Chapter X PASSPORT OFFICE After Hours Service PASSPOR ASSPORT OFFICE duty officers are on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to provide assistance to U.S. citizens by issuing, extending, or amending passports, or in cases in which it is impossible to provide documentation, or a life-or-death emergency exists, by granting a waiver of the requirement by law that all citizens must possess a valid passport to depart from the United States. Prior to 1956, after hours emergency services were provided by an informal system. In 1956, a Passport Duty Officer Service was established. Since these services involve the expenditure of government funds, provision is made for the assessment of a $10 fee for each after hours service performed, and, in addition, any statutory fees or communication costs are an extra charge. The fee for a waiver is $25.1 The $10 service fee is not assessed in the following cases: 1. When the service is required as a result of an error or omission on the part of the Passport Office. 2. When the service is performed for a U.S. employee proceeding abroad on official business. 3. When the service is performed for the parents or close relatives who are proceeding abroad to be with a serviceman who is ill or injured. 1 22 Code of Federal Regulations 21.4; Department regulations 108.464; 26 Federal Register 2711, Mar. 31, 1961. Waiver of Passport Requirement and Accompanying Service Fee A citizen or national of the United States is required to have a valid passport to enter or depart from the United States. However, in certain exceptional cases, the Department of State may waive the passport requirement for citizens who are about to depart, or have departed from the United States, or for citizens entering the United States without valid passports.2 Generally the Passport Office will waive the passport requirement when requested by a citizen departing from the United States only if a true life or death emergency exists and there is insufficient time to obtain a passport. An application for a waiver is considered only in these cases: 1. Emergency. When a genuine emergency, such as the serious illness or death abroad of a close relative or associate, requires the citizen's immediate presence and when the departure time precludes issuance of a passport before departure. 2. Emigration to Soviet Bloc Countries. When U.S. citizens, generally dual nationals, wish to return for permanent residence to their country of origin within the Soviet bloc. 3. Department's Error. When a departing U.S. citizen does not have a valid U.S. passport because of an error of the Passport Office, any Embassy or consular post abroad. Before a waiver to depart the United States without a passport is granted, the Department must verify the emergency is genuine. In addition the citizen is informed that a $25 fee is involved and must acknowledge orally that he understands this requirement and will pay the fee when he applies for passport services abroad. The Department notifies the Embassy or consulates having jurisdiction over the foreign port of entry of the beneficiary of the waiver and requests that the traveler be assisted in entering the country of his destination. The Embassy or consulate is also instructed to collect the fee before the traveler is issued a U.S. passport. Although a citizen traveler may otherwise qualify for a passport, a waiver may be refused if the Passport Office is aware that the country to which the citizen seeks entry refuses to permit entry of aliens who do not possess valid passports. The reason for this is that such an undocumented citizen might be incarcerated abroad for illegal entry, although in most cases, the airline or 2 8 USC 1185; 22 Code of Federal Regulations 53.2(h). vessel might simply be required to return the citizen to the United States at its own expense. In the event that a citizen who has departed from the United States without a valid passport in violation of the Travel Control Law applies at a consular post abroad for validation, or the issuance of a new passport, the post may regularize his departure from the United States by granting a retroactive waiver. A citizen who arrives at a U.S. port of entry without valid documentation may be granted a waiver of the passport requirement by the Immigration and Naturalization Service in the following circumstances: 1. Emergency Abroad. When a citizen abroad cannot reach an Embassy or consulate to obtain a valid passport for return to the United States prior to the time of his intended departure for the United States, he may request the carrier to communicate with the Department and obtain a waiver of the passport requirement directly from the Department. If the waiver is approved, the Passport Office will notify the carrier and will inform the Immigration and Naturalization Service of his anticipated arrival. 2. Disaster Abroad. When a citizen en route to the United States is involved in a disaster abroad, such as a forced landing or a collision at sea. 3. Certificate of Identity. When a citizen who has been issued for official reasons a card of identity and registration for return to the United States presents such a card in lieu of a passport upon entering the United States. The $25 fee is charged for waivers for departure from and return to the United States and for retroactive waivers. The waiver fee represents the initial cost to the government for handling a waiver case. It is not a penalty. The waiver fee may also be canceled at the discretion of the Department of State in unusual cases involving hardship. Validation of Passports for The Secretary of State has the authority to prescribe the use of U.S. passports for travel to, in, or through countries or areas with which the United States is at war; in which armed hostilities are in progress; or where travel would seriously impair the conduct of U.S. foreign affairs.3 This authority has been upheld by 3 22 Code of Federal Regulations 51.72. the Federal courts in the Zemel v. Rusk and Lynd v. Rusk decisions.4 Geographic restrictions of general applicability usually expire 1 year from the date of publication in the Federal Register unless they are limited to a shorter period, or unless extended or sooner revoked by the Secretary by public notice. Passport books printed by the U.S. Government Printing Office currently list on page 4 the countries or areas designated by the Secretary of State as restricted areas. Restrictions added between passport book printing orders are stamped or typed into passport books when issued. When a restriction is revoked or expires, the country or area is dropped from the list and, at the request of the bearer, it may be deleted by an official of the Passport Office or Agency, or if abroad by an official of a U.S. Embassy or consulate. Limitation and Extension Although a passport is normally valid for 5 years 5 from the date of issue, passports may be limited administratively to a shorter period of time. Passports may be limited either at the time of or after issuance and may contain more than one limitation if necessary. In certain cases, a passport whose validity has been limited may be extended to its full validity. However, no passport may be extended beyond 5 years from its date of issue. The validity of passports may be limited for many reasons, the following of which are the most common: replacement for a previous valid passport which has been lost or stolen (generally limited to 3 months or trip plus 1 month, whichever is longer); inclusion of one or more minor children who will become 18 years of age before the passport normally expires (generally limited to day before the oldest child's 18th birthday); special problems which cannot be resolved before urgently scheduled departures (generally limited to overseas travel plus 1 month); passports for direct return to the United States and those for next of kin of servicemen wounded or ill abroad; or for persons traveling abroad on invitational orders at government expense to participate in a court martial (generally limited to 3 months). 6 The term "extension," first used during Word War I (19141918) as a wartime measure, referred to the renewal of a passport 4 Zemel v. Rusk, 381 U.S. 1 (1965). Lynd v. Rusk, 389 F. 2d 940 (1967). 5 Public Law 90-428, Aug. 26, 1968. 6 Passport Office instruction 3210.4B. for an additional period of time. Generally, a passport was renewed only after its original period of validity had been limited. A special form is currently available to apply for an amendment or an extension of a passport. Verification A U.S. passport may be verified by an officer of the Foreign Service to make it acceptable in the country to which the verifying officer is assigned. Passports are verified by endorsement in writing or by rubber stamp of the word "good" on the passport in the language of the country of assignment of the verifying officer. (Exhibit 58) In Embassies or diplomatic Missions with a consular section, the impression seal of the Embassy or diplomatic Mission is always used on verifications. When there is no consular office in the vicinity or when local laws require verification by a diplomatic officer, a U.S. passport may be verified by a Chief of Mission or Chargé d'Affaires ad interim. In a Mission with a consular section, the Chief of Mission or Chargé d'Affaires ad interim may act as verifying officer or may designate the officer in charge of the consular section to act as verifying officer. However the officer must sign all verifications." Travel Control The United States has always required passports in time of war. (Exhibit 97) In 1815, Congress passed a bill requiring passports in certain circumstances. The bill provided that a person residing in the United States must have a passport to cross the frontier or any territory occupied by, or to board any vessel belonging to the enemy.R Passport restrictions were in effect during the Civil War by both the Union and the Confederate States. In May 1861 Secretary of State William H. Seward strictly forbade the issuance of passports to those whose loyalty to the Union was questionable. (Exhibit 98) Additional limitations were placed on travelers on August 19, 1861. Regulations provided that no person would be allowed to depart from or to enter the United States without a 78 Foreign Affairs Manual 241.33d. 8 3 Stat. 199–200. |