is possible to hold the U.S. passport card in addition to a regular passport, making it useful when travelling internationally for a long time (Round-the-world-trip). In cases where people need to apply for a visa, and thus have to hand in their regular passport, the U.S. passport card can be a valid proof of ID and U.S. citizenship, allowing free movement unrestricted by local authorities.
It is routine for the Department of State to authorize a holder of a regular passport to hold, in addition, a diplomatic passport or an official passport or a no-fee passport.
One circumstance which may call for issuance of a second passport of a particular type is a prolonged visa-processing delay. Another is safety or security, such as travel between Israel
and a country which refuses to grant entry to a person with a passport which indicates travel to Israel. The period of validity of a second passport issued under either circumstance is generally two years from the date of issue.
Those who need a second identification document in addition to the US passport may hold a U.S. passport card. This passport card is used by US citizens living abroad when they need to renew their regular passport book, renew their residency permit or apply for a visa - in other words, when they cannot show their regular passport yet are required by local law to carry valid identification.
is at the center. "PASSPORT" (in all capital letters) appears above the representation of the Great Seal, and "United States of America" (in Garamond
italic) appears below.
An Official passport has "OFFICIAL" (in all capital letters) above "PASSPORT". The capital letters of "OFFICIAL" are somewhat smaller than the capital letters of "PASSPORT".
A Diplomatic passport has "DIPLOMATIC" (in all capital letters) above "PASSPORT". The capital letters of "DIPLOMATIC" are somewhat smaller than the capital letters of "PASSPORT".
A Travel Document, in both forms (Refugee Travel Document and Permit to Re-Enter), features the seal of the Department of Homeland Security instead of the Great Seal of the United States. Above the seal the words "TRAVEL DOCUMENT" appears in all capital letters. Below the seal is the legend "Issued by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services" in upper and lower case.
A biometric passport has the e-passport symbol at the bottom.
There are 32 pages in a biometric passport. Frequent travelers may be issued 52-page passports. Extra visa pages may be added to a passport. Extra visa pages can be added by mail (if the passport holder resides in the U.S.) and at most U.S. embassies and consulates (if the passport holder resides or visits a country overseas). The addition of visa pages used to be free, but as of July 13, 2010, the service costs $82.
Each passport has a data page and a signature page.
A data page has a visual zone and a machine-readable zone. The visual zone has a digitized photograph of the passport holder, data about the passport, and data about the passport holder:
The machine-readable zone is present at the bottom of the page and starts with P.
A signature page has a line for the signature of a passport holder. A passport is not valid until it is signed by the passport holder. If a holder is unable to sign his passport, it is to be signed by a person who has legal authority to sign on the holder's behalf.
/Israel
. Place of birth was first added to U.S. passports in 1917. A request to list no place of birth in a passport is never accepted. A citizen born outside the United States may be able to have his city or town of birth entered in his passport, if he or she objects to the standard country name. However, if a foreign country denies a visa or entry due to the place-of-birth designation, the Department of State will issue a replacement passport at normal fees, and will not facilitate entry into the foreign country.
In English
:
in French
:
and in Spanish
:
The term "citizen/national" and its equivalent terms ("citoyen ou ressortissant"; "ciudadano o nacional") are in the message, as some people born in American Samoa, including Swains Island, are nationals but not citizens of the United States.
The masculine inflections of "Le Secrétaire d'Etat" and "El Secretario de Estado" are used in all passports, regardless of the Secretary of State's gender at the time of issuance.
All minor applicants are considered first time applicants until they reach age 16. Minor applicants pay an $80 application fee for the passport book and a $15 application fee for the passport card. The same $25 execution fee is charged per application.
English, the de-facto national language of the United States, has always been used in U.S. passports. At some point subsequent to 1920, English and French were used in passports. Spanish was added during the second Clinton administration
, in recognition of Spanish-speaking Puerto Rico
.
The field names on the data page, the passport message, the warning on the second page that the bearer is responsible for obtaining visas, and the designations of the amendments-and-endorsements pages, are printed in English, French and Spanish.
s. That law also provides that foreigners who travel to the U.S., and want to enter the U.S. visa-free under the Visa Waiver Program
, must bear machine-readable passports which comply with international standards. If a foreign passport was issued on or after October 26, 2006, that passport must be a biometric passport.
The chip of a U.S. passport stores an image of the photograph of the passport holder, passport data, and personal data of the passport holder; and has capacity to store additional data. The capacity of the Radio-frequency identification (RFID) chip is 64 kilobytes, which is large enough to store biometric identifiers, such as fingerprints and retina scans, in addition to an image of a photograph, passport data and personal data.
Data in a passport chip are scannable by readers, a capability which is intended to speed up immigration processing. A passport does not have to be plugged into a reader in order for data therein to be read. Like toll-road chips, data in passport chips can be read when passport chips are proximate to readers. The passport cover contains a radio-frequency shield, so the cover must be opened for the data to be read.
According to the Department of State, the Basic Access Control
(BAC) security protocol prevents access to those data unless the printed information within the passport is also known or can be guessed.
According to privacy advocates, the BAC and the shielded cover are ineffective when a passport is open, and that a passport may have to be opened for inspection in a public place such as a hotel, a bank, or an Internet cafe. An open passport is subject to illicit reading of chip data, such as by a government agent who is tracking a passport holder's movements or by a criminal who is intending identity theft.
Passport
A passport is a document, issued by a national government, which certifies, for the purpose of international travel, the identity and nationality of its holder. The elements of identity are name, date of birth, sex, and place of birth....
s issued to citizens and non-citizen nationals of the United States of America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. They are issued exclusively by the U.S. Department of State
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
. Besides issuing passports (in booklet form), also limited use passport card
Passport card
The passport card is an alternative to a passport produced in the United States to meet the documentary requirements of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative. The U.S. Passport Card is a wallet-size travel document, issued to U.S...
s are issued by the same organization subject to the same requirements.
U.S. passport booklets are valid for travel by Americans anywhere in the world, although travel to certain countries and/or for certain purposes may require a visa
Visa (document)
A visa is a document showing that a person is authorized to enter the territory for which it was issued, subject to permission of an immigration official at the time of actual entry. The authorization may be a document, but more commonly it is a stamp endorsed in the applicant's passport...
and the U.S. itself restricts its nationals from traveling to or engaging in commercial transactions in certain countries. They conform with recommended standards (i.e., size, composition, layout, technology) of the International Civil Aviation Organization
International Civil Aviation Organization
The International Civil Aviation Organization , pronounced , , is a specialized agency of the United Nations. It codifies the principles and techniques of international air navigation and fosters the planning and development of international air transport to ensure safe and orderly growth...
(ICAO). There are five types of passport booklets; as well, the Department of State has issued only e-passports
Biometric passport
A biometric passport, also known as an e-passport or ePassport, is a combined paper and electronic passport that contains biometric information that can be used to authenticate the identity of travelers...
as standard since August 2007, though non-biometric passports are valid until their expiry dates.
History
American consular officials issued passports to some citizens of some of the thirteen states during the War for IndependenceAmerican Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
(1775–1783). Passports were sheets of paper printed on one side, included a description of the bearer, and were valid for three to six months. The minister to France, Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin
Dr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...
, based the design of passports issued by his mission on that of the French passport.
The Department of Foreign Affairs of the war period also issued passports, and the department, carried over by the Articles of Confederation
Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation, formally the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, was an agreement among the 13 founding states that legally established the United States of America as a confederation of sovereign states and served as its first constitution...
government (1783–1789), continued to issue passports. In July, 1789, the Department of Foreign Affairs was carried over by the government established under the Constitution
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
. In September of that year, the name of the department was changed to Department of State
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
. The department handled foreign relations and issued passports, and, until the mid-nineteenth century, had various domestic duties.
For decades thereafter, passports were issued not only by the Department of State but also by states and cities, and by notaries public. Passports issued by American authorities other than the Department of State breached propriety and caused confusion abroad. Some European countries refused to recognize passports not issued by the Department of State, unless United States consular officials endorsed them. The problems led the Congress in 1856 to give to the Department of State sole authority to issue passports.
From 1776 to 1783, no state government had a passport requirement. The Articles of Confederation government (1783–1789) did not have a passport requirement.
From 1789 through late 1941, the government established under the Constitution required passports of citizens only during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
(1861–1865) and during and shortly after World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
(1914–1918). The passport requirement of the Civil War era lacked statutory authority. After the outbreak of World War I, passports were required, though there was no statutory authority for the requirement. The Travel Control Act of May 22, 1918 permitted the president, when the United States was at war, to proclaim a passport requirement, and a proclamation was issued on August 18, 1918. Though World War I ended on November 11, 1918, the passport requirement lingered until March 3, 1921.
There was an absence of a passport requirement under United States law between 1921 and 1941. World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
(1939–1945) again led to passport requirements under the Travel Control Act of 1918. A 1978 amendment to the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 made it illegal to to enter or depart the United States without an issued passport even in peacetime.
The contemporary period of required passports for Americans under United States law began on November 29, 1941.
In Europe, general peace between the end of the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
(1815) and the beginning of World War I (1914), and development of railroads, gave rise to international travel by large numbers of people. Passports were not usually required; there were limited wars which caused some exceptions. Countries such as Czarist Russia and the Ottoman Empire maintained passport requirements. During World War I (1914–1918), European countries had passport requirements. After that war, many European countries retained their passport requirements. Foreign passport requirements undercut the absence of a passport requirement for Americans, under United States law, between 1921 and 1941.
Even when passports were not usually required, U.S. passports were requested by Americans. Records of the Department of State show that 130,360 passports were issued between 1810 and 1873, and that 369,844 passports were issued between 1877 and 1909. Some of those passports were family passports or group passports. A passport application could cover, variously, a wife, a child or children, one or more servants, or a female traveling under the protection of a man. The passport would be issued to the man. Similarly, a passport application could cover a child traveling with its mother. The passport would be issued to the mother. The number of Americans who traveled without passports is unknown.
The League of Nations
League of Nations
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
held a conference in 1920 concerning passports and through-train travel, and conferences in 1926 and 1927 concerning passports. The 1920 conference put forward guidelines on the layout and features of passports, which the 1926 and 1927 conferences followed up. Those guidelines were steps in the shaping of contemporary passports. One of the guidelines was about 32-page passport booklets, such as the U.S. type III mentioned in this section, below. Another guideline was about languages in passports. See Languages, below.
A conference on travel and tourism held by the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
in 1963 did not result in standardised passports. Passport standardization was accomplished in 1980 under the auspices of the International Civil Aviation Organization.
The design and contents of U.S. passports changed over the years. For example, in 1926, the Department of State introduced the type III passport. This had a stiff red cover, with a window cutout through which the passport number was visible. That style of passport contained 32 pages.
American passports had green covers from 1941 until 1976, when the cover was changed to blue, as part of the U.S. bicentennial celebration. Green covers were again issued from April, 1993, until March, 1994, and included a special one-page tribute to Benjamin Franklin in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the United States Consular Service.
In 1981, the United States became the first country to introduce machine-readable passport
Machine-readable passport
A Machine Readable Passport is a travel document where the data on the identity page is encoded in optical character recognition format. Many countries began to issue machine readable travel documents in the 1980s....
s. In 2000, the Department of State started to issue passports with digital photos, and as of 2010, all previous series have expired.
In fiscal year 2007, the Department of State issued 18,382,798 passports.
In 2006, the Department of State began to issue biometric passports to diplomats and other officials.
Later in 2006, biometric passports were issued to the public. Since August 2007, the department has issued only biometric passports. An issued non-biometric will remain valid until its stated date of expiration, with the final non-biometric passports expiring on August 1, 2017.
Bureaucracy
Within the Department of State, responsibility for passport issuance lies with Passport Services, a unit of the Bureau of Consular AffairsBureau of Consular Affairs
The Bureau of Consular Affairs is a bureau of the United States Department of State within that department's management office. The mission of the Bureau is to administer laws, formulate regulations and implement policies relating to the broad range of consular services and immigration. , the...
.
Passport Services operates twenty-two regional passport agencies in the United States to serve the general public. The most recent additions include the opening of public counters at the National Passport Center in New Hampshire and at the Arkansas Agency, as well as opening New York's second regional agency in Buffalo in October 2010. Additionally, Passport Services plans to open regional agencies in El Paso, Texas, Atlanta, Georgia and San Diego, California in 2011. Passport applications most of these locations require citizens provide proof of travel within 14 days of the application date, or who need to obtain foreign visas before traveling.
There are about 9,000 passport acceptance facilities in the United States, designated by Passport Services, at which routine passport applications may be filed. These facilities include United States courts, state courts, post offices, public libraries, county offices and city offices.
An application for a United States passport made abroad is forwarded by a U.S. embassy or consulate to Passport Services for processing in the United States. The resulting passport is sent to the embassy or consulate for issuance to the applicant. An emergency passport is issuable by the embassy or consulate. As per Haig v. Agee
Haig v. Agee
Haig v. Agee, 453 U.S. 280 , is a U.S. Supreme Court case involving Congressional delegation of authority over control of passports and the right to international travel. Philip Agee was an ex-Central Intelligence Agency agent living in West Germany who in 1974 declared a "campaign to fight the U.S...
, the Presidential administration may deny or revoke passports for foreign policy or national security
National security
National security is the requirement to maintain the survival of the state through the use of economic, diplomacy, power projection and political power. The concept developed mostly in the United States of America after World War II...
reasons at any time. Perhaps the most notable example of enforcement of this ability was the 1948 denial of a passport to U.S. Representative
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
Leo Isacson
Leo Isacson
Leo Isacson was an American Labor member of the United States House of Representatives from New York.Isacson was born in New York City. He graduated from New York University in 1931 and New York University School of Law in 1933. He was member of the New York State Assembly from 1945 until 1946...
, who sought to go to Paris to attend a conference as an observer for the American Council for a Democratic Greece, a Communist front
Communist front
A Communist front organization is an organization identified to be a front organization under the effective control of a Communist party, the Communist International or other Communist organizations. Lenin originated the idea in his manifesto of 1902, "What Is to Be Done?"...
organization, because of the group's role in opposing the Greek government in the Greek Civil War
Greek Civil War
The Greek Civil War was fought from 1946 to 1949 between the Greek governmental army, backed by the United Kingdom and United States, and the Democratic Army of Greece , the military branch of the Greek Communist Party , backed by Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Albania...
.
U.S. Passport Expediting Companies
U.S. passport expediting companies are companies registered through the U.S. Department of State’s National Hand Courier Program to submit passport applications to the Regional Passport Agencies on the behalf of others. For individuals that are traveling in sooner than fourteen days and are unable to submit their application in person at one of the Regional Passport Agencies, passport expediting companies may provide assistance.As a condition to be registered through the National Hand Courier Program, U.S. passport expediters are held to a strict code of conduct, which includes background screenings of all employees who handle passport applications. Additionally, companies must follow procedures to safeguard applicants' personal information.
Citizens and non-citizen nationals
United States passports are issuable only to persons who owe permanent allegiance to the United States – i.e., citizens and non-citizen nationals of the United States."All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States ..." Under this provision, "United States" means the 50 states and the District of Columbia only.
By acts of Congress, every person born in Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
, the U.S. Virgin Islands
United States Virgin Islands
The Virgin Islands of the United States are a group of islands in the Caribbean that are an insular area of the United States. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located in the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles.The U.S...
, Guam
Guam
Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...
, and the Northern Mariana Islands
Northern Mariana Islands
The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , is a commonwealth in political union with the United States, occupying a strategic region of the western Pacific Ocean. It consists of 15 islands about three-quarters of the way from Hawaii to the Philippines...
is a United States citizen by birth. Also, every person born in the former Panama Canal Zone
Panama Canal Zone
The Panama Canal Zone was a unorganized U.S. territory located within the Republic of Panama, consisting of the Panama Canal and an area generally extending 5 miles on each side of the centerline, but excluding Panama City and Colón, which otherwise would have been partly within the limits of...
whose father or mother (or both) are or were a citizen is a United States citizen by birth.
Other acts of Congress provide for acquisition of citizenship by persons born abroad.
Every citizen is a national of the United States. Not every national is a citizen. There is a small class of American Samoans, born in American Samoa
American Samoa
American Samoa is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the sovereign state of Samoa...
, including Swains Island
Swains Island
Swains Island is an atoll in the Tokelau chain. Culturally a part of Tokelau, it is an unincorporated unorganized territory of the United States administered by American Samoa. Swains Island has also been known at various times as Olosenga Island, Olohega Island, Quiros Island, Gente Hermosa...
, who are nationals but not citizens of the United States, See Passport message, below.
United States law permits dual nationality. Consequently, having and using a foreign passport are permissible. However, when a U.S. citizen uses a passport to leave or enter the United States, they're required to use a U.S. passport. This requirement extends to a U.S. citizen who is a dual national.
Types of passports
Official (brown cover): Issuable to citizen-employees of the United States assigned overseas, either permanently or temporarily, and their eligible dependents, and to members of Congress who travel abroad on official business. Period of validity: generally five years from the date of issue.
Diplomatic (black cover): Issuable to American diplomats accredited overseas and their eligible dependents, and to citizens who reside in the United States and travel abroad for diplomatic work. Period of validity: generally five years from the date of issue.
Travel Document (also known as "Refugee Travel Document" or "Refugee Passport") (blue-green cover): Not a full passport, but issued to aliens who have been classified as refugees or asylees.
Reentry Permit (blue-green cover): Not a full passport, but issued to a permanent resident alien in lieu of a passport. The reentry permit guarantees them permission to reenter the US and is usually valid for a period of 2 years.
Emergency: Issuable to citizens overseas, in urgent circumstances. Period of validity: generally one year from the date of issue. An emergency passport may be exchanged for a full-term passport.
U.S. passport card
Passport card
The passport card is an alternative to a passport produced in the United States to meet the documentary requirements of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative. The U.S. Passport Card is a wallet-size travel document, issued to U.S...
: Not a full passport, but a small ID card issued by the US government for crossing land and sea borders with Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda. The passport card is not valid for International air travel. It is possible to hold the U.S. passport card in addition to a regular passport, making it useful when travelling internationally for a long time (Round-the-world-trip). In cases where people need to apply for a visa, and thus have to hand in their regular passport, the U.S. passport card can be a valid proof of ID and U.S. citizenship, allowing free movement unrestricted by local authorities.
Passport in lieu of certificate of non-citizenship nationality
The Department of State does not get many requests for certificates of non-citizenship nationality, which are issuable by the department. Production of a limited number of certificates would be costly, and, if produced, certificates would have to meet security standards. Accordingly, the Department of State chose not to issue certificates of non-citizen nationality. Instead, the department issues passports to non-citizen nationals. An issued passport certifies the status of a non-citizen national. The certification is in the form of an endorsement in the passport: "The bearer of this passport is a United States national and not a United States citizen."Second passport
More than one valid United States passport of the same type may not be held, except if authorized by the Department of State.It is routine for the Department of State to authorize a holder of a regular passport to hold, in addition, a diplomatic passport or an official passport or a no-fee passport.
One circumstance which may call for issuance of a second passport of a particular type is a prolonged visa-processing delay. Another is safety or security, such as travel between Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
and a country which refuses to grant entry to a person with a passport which indicates travel to Israel. The period of validity of a second passport issued under either circumstance is generally two years from the date of issue.
Those who need a second identification document in addition to the US passport may hold a U.S. passport card. This passport card is used by US citizens living abroad when they need to renew their regular passport book, renew their residency permit or apply for a visa - in other words, when they cannot show their regular passport yet are required by local law to carry valid identification.
Format
On the front cover, a representation of the Great Seal of the United StatesGreat Seal of the United States
The Great Seal of the United States is used to authenticate certain documents issued by the United States federal government. The phrase is used both for the physical seal itself , and more generally for the design impressed upon it...
is at the center. "PASSPORT" (in all capital letters) appears above the representation of the Great Seal, and "United States of America" (in Garamond
Garamond
Garamond is the name given to a group of old-style serif typefaces named after the punch-cutter Claude Garamond . Most of the Garamond faces are more closely related to the work of a later punch-cutter, Jean Jannon...
italic) appears below.
An Official passport has "OFFICIAL" (in all capital letters) above "PASSPORT". The capital letters of "OFFICIAL" are somewhat smaller than the capital letters of "PASSPORT".
A Diplomatic passport has "DIPLOMATIC" (in all capital letters) above "PASSPORT". The capital letters of "DIPLOMATIC" are somewhat smaller than the capital letters of "PASSPORT".
A Travel Document, in both forms (Refugee Travel Document and Permit to Re-Enter), features the seal of the Department of Homeland Security instead of the Great Seal of the United States. Above the seal the words "TRAVEL DOCUMENT" appears in all capital letters. Below the seal is the legend "Issued by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services" in upper and lower case.
A biometric passport has the e-passport symbol at the bottom.
There are 32 pages in a biometric passport. Frequent travelers may be issued 52-page passports. Extra visa pages may be added to a passport. Extra visa pages can be added by mail (if the passport holder resides in the U.S.) and at most U.S. embassies and consulates (if the passport holder resides or visits a country overseas). The addition of visa pages used to be free, but as of July 13, 2010, the service costs $82.
Data page and signature page
A data page has a visual zone and a machine-readable zone. The visual zone has a digitized photograph of the passport holder, data about the passport, and data about the passport holder:
- Photograph
- Type [of document, which is "P" for "passport"]
- Code [of the issuing country, which is "USA" for "United States of America"]
- Passport No.
- Surname
- Given Name(s)
- Nationality [which is "United States of America"]
- Date of Birth
- Place of Birth (lists only the state followed by "USA" for those born in the United States; lists the country of birth for those outside the US)
- Sex
- Date of Issue
- Date of Expiration
- Authority
- Endorsements
The machine-readable zone is present at the bottom of the page and starts with P
A signature page has a line for the signature of a passport holder. A passport is not valid until it is signed by the passport holder. If a holder is unable to sign his passport, it is to be signed by a person who has legal authority to sign on the holder's behalf.
Place of birth
The standards for the names of places of birth that appear in passports are listed in volume 7 of the Foreign Affairs Manual, published by the Department of State. For places within the US, it contains the State and country, but for places outside the US, only the country is mentioned. The name of the country is the current name of the country that is presently in control of the territory the place of birth and thus changes upon a change of a country name. Special provisions are in place for people born in PalestinePalestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
/Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. Place of birth was first added to U.S. passports in 1917. A request to list no place of birth in a passport is never accepted. A citizen born outside the United States may be able to have his city or town of birth entered in his passport, if he or she objects to the standard country name. However, if a foreign country denies a visa or entry due to the place-of-birth designation, the Department of State will issue a replacement passport at normal fees, and will not facilitate entry into the foreign country.
Passport photographs
Standards for passport photographs are listed among the FAQs of the Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs website. The standards are:- Front view, full face, open eyes, closed mouth, and natural expression
- Full head from top of hair to shoulders
- Plain white or off-white background
- No shadows on face or in background
- No sunglasses; no hat
- Normal contrast and lighting
Passport message
Passports of many countries contain a message, nominally from the official who is in charge of passport issuance (e.g., secretary of state, minister of foreign affairs), addressed to authorities of other countries. The message identifies the bearer as a citizen of the issuing country, requests that he or she be allowed to enter and pass through the other country, and requests further that, when necessary, he or she be given help consistent with international norms. In United States passports, the message is in English, French and Spanish. The message is:In English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
:
-
- The Secretary of State of the United States of AmericaUnited States Secretary of StateThe United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence...
hereby requests all whom it may concern to permit the citizen/national of the United States named herein to pass without delay or hindrance and in case of need to give all lawful aid and protection.
- The Secretary of State of the United States of America
in French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
:
-
- Le Secrétaire d'Etat des Etats-Unis d'Amérique prie par les présentes toutes autorités compétentes de laisser passer le citoyen ou ressortissant des Etats-Unis titulaire du présent passeport, sans délai ni difficulté et, en cas de besoin, de lui accorder toute aide et protection légitimes.
and in Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
:
-
- El Secretario de Estado de los Estados Unidos de América por el presente solicita a las autoridades competentes permitir el paso del ciudadano o nacional de los Estados Unidos aquí nombrado, sin demora ni dificultades, y en caso de necesidad, prestarle toda la ayuda y protección lícitas.
The term "citizen/national" and its equivalent terms ("citoyen ou ressortissant"; "ciudadano o nacional") are in the message, as some people born in American Samoa, including Swains Island, are nationals but not citizens of the United States.
The masculine inflections of "Le Secrétaire d'Etat" and "El Secretario de Estado" are used in all passports, regardless of the Secretary of State's gender at the time of issuance.
Fees
Fees for applying vary based on whether or not an applicant is applying for a new passport or they are renewing an expiring passport. Fees also vary depending on whether an applicant is under the age of 16.First Time Applications
First time adult applicants pay application fees of $110 per passport book and $30 per passport card. Additionally, a $25 execution fee is charged separately for every application submitted. This means that if a person were to apply for the passport book and card simultaneously on the same application, they would pay only one execution fee.All minor applicants are considered first time applicants until they reach age 16. Minor applicants pay an $80 application fee for the passport book and a $15 application fee for the passport card. The same $25 execution fee is charged per application.
Renewal Applications
Adults wishing to renew their passports may do so up to five years after expiration at a cost of $110 for the passport book and $30 for the passport card. Passports for minors under age 16 cannot be renewed.Special Renewal Rules
If a person is already in possession of a passport book and would like a passport card additionally (or vice versa), they may submit their currently valid passport book or card as evidence of citizenship and apply for a renewal to avoid paying the $25 execution fee. However, if the passport book or card holder is unable or unwilling to relinquish their currently valid passport for the duration of the processing, they may submit other primary evidence of citizenship, such as a US birth certificate or naturalization certificate, and apply as a first time applicant, paying the execution fee and submitting a written explanation as to why they are applying in this manner.Additional Fees
- An expedite fee of $60 is charged when applicants request faster processing, regardless of age. This processing is currently 2-3 weeks when applying at an acceptance facility. The same fee is charged for expedited service when applying at a Passport Agency within 14 days of travel.
- In addition to the expedite fee, applicants may pay an additional $12.72 to receive overnight mail return when their application has finished processing. This can be paid in combination with the application fee when applying, or added later by calling the National Passport Information Center. However, overnight mail return is only available for the US Passport Book. Passport cards may not be overnight mailed.
- If customers wish to add additional visa pages to their passport book, they may request this free of charge when applying by submitting a written and signed request with their application, or for a charge of $82 if the passport has already been issued.
Languages
At a League of Nations conference in 1920 about passports and through-train travel, a recommendation was that passports be written in French (historically, the language of diplomacy) and one other language.English, the de-facto national language of the United States, has always been used in U.S. passports. At some point subsequent to 1920, English and French were used in passports. Spanish was added during the second Clinton administration
Presidency of Bill Clinton
The United States Presidency of Bill Clinton, also known as the Clinton Administration, was the executive branch of the federal government of the United States from January 20, 1993 to January 20, 2001. Clinton was the first Democratic president since Franklin D. Roosevelt to win a second full term...
, in recognition of Spanish-speaking Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
.
The field names on the data page, the passport message, the warning on the second page that the bearer is responsible for obtaining visas, and the designations of the amendments-and-endorsements pages, are printed in English, French and Spanish.
Biometric passport
The legal driving force of biometric passports is the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2002, which states that smart-card Identity cards may be used in lieu of visaVisa (document)
A visa is a document showing that a person is authorized to enter the territory for which it was issued, subject to permission of an immigration official at the time of actual entry. The authorization may be a document, but more commonly it is a stamp endorsed in the applicant's passport...
s. That law also provides that foreigners who travel to the U.S., and want to enter the U.S. visa-free under the Visa Waiver Program
Visa Waiver Program
The Visa Waiver Program is a program of the United States Government which allows citizens of specific countries to travel to the United States for tourism or business for up to 90 days without having to obtain a visa. The program applies to the 50 U.S. states as well as the U.S...
, must bear machine-readable passports which comply with international standards. If a foreign passport was issued on or after October 26, 2006, that passport must be a biometric passport.
The chip of a U.S. passport stores an image of the photograph of the passport holder, passport data, and personal data of the passport holder; and has capacity to store additional data. The capacity of the Radio-frequency identification (RFID) chip is 64 kilobytes, which is large enough to store biometric identifiers, such as fingerprints and retina scans, in addition to an image of a photograph, passport data and personal data.
Data in a passport chip are scannable by readers, a capability which is intended to speed up immigration processing. A passport does not have to be plugged into a reader in order for data therein to be read. Like toll-road chips, data in passport chips can be read when passport chips are proximate to readers. The passport cover contains a radio-frequency shield, so the cover must be opened for the data to be read.
According to the Department of State, the Basic Access Control
Basic Access Control
Basic Access Control is a mechanism specified to ensure only authorized parties can wirelessly read personal information from passports with an RFID chip. It uses data such as the passport number, date of birth and expiration date to negotiate a session key. This key can then be used to encrypt...
(BAC) security protocol prevents access to those data unless the printed information within the passport is also known or can be guessed.
According to privacy advocates, the BAC and the shielded cover are ineffective when a passport is open, and that a passport may have to be opened for inspection in a public place such as a hotel, a bank, or an Internet cafe. An open passport is subject to illicit reading of chip data, such as by a government agent who is tracking a passport holder's movements or by a criminal who is intending identity theft.
See also
- Visa requirements for United States citizensVisa requirements for United States citizensVisa requirements for United States citizens vary greatly by country.In 2011, Americans could travel to 169 countries visa-free, or with visa on arrival.-Africa:-Asia:-Caribbean:-Central America:-Europe:-Middle East and Persian Gulf Region:...
- Visa policy of the United States
- Iroquois passportIroquois passportThe Iroquois passport is a form of identification and an “expression of sovereignty" used by the nationals of the Iroquois League .-Validity:...
External links
- U.S. Passport Holders By State - Map at The Huffington PostThe Huffington PostThe Huffington Post is an American news website and content-aggregating blog founded by Arianna Huffington, Kenneth Lerer, and Jonah Peretti, featuring liberal minded columnists and various news sources. The site offers coverage of politics, theology, media, business, entertainment, living, style,...
- Images of a 1951 US Special Passport from www.passportland.com