United States passports are
passport
A passport is an official travel document issued by a government that contains a person's identity. A person with a passport can travel to and from foreign countries more easily and access consular assistance. A passport certifies the personal ...
s issued to
citizens
Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection".
Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...
and
national
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, c ...
s of the
United States of America
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...
. They are issued exclusively by the
U.S. Department of State
The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...
. Besides passports (in booklet form), limited-use
passport card
The United States passport card is an optional national identity card and a travel document issued by the U.S. federal government in the size of a credit card. Like a U.S. passport book, the passport card is only issued to U.S. nationals exclu ...
s are issued by the same government agency subject to the same requirements.
["Passport Card"](_blank)
. U.S. Department of State. It is unlawful for U.S. citizens and nationals to enter or exit the country without a valid U.S. passport or passport-replacement document compliant with the
Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative
The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) is the implementation of the requirement to show a passport or other acceptable document to enter the United States, for nationals of certain North American jurisdictions who were previously exempt ...
,
[§ 215 of the ]Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952
The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (), also known as the McCarran–Walter Act, codified under Title 8 of the United States Code (), governs immigration to and citizenship in the United States. It came into effect on June 27, 1952. Before ...
(currently codified at ) though there are many exceptions;
waivers are generally granted for U.S. citizens returning without a passport, and the exit requirement is not enforced. As of 2022, United States passport allows
visa-free travel
A visa (from the Latin ''charta visa'', meaning "paper that has been seen") is a conditional authorization granted by a polity to a foreigner that allows them to enter, remain within, or leave its territory. Visas typically include limits on t ...
to 186 countries and territories,
ranking as the 7th most powerful in the world in terms of travel freedom.
U.S. passport booklets conform with recommended standards (i.e., size, composition, layout, technology) of the
International Civil Aviation Organization
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO, ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international sc ...
(ICAO). There are
five types of passport booklets; the State Department has issued only
biometric passport
A biometric passport (also known as an e-passport or a digital passport) is a traditional passport that has an embedded electronic microprocessor chip which contains biometric information that can be used to authenticate the identity of the pa ...
s as standard since August 2007. U.S. passports are federal property and must be returned to the government upon demand.
By law, a valid unexpired U.S. passport (or passport card) is conclusive (and not just ''
prima facie
''Prima facie'' (; ) is a Latin expression meaning ''at first sight'' or ''based on first impression''. The literal translation would be 'at first face' or 'at first appearance', from the feminine forms of ''primus'' ('first') and ''facies'' (' ...
'') proof of U.S. citizenship, with the same force and effect as proof as certificates of naturalization or citizenship if issued to a U.S. citizen for the full period allowed by law. U.S. law does not prohibit its citizens from holding passports of other countries.
History
![United States Next Generation Passport signature and biodata page](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/United_States_Next_Generation_Passport_signature_and_biodata_page.jpg)
American consular officials issued passports to some citizens of some of the thirteen states during the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
(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 ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...
, based the design of passports issued by his mission on that of the French passport.
From 1776 to 1783, no state government had a passport requirement. The
Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union was an agreement among the 13 Colonies of the United States of America that served as its first frame of government. It was approved after much debate (between July 1776 and November 1777) by ...
government (1783–1789) did not have a passport requirement.
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
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When ...
. 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-19th 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. For example, an
internal passport
An internal passport or a domestic passport is an identity document. Uses for internal passports have included restricting citizens of a subdivided state to employment in their own area (preventing their migration to richer cities or regions), cle ...
dated 1815 was presented to Massachusetts citizen George Barker to allow him to travel as a free black man to visit relatives in Southern slave states. 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 the Department of State the sole authority to issue passports.
From 1789 through late 1941, the constitutionally established government required passports of citizens only during two periods: during the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
(1861–1865), as well as during and shortly after
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
(1914–1918). The passport requirement of the Civil War era lacked statutory authority. During World War I (1914–1918), European countries instituted passport requirements. The
Travel Control Act of May 22, 1918, permitted the president, when the United States was at war, to proclaim a passport requirement, and President
Wilson issued such a proclamation on August 18, 1918. World War I ended on November 11, 1918, but the passport requirement lingered until March 3, 1921, the last day of the Wilson administration.
In Europe, general peace between the end of the
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
(1815) and the beginning of World War I (1914), and the development of railroads, gave rise to international travel by large numbers of people. Countries such as Czarist Russia and the Ottoman Empire maintained passport requirements. After World War I, many European countries retained their passport requirements. Foreign passport requirements undercut the absence of a passport requirement for Americans exiting the country, under United States law, between 1921 and 1941.
The contemporary period of required passports for Americans under United States law began on November 29, 1941. A 1978 amendment to the
Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952
The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (), also known as the McCarran–Walter Act, codified under Title 8 of the United States Code (), governs immigration to and citizenship in the United States. It came into effect on June 27, 1952. Before ...
made it unlawful to enter or depart the United States without an issued passport even in peacetime.
Even when passports were not usually required, Americans requested U.S. passports. 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 woman 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 their mother. The passport would be issued to the mother. The number of Americans who traveled without passports is unknown.
The
League of Nations
The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...
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. A conference on travel and tourism held by the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
in 1963 did not result in standardized 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. Prior to World War I the passport was typically a large () diploma, with a large engraved seal of the Department of State at the top, repeated in red wax at the bottom, the bearer's description and signature on the left, and his name on the right above space for data such as "accompanied by his wife," all in ornate script. In 1926, the Department of State introduced the type III passport. This had a stiff red cover, with a window cut-out 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
The United States Bicentennial was a series of celebrations and observances during the mid-1970s that paid tribute to historical events leading up to the creation of the United States of America as an independent republic. It was a central event ...
celebration of 1975–1977, and remained blue afterwards until 1993. Green covers were again issued from April 1993 until March 1994, and included a special tribute to Benjamin Franklin in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the United States Consular Service. After March 1994, blue passports, with pages showing U.S. state seals, were reissued. In 2007, images showcasing landscapes of the United States as well as places and objects of significance to U.S. history were introduced.
Initially, a U.S. passport was issued for two years, although by the 1950s on application by the holder a passport could be stamped so that this time was extended without reissue. Stamping for a further extension is not permitted at present. In the succeeding decades the periods of validity for adult applicants were gradually extended to three, five, and eventually ten years, the current standard.
In 1981, the United States became the first country to introduce
machine-readable passports. In 2000, the Department of State started to issue passports with digital photos, and as of 2010, all previous series have expired. 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, which include RFID chips.
The United States participates in the
Five Nations Passport Group
The Five Nations Passport Group is an international forum between the passport-issuing authorities of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States to share best practices in the issuance, development, and management of p ...
, an international forum for cooperation between the passport issuing authorities in the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia to "share best practices and discuss innovations related to the development of passport policies, products and practices".
The United States Department of State has announced, and, in March 2021, started to issue, the next generation passport.
The passport will have an embedded data chip on the information page protected by a polycarbonate coating; this will help prevent the book from getting wet and bending, and—should a passport be stolen—the chip will keep thieves from stealing personal information and
falsifying an identity. The passport number will also be laser cut as perforated holes that get progressively smaller through pages—just one of several components of the "Next Generation" passport, including artwork upgrade, new security features such as a watermark, "tactile features," and more "optically variable" inks. Some designs on pages will be raised, and ink—depending on the viewing angle—will appear to be different colors.
On November 18th, 2022, the Department of State announced that they are now issuing all passport books as Next Generation Passports.
In June 2021,
Secretary of State Antony Blinken
Antony John Blinken (born April 16, 1962) is an American government official and diplomat serving as the 71st United States secretary of state since January 26, 2021. He previously served as deputy national security advisor from 2013 to 2015 and ...
announced that an option for American passport holders to select a
third gender
Third gender is a concept in which individuals are categorized, either by themselves or by society, as neither man nor woman. It is also a social category present in societies that recognize three or more genders. The term ''third'' is usually ...
category on their passports was planned but would take time to implement. Additionally, applicants changing their gender would no longer be required to provide external documentation like a court order or medical certification. From April 11, 2022, the options listed on valid US Passport holders for sex/gender markers will be M, F and X—as announced formally by the Biden Administration within the State Department.
In September 2022, the State Department created a Pilot Program to allow a limited amount of applicants renew their passports online. Applicants who wish to participate in this program will no longer need to mail their supporting documents to the processing centers. Instead, they will be asked to enter their information online and upload a digital passport photo. However, the processing times to renew online remain the same as to renew by mail. As of October 26, 2022, the program has been temporarily closed.
Administration
Authority for issuing passports is conferred on the
Secretary of State by the
Passport Act of 1926
Passport Act of 1926, 22 U.S.C § 211, is a United States statue authorizing the issuance of United States passports and visas for a validity of two years from the issue date. The Act of Congress provided the United States Department of State au ...
, subject to such rules as the
President of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...
may prescribe. The
Department of State has issued regulations governing such passports, and its internal policy concerning issuance of passports, passport waivers, and travel letters is contained in the
Foreign Affairs Manual
The ''Foreign Affairs Manual'' (FAM) is published by the United States Department of State
The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country ...
.
Passport Services, a unit of the
Bureau of Consular Affairs
The Bureau of Consular Affairs (CA) is a bureau of the United States Department of State reporting to the under secretary of state for management. The mission of the Bureau is to administer laws, formulate regulations and implement policies re ...
within the Department of State, is responsible for passport issuance. It operates 26 regional passport agencies that are open to the general public. They are located in
Arkansas
Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...
;
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
;
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
;
Buffalo;
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
;
Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...
;
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...
;
Dallas
Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
;
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
;
El Paso
El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the seat of El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the 23rd-largest city in the U.S., the s ...
;
Honolulu
Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...
;
Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
;
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
;
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
;
Minneapolis
Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...
;
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...
;
;
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
;
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
;
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
;
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
;
San Juan;
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
;
Tucson
, "(at the) base of the black ill
, nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town"
, image_map =
, mapsize = 260px
, map_caption = Interactive map ...
;
Vermont
Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...
; and
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
Two additional passport agencies are not open to the general public: one in
Charleston, and the Special Issuance Agency in Washington, D.C., which issues official, diplomatic, and no-fee U.S. Passports for U.S. government employees, high-ranking officials, and
Peace Corps
The Peace Corps is an independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to provide international development assistance. It was established in March 1961 by an executive order of President John F. ...
volunteers.
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. In fiscal year 2020, the Department of State issued 11,711,945 passports (including 1,741,527 passport cards) and there were 143,116,633 valid U.S. passports in circulation. The passport possession rate of the U.S. was approximately 43% of the population.
Restrictions
It is unlawful to enter or exit the U.S. without a valid passport or passport-replacement document compliant with the
Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative
The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) is the implementation of the requirement to show a passport or other acceptable document to enter the United States, for nationals of certain North American jurisdictions who were previously exempt ...
(WHTI), or without an exception or waiver.
The use of passports may be restricted for foreign policy reasons. In September 1939, in order to preserve the
United States' neutrality in relation to the breakout of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, then Secretary of State
Cordell Hull issued regulations declaring that outstanding passports, together with passports issued thereafter, could not be used for travel to Europe without specific validation by the Department of State, and such validation could not last more than six months. Similar restrictions can still be invoked upon notice given in the ''
Federal Register
The ''Federal Register'' (FR or sometimes Fed. Reg.) is the official journal of the federal government of the United States that contains government agency rules, proposed rules, and public notices. It is published every weekday, except on feder ...
'', and such notice was issued in 2017, so that passports were "declared invalid for travel to, in, or through the
DPRK
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...
unless specially validated for such travel."
As confirmed in ''
Haig v. Agee'' (1981), the administration may deny or revoke passports for
foreign policy
A State (polity), state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterall ...
or
national security
National security, or national defence, is the security and defence of a sovereign state, including its citizens, economy, and institutions, which is regarded as a duty of government. Originally conceived as protection against military atta ...
reasons at any time,
and for other reasons as prescribed by regulations. A notable example of enforcement of this was the 1948 denial of a passport to
U.S. Representative
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...
Leo Isacson
Leo Leous Isacson (April 20, 1910 – September 21, 1996) was a New York attorney and politician. He was notable for winning a 1948 election to the United States House of Representatives from New York's twenty-fourth district (Bronx) as the cand ...
, who sought to go to Paris to attend a conference as an observer for the American Council for a Democratic Greece, a
Communist front
A communist front is a political organization identified as a front organization under the effective control of a communist party, the Communist International or other communist organizations. They attracted politicized individuals who were not p ...
organization, because of the group's role in opposing the Greek government in the
Greek Civil War
The Greek Civil War ( el, ο Eμφύλιος όλεμος ''o Emfýlios'' 'Pólemos'' "the Civil War") took place from 1946 to 1949. It was mainly fought against the established Kingdom of Greece, which was supported by the United Kingdom ...
. Denial or revocation of a passport does not prevent the use of outstanding valid passports.
The physical revocation of a passport is often difficult, and an apparently valid passport can be used for travel until officially taken by an arresting officer or by a court.
The lack of a valid passport (for whatever reason, including revocation) does not render the U.S. citizen either unable to leave the United States, or inadmissible into the United States. The United States is a signatory of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) is a multilateral treaty that commits nations to respect the civil and political rights of individuals, including the right to life, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedo ...
, which guarantees residents of its signatories wide-ranging rights to enter or depart their own countries. In ''
Nguyen v. INS'', the Supreme Court stated that U.S. citizens are entitled "...to the absolute right to enter its borders." Lower federal courts went as far as to declare that "...the Government cannot say to its citizen, standing beyond its border, that his reentry into the land of his allegiance is a criminal offense; and this we conclude is a sound principle whether or not the citizen has a passport, and however wrongful may have been his conduct in effecting his departure." Therefore, even in the absence of a valid passport, U.S. citizens are not denied entry into the United States, though these travelers may be delayed while the CBP attempts to verify their identity and citizenship status. The U.S. does not exercise passport control on exit from the country, so the individual attempting to depart from the U.S. only needs to have valid documents granting the right to entry into the country of destination.
Travel of U.S. citizens and nationals around the United States and across its international borders is generally controlled by means other than passports, such as the
No Fly List
The No Fly List maintained by the United States federal government's Terrorist Screening Center (TSC) is one of several lists included in algorithmic rulesets used by government agencies and airlines to decide who to allow to board airline flight ...
.
Requirements
Citizens
United States passports are issuable only to persons who owe permanent allegiance to the United States – i.e.,
citizens
Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection".
Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...
and non-citizen
nationals of the United States.
Under the 14th amendment to the US Constitution, "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
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
only, but also technically includes the uninhabited
Palmyra Atoll
Palmyra Atoll (), also referred to as Palmyra Island, is one of the Line Islands, Northern Line Islands (southeast of Kingman Reef and north of Kiribati). It is located almost due south of the Hawaiian Islands, roughly one-third of the way bet ...
, an incorporated territory due to the
Insular Cases
The Insular Cases are a series of opinions by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1901 about the status of U.S. territories acquired in the Spanish–American War. Some scholars also include cases regarding territorial status decided up unt ...
.
By acts of Congress, every person born in
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...
, the
U.S. Virgin Islands,
Guam
Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...
, and the
Northern Mariana Islands
The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI; ch, Sankattan Siha Na Islas Mariånas; cal, Commonwealth Téél Falúw kka Efáng llól Marianas), is an unincorporated territory and commonw ...
is a United States citizen by birth. Also, every person born in the former
Panama Canal Zone
The Panama Canal Zone ( es, Zona del Canal de Panamá), also simply known as the Canal Zone, was an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the Isthmus of Panama, that existed from 1903 to 1979. It was located within the terr ...
whose father or mother (or both) was a citizen is a United States citizen by birth. Other acts of Congress provide for acquisition of citizenship by persons born abroad.
Non-citizen nationals
![American Samoa US national not US citizen passport message](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/American_Samoa_US_national_not_US_citizen_passport_message.jpg)
Every citizen is a
national of the United States
Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Constituti ...
, but not every national is a citizen. The only current example of non-citizen US nationals are
those born in
American Samoa
American Samoa ( sm, Amerika Sāmoa, ; also ' or ') is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the island country of Samoa. Its location is centered on . It is east of the International ...
(including
Swains Island). Unlike the other current US territories, people born in American Samoa are not automatically granted
US citizenship
Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Constituti ...
by birth as the territory is
not incorporated and an act of Congress granting it, similar to other US territories, has not yet been passed for American Samoa. The other historical groups of non-citizen US nationals include those of former US territories and during periods of time before the acts of Congress granting citizenship to those born in current territories.
Passport in lieu of certificate of non-citizenship nationality
Few requests for certificates of
non-citizenship nationality are made to the Department of State, which are issuable by the department. Production of a limited number of certificates would be costly, which if produced would have to meet stringent security standards. Due to this, the Department of State chooses not to issue such certificates; instead, passports are issued to non-citizen nationals. The issued passport certifies the status of a non-citizen national. The certification is in the form of "U.S. National" instead of "USA" on the front of the passport card, or an endorsement in the passport book: "The bearer is a United States national and not a United States citizen."
Dual citizenship
United States law permits
dual nationality
Multiple/dual citizenship (or multiple/dual nationality) is a legal status in which a person is concurrently regarded as a national or citizen of more than one country under the laws of those countries. Conceptually, citizenship is focused on ...
. Consequently, it is permissible to have and use a foreign passport. However, U.S. citizens are required to use a U.S. passport when leaving or entering the United States. This requirement extends to a U.S. citizen who is a dual national.
Application
An application is required for the issuance of a passport. If a
fugitive being extradited to the United States refuses to sign a passport application, the consular officer can sign it "without recourse."
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. Regular issuance takes approximately 6 to 8 weeks. As per ''
Haig v. Agee'', the Presidential administration may deny or revoke passports for
foreign policy
A State (polity), state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterall ...
or
national security
National security, or national defence, is the security and defence of a sovereign state, including its citizens, economy, and institutions, which is regarded as a duty of government. Originally conceived as protection against military atta ...
reasons at any time.
Places where a U.S. passport may be applied for include post offices and libraries.
Forms
DS11 Standard
* The applicant has never been issued a U.S. passport
* The applicant is over age 16
* The applicant was under age 16 when upon the issuance of the applicant's previous passport
* The applicant's recent U.S. passport was issued more than 15 years ago
* The applicant's most recent U.S. passport was lost or stolen
* The applicant's name has changed since the applicant's U.S. passport was issued and the applicant is unable to legally document the change of name
All applicants using a form DS-11 must appear in person, and pay an additional $35 execution fee, in addition to the cost of their passport book and/or card. In addition, the first time an applicant applies for a passport following or during gender reassignment must also use a Form DS-11.
DS82 Renewal
The applicant's most recent U.S. passport:
*Is undamaged and can be submitted with the application
*Was issued when the applicant was age 16 or older
*Was issued within the last 15 years
*Was issued in the applicant's current name or the applicant can legally document a change of name
The advantage of the DS-82 passport renewal form is a traveller can mail in the form on their own, and they also do not have to pay the $35 processing fee associated with a DS-11 passport application.
DS64 Lost
Lost or stolen passport requires DS64 in addition to DS11 only if the lost passport is valid due to the second passport rule:
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
A passport is an official travel document issued by a government that contains a person's identity. A person with a passport can travel to and from foreign countries more easily and access consular assistance. A passport certifies the personal ...
or an
official passport
A passport is an official travel document issued by a government that contains a person's Identity (social science), identity. A person with a passport can travel to and from foreign countries more easily and access consular assistance. A pass ...
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 (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
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 four years from the date of issue.
Document requirements
* valid state photo ID
* birth certificate or naturalization certificate
* 2x2 photo
Passport photograph
Passport photo requirements are very specific.
Official State Department photographic guidelines are available online.
*
* The height of the head (top of hair to bottom of chin) should measure
* Eye height is between from the bottom of the photo
* Front view, full face, open eyes, closed mouth, and neutral expression
* Full head from the top of the hair to the shoulders
* Plain white or off-white background
* No shadows on the face or in the background
* No sunglasses (unless medically necessary). As of November 1, 2016, the wearing of eyeglasses in U.S. passport photos is not allowed.
* No hat or head covering (unless for religious purposes; religious head covering must not obscure hairline)
* Normal contrast and lighting
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.
Price history
In 1983, the State Department declared that the existing passport fee of $10 was insufficient to cover costs, so the fee was raised from $10 to $35, and new passports were changed to be valid for a decade instead of for five years.
The fee for individuals under 18 years of age was also raised from $10 to $20 for a five-year passport. Until that year, passport fees had only been raised by one dollar since 1932.
In a 2004 USPS Passport Services publication, "Fees total $85 for adults (16 years and older), with separate payments of $30 to the U.S. Postal Service® for its processing fee and $55 to the Department of State for its passport application fee. For those under 16, the total cost is $70, with separate payments of $30 to the U.S. Postal Service for its processing fee and $40 to the Department of State for its passport application fee."
Prices were again increased in 2010. Fees for a brand-new passport went from $100 to $135 (from $85 to $105 for those under 16), and renewal fees climbed from $75 to $110.
Passport cards also saw new and increased fees: $55 for adults and $40 for children.
The State Department raised these and other fees after conducting "an exhaustive study of the true cost of providing consular services."
In 2018, first-time adult applicants were charged $110 per passport book and $30 per passport card. Additionally, a $35 execution fee was also charged for every first time applications.
First-time applications
On December 27, 2021, effectively 2022, first-time adult applicants are charged $130 per passport book and $30 per passport card. Additionally, a $35 execution fee is charged per transaction, but only for first applications and not for renewals. This means people applying for the passport book and card simultaneously on the same application pay only one execution fee.
All minor applicants are considered first-time applicants until they reach age 16. Minor applicants pay a $100 application fee for the passport book and a $15 application fee for the passport card. The same $35 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 $130 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 a $35 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 U.S. 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
![US passport extra pages](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/US_passport_extra_pages.jpg)
*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 $17.56 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 U.S. Passport Book. Passport cards may not be overnight mailed.
*As of January 1, 2016, passports may no longer have pages added to them. When applying for a new passport, applicants may apply for a 28-page or 52-page passport, with no additional cost for obtaining the 52-page passport.
Types
![Us-passport](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/Us-passport.jpg)
;Regular Passport (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.
["Passport - Frequently Asked Questions"](_blank)
U.S. Department of State. A sub-type of regular passports is no-fee passports, issuable to citizens in specified categories for specified purposes, such as an American sailor 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 a specified purpose.
;Service (gray cover): Issuable to "certain non-personal services contractors who travel abroad in support of and pursuant to a contract with the U.S. government", to demonstrate the passport holder is travelling "to conduct work in support of the U.S. government while simultaneously indicating that the traveler has a more attenuated relationship with the U.S. government that does not justify a diplomatic or official passport." Period of validity: generally five years from the date of issue.
[22 C.F.R. secs. 51.3(b), 51.4(c), 51.4(e).]
![United States passport - official - biometric](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/United_States_passport_-_official_-_biometric.png)
;Official (maroon cover): Issuable to citizen-employees of the United States assigned overseas, either permanently or temporarily, and their eligible dependents, and to some members of Congress who travel abroad on official business. Also issued to U.S. military personnel when deployed overseas. Period of validity: generally five years from the date of issue.
![US Diplomatic Passport](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/US_Diplomatic_Passport.JPG)
;Diplomatic (black cover): Issuable to
American diplomats
A Foreign Service Officer (FSO) is a commissioned member of the United States Foreign Service. Foreign Service Officers formulate and implement the foreign policy of the United States. FSOs spend most of their careers overseas as members of U. ...
accredited overseas and their eligible dependents, to citizens who reside in the United States and travel abroad for diplomatic work, to the
President of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...
, the
President-elect
An ''officer-elect'' is a person who has been elected to a position but has not yet been installed. Notably, a president who has been elected but not yet installed would be referred to as a ''president-elect'' (e.g. president-elect of the Unit ...
, the
Vice President
A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...
, and
Vice President-elect, as well as
former presidents and vice presidents. The
Chief Justice,
Supreme Court Justices
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest-ranking judicial body in the United States. Its membership, as set by the Judiciary Act of 1869, consists of the chief justice of the United States and eight associate justices, any six of ...
,
current cabinet members, former secretaries and deputy secretaries of state, the
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general.
In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...
and
Deputy Attorney General
The Deputy Attorney General (DAG) is the second-highest-ranking official in a department of justice or of law, in various governments of the world. In those governments, the deputy attorney general oversees the day-to-day operation of the departme ...
, some
members of Congress
A Member of Congress (MOC) is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The term member of parliament (MP) is an equivalen ...
, and retired
career ambassadors are also eligible for a diplomatic passport.
Period of validity: generally five years from the date of issue.
![USCIS_travel_document](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9a/USCIS_travel_document.jpg)
;
Refugee Travel Document
A refugee travel document (also called a 1951 Convention travel document or Geneva passport) is a travel document issued to a refugee by the state in which they normally reside in allowing them to travel outside that state and to return there. Re ...
(also known as "Refugee Passport") (blue-green cover): Not a full passport, but issued to aliens who have been classified as refugees or asylees.
;
Re-entry Permit A re-entry permit is required by some countries, for their citizens or tourists who leave the country for an extended period of time. For example, the United States issues a re-entry permit to a resident alien who plans to travel abroad for an exte ...
(blue-green cover), cover titled "Travel Document": Not a full passport, but issued to a permanent resident alien in lieu of a passport. The re-entry permit guarantees them permission to re-enter the U.S. and is usually valid for a period of two years. A re-entry permit can also be used by permanent residents who are stateless or cannot get a passport for international travel, or who wish to visit a country they cannot on their passport.
;Emergency (violet cover):Issuable to citizens overseas, in urgent circumstances, e.g. imminent death and funeral of a family member, lost or stolen passport while abroad, or similar situation. 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
The United States passport card is an optional national identity card and a travel document issued by the U.S. federal government in the size of a credit card. Like a U.S. passport book, the passport card is only issued to U.S. nationals exc ...
:Not a full passport, but a small ID card issued by the U.S. government for crossing land and sea borders with Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Bermuda. All persons eligible for a regular passport book are eligible for a passport card. The card does not denote the bearer's official or diplomatic status, if any. The ID card is valid for 10 years for people 16 or older and 5 years for minors under 16. 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. These ID cards are WHTI and
Real ID compliant, making them valid for domestic air travel, and have digitally-signed biometrics within an internal RFID chip, readable at a land or sea port of entry into or out of the United States.
Layout
Format
![Delta Security Stickers](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/26/Delta_Security_Stickers.jpg)
On the front cover, a representation of the
Great Seal of the United States is at the center. "PASSPORT" (in all capital letters) appears above the representation of the Great Seal, and "United States of America" appears below (in
Garamond
Garamond is a group of many serif typefaces, named for sixteenth-century Parisian engraver Claude Garamond, generally spelled as Garamont in his lifetime. Garamond-style typefaces are popular and particularly often used for book printing and bo ...
italic on non-biometric passports, and
Minion Places
*Minions, Cornwall, a village in the United Kingdom
People
* Frank Minion (born 1929), American jazz and bop singer
*Fred Minion, English professional footballer
*Joseph Minion (born 1957), American film director and screenwriter
*Marcus F ...
italic on post-biometric passports).
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.
In 2007, the passport was redesigned after a previous redesign in 1993. There are 13 quotes in the 28-page version of the passport and patriotic-themed images on the background of the pages.
A biometric passport has the e-passport symbol at the bottom. There are 32 pages in a biometric passport. Frequent travelers may request 52-page passports for no additional cost. Extra visa pages could previously be added to a passport, but, as of January 1, 2016, the service was discontinued entirely for security reasons.
Data page and signature page
![Pasaporte-eua](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/Pasaporte-eua.jpg)
Each passport has a data page and a signature page.
A data page is a page containing information about the passport holder. It is the only page in a U.S. passport laminated in plastic to prevent tampering. A data page has a visual zone and a
machine-readable zone
A machine-readable passport (MRP) is a machine-readable travel document (MRTD) with the data on the identity page encoded in optical character recognition format. Many countries began to issue machine-readable travel documents in the 1980s.
Mos ...
. The visual zone has a digitized photograph of the passport holder, data about the passport, and data about the passport holder:
* Photograph
* Type
f document, which is "P" for "personal", "D" for "diplomatic", "S" for "service"* Code
f the issuing country, which is "USA" for "United States of America"* Passport Number
* Surname
* Given Name
* Nationality (United States of America)
* Date of Birth
* Place of Birth (see below)
* Sex (M, F or X)
* Date of Issue
* Date of Expiration
* Authority (United States Department of State)
* Endorsements
The
machine-readable zone
A machine-readable passport (MRP) is a machine-readable travel document (MRTD) with the data on the identity page encoded in optical character recognition format. Many countries began to issue machine-readable travel documents in the 1980s.
Mos ...
is present at the bottom of the page. It consists of two lines of information: the first line is
ither P, D, or SUSA
assport holder's surname<
assport holder's given name(s)sufficient angled brackets (<) to fill out the rest of the line]', and the second line is
ASSPORT NO. + 1 DIGITSA
ATE OF BIRTH + 1 DIGIT + SEX + DATE OF EXPIRATION + 10 DIGITS DIGITSin the second line. Both lines contain 44 characters in a fixed-width all-caps font, with the top line ending with enough left angle brackets to fill the 44 character limit.
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 in black or blue ink. 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.
In June 2021, the Department of State announced that it would be starting a process to allow for a
third gender
Third gender is a concept in which individuals are categorized, either by themselves or by society, as neither man nor woman. It is also a social category present in societies that recognize three or more genders. The term ''third'' is usually ...
on passports, as well as allowing applicants to self-select male or female on their passport applications instead of submitting medical certificates for a change of gender.
Place of birth
Place of birth was first added to U.S. passports in 1917. The standards for the names of places of birth that appear in passports are listed in volume 8 of the Foreign Affairs Manual, published by the Department of State.
[8 FAM 403.4 Place of Birth](_blank)
as of June 27, 2018. A request to list no place of birth in a passport is never accepted.
U.S. birthplaces
For birthplaces within the United States and its territories, it contains the name of the state or territory followed by "U.S.A." (e.g. Wisconsin, U.S.A), except for the
U.S. Virgin Islands and
American Samoa
American Samoa ( sm, Amerika Sāmoa, ; also ' or ') is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the island country of Samoa. Its location is centered on . It is east of the International ...
which are listed alone. For persons born in
Washington State
Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...
or the
District of Columbia
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, passports indicate "Washington, U.S.A." or "Washington, D.C., U.S.A.", respectively, as the place of birth.
Foreign birthplaces
For Americans whose place of birth is located outside the United States, only the country or
dependent territory
A dependent territory, dependent area, or dependency (sometimes referred as an external territory) is a territory that does not possess full political independence or sovereignty as a sovereign state, yet remains politically outside the controlli ...
is mentioned. The name of the country is the current name of the country that is presently in control of the territory of the place of birth and thus changes upon a change of a country name. For example, Americans born before 1991 in the former
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
(including the
Baltic states
The Baltic states, et, Balti riigid or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, ...
, whose annexation by the Soviet Union was never recognized by the U.S.) would have the post-Soviet country name listed as the place of birth, e.g.
Armenia
Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...
instead of the
Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic
The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic,; russian: Армянская Советская Социалистическая Республика, translit=Armyanskaya Sovetskaya Sotsialisticheskaya Respublika) also commonly referred to as Soviet A ...
,
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
. Another example is that for Americans born in the former
Panama Canal Zone
The Panama Canal Zone ( es, Zona del Canal de Panamá), also simply known as the Canal Zone, was an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the Isthmus of Panama, that existed from 1903 to 1979. It was located within the terr ...
, "
Panama
Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...
" is listed as the place of birth for people born on or after October 1, 1979; people born prior to October 1 can opt to designate the city of place of birth. A citizen born outside the United States, who objects to the standard country name, may be able to have his city or town of birth entered on the passport. 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.
China, Taiwan, Hong Kong/Macau SARs
Special provisions exist to deal with the complexities of American passport holders born in the
Greater China Region
Greater China is an informal geographical area that shares commercial and cultural ties with the Han Chinese, Han Chinese people. The notion of "Greater China" refers to the area that usually encompasses Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Tai ...
. Per the
One-China policy
The term One China may refer to one of the following:
* The One China principle is the position held by the People's Republic of China (PRC) that there is only one sovereign state under the name China, with the PRC serving as the sole legit ...
, the United States recognizes the
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
as the sole legal government of China, and acknowledges the Chinese position that
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
is a part of China, while considering the status of
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
to be undetermined. However, Americans born in Taiwan can choose to have either "Taiwan", "China", or their city of birth listed as place of birth. Americans born in
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
or
Macau
Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...
would have their place of birth as "Hong Kong
SAR
SAR or Sar may refer to:
Places
* Sar (river), Galicia, Spain
* Sar, Bahrain, a residential district
* Sar, Iran (disambiguation), several places in Iran
* Sar, Tibet, Tibet Autonomous Region of China
* Šar Mountains, in southeastern Europe
...
" or "Macau SAR," but the option of listing the city of birth only (e.g. "Hong Kong" or "Macau" without "SAR") is not available. As
Tibet
Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...
is recognized as part of China, the place of birth for Americans born in Tibet is written as "China", with the option of listing only the city of birth.
Israel and the Palestinian territories
Special provisions are in place for Americans born in
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
and the Palestinian territories.
For births in places other than
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
and the
Golan Heights
The Golan Heights ( ar, هَضْبَةُ الْجَوْلَانِ, Haḍbatu l-Jawlān or ; he, רמת הגולן, ), or simply the Golan, is a region in the Levant spanning about . The region defined as the Golan Heights differs between di ...
, "Israel", "
West Bank
The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
", or "
Gaza Strip
The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...
" is used. If born before 1948 or in other cases, "
Palestine
__NOTOC__
Palestine may refer to:
* State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia
* Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia
* Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...
" may be used.
For births in the Golan Heights, "Israel" has been used since March 2019 when the US recognized the Golan Heights as part of Israel;
[8 FAM 403.4-4(A) as of 2021] previously "
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
" was used regardless of date of birth.
[8 FAM 403.4-4(A) as of 2018]
Prior to October 2020, due to the
legal uncertainty of the status of Jerusalem, "Jerusalem" was used for births in Jerusalem within its 1948 municipal borders regardless of date of birth.
In 2002, Congress passed legislation that said that American citizens born in Jerusalem may list "Israel" as their country of birth, although Presidents
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
and
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
did not allow it. A federal appeals court declared the 2002 law invalid on July 23, 2013, and the Supreme Court
upheld that decision on June 8, 2015. In October 2020, the Department of State announced that it had changed its policy and stated that Americans born in Jerusalem would be permitted to have either "Jerusalem" or "Israel" designated as their place of birth. However, for those who were born before 1948 in areas outside of Jerusalem's 1948 municipal limits but now are included within Jerusalem, their place of birth is listed as "Palestine" or the area's name as known before the expansion of Jerusalem. Those born after 1948 in these areas may choose to have the area's name listed as their place of birth, but not as "Jordan" or "West Bank".
In all cases, the city or town of birth may be used in place of the standard designations.
Born in the air or at sea
For an American
born aboard an aircraft or ship, if the birth occurs in an area where no country has sovereignty (i.e. in or over
international waters
The terms international waters or transboundary waters apply where any of the following types of bodies of water (or their drainage basins) transcend international boundaries: oceans, large marine ecosystems, enclosed or semi-enclosed regiona ...
), the place of birth is listed as "in the air" or "at sea" where appropriate.
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 permission for the bearer to enter and pass through the other country, and requests further that, when necessary, given help consistent with international norms. In American passports, the message is in English, French, and Spanish. The message reads:
In
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
:
::''The
Secretary of State of the United States of America 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.''
in
French:
::''Le Secrétaire d'État des États-Unis d'Amérique prie par les présentes toutes autorités compétentes de laisser passer le citoyen ou ressortissant des États-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 might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
:
::''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 used in the message as some people born in
American Samoa
American Samoa ( sm, Amerika Sāmoa, ; also ' or ') is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the island country of Samoa. Its location is centered on . It is east of the International ...
, including
Swains Island, are
nationals but not citizens of the United States.
The masculine inflections of "Le Secrétaire d'État" and "El Secretario de Estado" are used in all passports, regardless of the sex of the Secretary of State at the time of issue.
Sex offenders
In November 2017, pursuant to the
International Megan's Law, the Department of State announced that passports of US citizens previously convicted of
sex crimes
Sex and the law deals with the regulation by law of human sexual activity. Sex laws vary from one place or jurisdiction to another, and have varied over time. Unlawful sexual acts are called sex crimes.
Some laws regarding sexual activity are ...
against minors would be endorsed with the message, "The bearer was convicted of a sex offense against a minor, and is a covered sex offender pursuant to
.S. law"
Languages
At a
League of Nations
The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...
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
''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...
national language of the United States, has always been used in U.S. passports. At some point after 1920, English and French were used in passports. Spanish was added during the second term of the
Clinton administration
Bill Clinton's tenure as the 42nd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1993, and ended on January 20, 2001. Clinton, a Democrat from Arkansas, took office following a decisive election victory over Re ...
.
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
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
,
French, and
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
.
Biometric versions
The legal driving force behind biometric passports is the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2002, which states that
smart-card
A smart card, chip card, or integrated circuit card (ICC or IC card) is a physical electronic authentication device, used to control access to a resource. It is typically a plastic credit card-sized card with an embedded integrated circuit (IC) c ...
identity card
An identity document (also called ID or colloquially as papers) is any documentation, document that may be used to prove a person's identity. If issued in a small, standard credit card size form, it is usually called an identity card (IC, ID c ...
s may be used in lieu of
visa
Visa most commonly refers to:
*Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company
** Visa Debit card issued by the above company
** Visa Electron, a debit card
** Visa Plus, an interbank network
*Travel visa, a document that allows ...
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
The Visa Waiver Program (VWP) is a program of the United States federal government that allows nationals of specific countries to travel to the U.S. for tourism, business, or while in transit for up to 90 days without having to obtain a visa. I ...
, must bear machine-readable passports that comply with international standards. If a foreign passport was issued on or after October 26, 2006, that passport must be a biometric passport.
The electronic chip in the back cover 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
Radio-frequency identification (RFID) uses electromagnetic fields to automatically identify and track tags attached to objects. An RFID system consists of a tiny radio transponder, a radio receiver and transmitter. When triggered by an electromag ...
(RFID) chip is 64 kilobytes, which is large enough to store additional biometric identifiers in the future, such as fingerprints and iris scans. Data within the chip is signed with an
RSA-2048 certificate issued to the U.S. Department of State by the
ICAO Public Key Directory. Any and all data must be authentic and untampered, or else the signature will be invalidated.
Data in a passport chip is scannable by electronic readers, a capability which is intended to speed up immigration processing. This data, along with the signature, is verified to either be valid or invalid. Like toll-road chips, data in passport chips can be read when passport chips are adjacent to readers. The passport cover contains a radio-frequency shield in the form of a wire mesh within the cover, so the cover must be opened for the data to be read. This cover acts as a
Faraday cage.
According to the Department of State, the
Basic Access Control (BAC) security protocol prevents access to that 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 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 unwelcome 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.
Visa requirements
![Visa requirements for United States citizens](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a3/Visa_requirements_for_United_States_citizens.png)
Visa requirements for United States citizens are administrative entry restrictions by the authorities of other states placed on citizens of the United States. As of January 11, 2022, holders of a United States passport can visit 186 countries and territories without a visa or with a visa on arrival, ranking it sixth in terms of travel freedom (tied with Belgium, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland and the United Kingdom) according to the
Henley Passport Index
The Henley Passport Index ( abbreviation: HPI) is a global ranking of countries according to the travel freedom enjoyed by the holders of that country's ordinary passport for its citizens. It started in 2006 as Henley & Partners Visa Restricti ...
. Additionally,
Arton Capital's Passport Index
The Passport Index is an interactive online tool by Arton Capital that provides its users with insights about passports, including the ability to compare and rank the world's passports. Rankings are based on the freedom of movement and visa-free ...
ranked the United States passport fourth in the world in terms of travel freedom, with a visa-free score of 160 (tied with Belgium, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland), as of January 2022.
United States Passport is ranked 3rd by the Global Passport Power Rank.
The United States Government has prohibited all U.S. nationals from traveling to North Korea without special permission, making all United States passports invalid for travel to, in, or through the country.
Foreign travel statistics
These are the numbers of visits by U.S. nationals to various countries in 2015 (unless otherwise noted):
Gallery of historic images
File:United States passport 1930.jpg, Cover of a passport (1930)
File:USA passport 1976.JPG, Cover of one of the first blue passports (the color was introduced for the Bicentennial __NOTOC__
A bicentennial or bicentenary is the two-hundredth anniversary of a part, or the celebrations thereof. It may refer to:
Europe
*French Revolution bicentennial, commemorating the 200th anniversary of 14 July 1789 uprising, celebrated ...
in 1976)
File:Passeport americain couverture.jpg, Cover of a non-biometric passport issued prior to August 2007
See also
*
Five Nations Passport Group
The Five Nations Passport Group is an international forum between the passport-issuing authorities of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States to share best practices in the issuance, development, and management of p ...
*
Iroquois passport
The Iroquois or Haudenosaunee passport is a form of identification and an " expression of sovereignty" used by the nationals of the Six Nations (Iroquois: ''Haudenosaunee'').
History
The Haudenosaunee government has issued passports since at le ...
*
Real ID Act
*
Ruth Shipley
Ruth Bielaski Shipley (April 20, 1885 – November 3, 1966) was an American government employee who served as the head of the Passport Division of the United States Department of State for 27 years, from 1928 to 1955. Her decisions to refuse pass ...
, head of the Passport Division, 1928 to 1955
*
Visa policy of the United States
The visa policy of the United States consists of the requirements for foreign nationals to travel to, enter, and remain in the United States. Visitors to the United States must obtain a visa from one of the U.S. diplomatic missions unless the ...
*
Visa requirements for United States citizens
holders of a United States passport,may travel to 186 countries and territories without a travel visa, or with a visa on arrival. The United States passport currently ranks 7th in terms of travel freedom (tied with the passports of Belgium, New ...
Notes
References
Bibliography
* International Civil Aviation Organization, Machine Readable Travel Documents, https://web.archive.org/web/20070126030848/http://mrtd.icao.int/.
*
*
*
*
*
*United States Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs
''Photographer's Guide''
*United States Department of State, Foreign Affairs Manual
"8 FAM FAM Passports and Consular Reports of Birth Abroad"*United States Department of State, Passport Office, The United States Passport: Past, Present, Future (Washington, D.C.: United States Department of State, Passport Office, 1976).
*United States Department of State, Passports
*22 C.F.R. Part 51.
*8 U.S.C. secs. 1185, 1504.
*18 U.S.C. secs. 1541–1547.
*22 U.S.C. secs. 211a–218, 2705, 2721.
*U.S. Sentencing Guidelines secs. 2L2.1, 2L2.2.
{{Passports
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
Passport
A passport is an official travel document issued by a government that contains a person's identity. A person with a passport can travel to and from foreign countries more easily and access consular assistance. A passport certifies the personal ...
Passport
A passport is an official travel document issued by a government that contains a person's identity. A person with a passport can travel to and from foreign countries more easily and access consular assistance. A passport certifies the personal ...
Passport
A passport is an official travel document issued by a government that contains a person's identity. A person with a passport can travel to and from foreign countries more easily and access consular assistance. A passport certifies the personal ...