United States passport

Cover of a Biometric United States passport issued in 2007.

United States passport 1930

United States passport 1976

Cover of a non-electronic United States passport

United States passports are issued only to citizens and non-citizen nationals of the United States of America. The purpose of a passport is facilitation of international travel.

"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States . . .." (U.S. Const. amend. XIV, sec. 1.) Under this provision, "United States" means the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

By acts of Congress, persons born in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands are United States citizens by birth. (8 U.S.C. secs. 1402 (Puerto Rico), 1406 (Virgin Islands), and 1407 (Guam); 48 U.S.C. sec. 1801, US-NMI Covenant sec. 303 (Northern Mariana Islands).) Other acts of Congress provide for acquisition of citizenship by persons born abroad.[1]

Every citizen is a national of the United States. Not every national is a citizen. There is a small class of American Samoans, born in American Samoa, including Swains Island, who are nationals but not citizens of the United States. (8 U.S.C. sec. 1408.)

Whichever the country of issuance, a passport proves the nationality of the bearer. A passport is connected with the right of a national of the country which issued the passport to consular assistance from the issuing county while the national is abroad, and with the right of the national to enter the country of which is a national. However, the right to assistance does not arise from a passport, nor does the right to enter. Each of the rights arises from nationality.

It follows that a United States passport proves the United States nationality of the bearer, and, consequently, his right to assistance from United States consular officials overseas or his right to return to the United States, as the case may be. If a citizen does not have a passport (e.g., because it was stolen), and he can prove his United States nationality by another means (e.g., by providing information about himself), he will be entitled to consular assistance as a citizen or to enter the United States as a citizen, lack of a passport notwithstanding.

Responsibility for passport issuance lies with Passport Services, a unit of the Bureau of Consular Affairs of the U.S. Department of State. Passport Services has thirteen regional passport agencies and one Gateway City Agency in the United States, at which passport applications may be filed by citizens who intend to travel within two weeks of the application date, or who need to obtain visas before travelling. 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.[2] 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, valid for not more than one year, is issuable by the embassy or consulate.

History

American consular officials issued passports to some citizens of some of the thirteen states during the War for Independence (1775-1783). Passports were sheets of paper printed on one side, included a description of the bearer, and were valid for three to six months. The minister to France, Benjamin Franklin, based the design of passports issued by his mission on that of the French passport (Lloyd, pp. 71-72).

The Department of Foreign Affairs of the war period also issued passports, and the department, carried over by the Articles of Confederation government, continued to issue passports. In July, 1789, the Department of Foreign Affairs was carried over by the government established under the Constitution. In September of that year, the name of the department was changed to Department of State. The department handled foreign relations and issued passports, and, until the mid-nineteenth century, had various domestic duties.

For decades thereafter, passports were issued not only by the Department of State but also by states and cities, and by notaries public. Passports issued by American authorities other than the Department of State breached propriety and caused confusion abroad. Some European countries refused to recognize passports not issued by the Department of State, unless United States consular officials endorsed them. The problems led the Congress in 1856 to give to the Department of State sole authority to issue passports (Lloyd, pp 80-81).

The League of Nations held conferences to standardise passports, but nothing came of them. The United Nations also tried to do so. Passport standardisation 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 (U.S. State Department, Passport Office, The United States passport : past, present, future.) For example, in 1926, the United States introduced the type III passport. This had a stiff red cover, with a window cutout through which the passport number was visible. That style of passport contained a total of 32 pages (Lloyd, p. 130).

Passports had green covers from 1941 until 1976, when the cover was changed to blue, as part of the U.S. bicentennial celebration.

Green covers were again issued from April, 1993, until March, 1994, and included a special one-page tribute to Benjamin Franklin in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the United States Consular Service.

In 1981, the United States became the first country to introduce machine-readable passports (Lloyd, p. 155). In 2001, the Department of State started issuing passports with digital photos.

In fiscal year 2006, the Department of State issued 12,133,537 passports.[3]

In early 2006, the Department of State began to issue biometric passports to diplomats and other officials. [4] Later in 2006, biometric passports were issued to the public. [5] Since August 2007, the department has issued only biometric passports. An issued non-biometric will remain valid until its stated date of expiration. [6]

Types of passports

Cover of a biometric official United States passport.

Diplomatic (black cover)

Issuable to American diplomats accredited overseas and their eligible dependants, and to citizens who reside in the United States and travel abroad for diplomatic work. Period of validity: a maximum of five years from the date of issue.

Official (maroon cover)

Issuable to citizen-employees of the United States assigned overseas, either permanently or temporarily, and their eligible dependants, and to members of Congress who travel abroad on official business. Period of validity: a maximum of five years from the date of issue.

Regular (blue cover)

Issuable to all citizens and non-citizen nationals. Periods of validity: for those age 16 or over, ten years from the date of issue; for those 15 and younger, five years from the date of issue.

A sub-type of regular passports is no-fee passports, issuable to citizens in specified categories for specified purposes. (22 C.F.R. sec. 51.52.) Period of validity: a maximum of five years from the date of issue. A no-fee passport has an endorsement which prohibits its use for a purpose other than the specified purpose.

Emergency

Issuable to citizens while overseas, as a substitute for a lost or stolen passport. Period of validity: One year from the date of issue.

The Department of State provides information about applying for a passport. [7]

Passport in lieu of certificate of non-citizenship nationality

The State Department does not get many requests for certificates of non-citizenship nationality, which are issuable by the department. (8 U.S.C. sec. 1452(b).) Production of a limited number of certificates would be costly, and, if produced, certificates would have to meet security standards. Accordingly, the State Department chose not to issue certificates of non-citizen nationality. Instead, the department issues passports to non-citizen nationals. An issued passport certifies the status of non-citizen national. [8] The certification is in the form of an endorsement in the passport: "The bearer of this passport is a United States national and not a United States citizen."

Second passport

It is a long-standing policy of the Department of State that no person is to hold more than one valid United States passport at any one time. Nonetheless, the department may issue a second passport under limited circumstances. One is a prolonged visa-processing delay. Another is safety or security, such as travel between Israel and countries which refuse to grant entry to persons with passports which indicate travel to Israel. Limited-circumstances passports are valid for two years from the date of issue. [9]

A holder of a diplomatic passport, an official passport or a no-fee passport may hold a regular passport as well. The holder of an emergency passport may exchange it for a full-term regular passport.

Appearance -- regular passport

The Great Seal of the United States is at the center of the front cover. "PASSPORT" (all capital letters) appears above the Great Seal, and "United States of America" (in script) appears below. An e-passport has the e-passport symbol at the bottom of the front cover. U.S. e-passport

An e-passport has 32 pages. 48-page passports for business travellers and other frequent travellers are no longer issued. However, extra visa pages may be added to a passport.[10]

Data page

The first two pages of a biometric U.S. passport issued in 2007

A data page has a visual zone and a machine-readable zone. The visual zone has a digitized photograph of the passport holder, data about the passport, and data about the passport holder. In a U.S. passport, these are, in order of appearance:

• Photograph
• Type [of document, which is "P" for "passport"]
• Code [of the issuing country, which is "USA" for "United States of America"]
• Passport No.
• Surname
• Given Names
• Nationality
• Date of Birth
• Sex
• Place of Birth
• Date of Issue
• Authority
• Date of Expiration
• Amendments

At the bottom of a data page is the machine-readable zone, which can be read both visually and by an optical scanner. The machine-readable zone consists of two lines. There are no blank spaces in either line of the machine-readable zone. A space which does not contain a letter or a number is filled with "<" (which happens to be the mathematical symbol meaning "less than").

The first line of a machine-readable zone of a passport contains a letter to denote the type of travel document ("P" for passport), the code for the citizenship of the passport holder (e.g., "USA" for "United States of America"), and the name (surname first, then given name or names) of the passport holder.

The second line of a machine-readable zone of a passport contains the passport number, supplemented by a check digit; the code of the issuing country (e.g., "USA" for "United States of America"); the date of birth of the passport holder, supplemented by a check digit; a notation of the sex of the passport holder ("M" or "F"); the date of expiration of the passport, supplemented by a check digit; and, at the end of the line, two overall check digits.

Passport message

Passports of all countries contain a message, nominally from the official who is in charge of passport issuance (e.g., secretary of state, minister of foreign affairs), addressed to authorities of other countries. The message identifies the bearer as a citizen of the issuing country, requests that he or she be allowed to enter and pass through the other country, and requests further that, when necessary, he or she be given help consistent with international norms. In United States passports, the message is in English, French and Spanish. The message is:

In English:

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'Etat des Etats-Unis d'Amérique prie par les présentes toutes autorités compétentes de laisser passer le citoyen ou ressortissant des Etats-Unis titulaire du présent passeport, sans délai ni difficulté et, en cas de besoin, de lui accorder toute aide et protection légitimes.

and in Spanish:

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 aqui nombrados, sin demora ni dificultades, y en caso de necesidad, prestarle toda la ayuda y protección licitas.

The term "citizen/national" is used in the message, because some people born in American Samoa, including Swains Island, are nationals but not citizens of the United States.

The French and the Spanish passport messages inadvertently identify Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State (January 26, 2005 - present), as a man. For Secretary Rice, the Spanish message, for example, should be "La Secretaria de Estado" (the [female] Secretary of State) rather than "El Secretario de Estado" (the [male] Secretary of State). Not really. Gender is not sex in French and Spanish.

Languages

At an international conference on passports, held in 1920 under the auspices of the League of Nations, a recommendation was that passports be written in French (historically, the language of diplomacy) and one other language.

English, the de facto national language of the United States, has always been used in passports. At some point subsequent to 1920, English and French were used in passports. Spanish was added during the second Clinton administration, in recognition of Spanish-speaking Puerto Rico. The addition indirectly recognises Spanish-speaking U.S. citizens whose origins are Spanish-speaking countries.

The field names on the data page, the passport message, the warning on the second page that the bearer is responsible for obtaining visas, the entries and departures designators on the visa pages, and the designations of the amendments-and-endorsements pages, are printed in English, French and Spanish.

Biometric passport

Biometric passports contain RFID (radio-frequency identification) chips.

The legal driving force of biometric passports (sometimes referred to as electronic passports) is the U.S. Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2002, which states that smart card IDs may be used in lieu of visas. 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 (VWP), must bear machine-readable passports which comply with international standards. If a foreign passport used under the VWP was issued on or after October 26, 2006, that passport must be a biometric passport.

The chip of a U.S. passport holds 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. [11] The capacity of an RFID chip is 64 kilobytes, which is large enough to store, in addition to an image of a photograph, passport data and personal data, biometric identifiers such as fingerprints and retina scans.

Chip data are scanable by readers, a capability which is intended to speed up immigration processing. A privacy concern is that there could be illicit reading of chip data, in that a chip does not have to plugged into a reader in order for data therein to be read. Like toll-road chips, passport chips can be read when they are proximate to readers. This make possible the surreptitious reading of a chip, e.g., by a government tracking a person's movements or by a criminal intending identity theft.

Though passports have shielded covers which make it difficult to read chips when passport covers are closed, and though chips have access-control and encryption programmes, those features are ineffective when a passport is open, such as when a passport is presented at a hotel, a bank, or an Internet cafe

Products available on the market allow a holder of a biometric passport to shield data stored in the RFID chip which is embedded in the passport.

Visa-free access

According to a study done by Henley & Partners, the United States has a Henley Visa Restrictions Index of 130, which means that U.S. citizens enjoy visa-free access to 130 countries and territories. The U.S. is ranked 1st in the study in terms of international travel freedom, together with Finland and Denmark. [12]

It is estimated that 187 countries and territories grant visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to holders of regular U.S. passport. 151 countries and territories are visa-free accessible. (visa on arrival for free counted) Visa prior to arrival or pre-arrangement required for countries or territories not mentioned below. [13]

Africa

Countries and Territories	Conditions of access
Botswana	90 days [14]
British Indian Ocean Territory	visa-free access
Comoros	visa issued upon arrival [15]
Côte d'Ivoire	90 days [16]
Djibouti	30-day visa issued upon arrival for DJF5,000 [17]
Egypt	30-day visa issued upon arrival for US$15 [18]
Equatorial Guinea	visa-free access [19]
Ethiopia	3-month visa issued upon arrival for US$40 [20][21]
Kenya	3-month visa issued upon arrival for US$50 [22][23]
Lesotho	14 days [24][25]
Madagascar	90-day visa issued upon arrival for MGA28,000 [26]
Malawi	90 days [27]
Mauritius	6 months per year (tourist), 90 days per year (business) [28][29]
Mayotte	1 month [30]
Morocco	3 months [31][32]
Mozambique	30-day visa issued upon arrival for US$25 [33]
Namibia	90 days [34]
Niger	1-month issued upon arrival for XOF20,000 [35]
Réunion	3 months [36]
Rwanda	90 days [37]
Saint Helena	visa-free access
São Tomé and Príncipe	1-month visa issued upon arrival for US$50 [38]
Senegal	3 months [39]
Seychelles	1 month [40]
South Africa	90 days [41]
Swaziland	60 days [42]
Tanzania	visa issued upon arrival for US$50 [43][44]
Togo	1-month visa issued upon arrival for XOF10,000 ~ XOF35,000 [45]
Tunisia	4 months [46]
Uganda	6-month visa issued upon arrival for US$50 [47][48]
Zambia	visa issued upon arrival for US$25 (single), US$80 (multiple) [49][50]
Zimbabwe	3-month visa issued upon arrival for US$30 ~ 55 [51]

Americas

Countries and Territories	Conditions of access
Anguilla	3 months [52][53]
Antigua and Barbuda	1 month [54][55]
Argentina	90 days [56]
Aruba	3 months [57]
Bahamas	3 months [58]
Barbados	6 months [59][60]
Belize	90 days [61][62]
Bermuda	6 months [63][64]
Bolivia	Template:Visa Required [65][66]
Canada	6 months [67][68]
Cayman Islands	30 days [69]
Chile	90-day passport validity long multiple entry visa issued upon arrival for US$100 [70]
Colombia	90 days [71][72]
Costa Rica	90 days [73]
Dominica	6 months [74]
Dominican Republic	30-day visa issued upon arrival for US$10 [75][76]
Ecuador	90 days [77][78]
El Salvador	90 days [79]
Falkland Islands	3 months [80]
French Guiana	3 months [81]
Greenland	3 months [82]
Grenada	3 months [83][84]
Guadeloupe	3 months [85]
Guatemala	90 days [86]
Guyana	3 months [87]
Haiti	3 months [88]
Honduras	3 months [89]
Jamaica	30 days [90][91]
Martinique	3 months [92]
Mexico	180 days [93][94]
Montserrat	3 months [95]
Netherlands Antilles	3 months [96]
Nicaragua	90 days [97]
Panama	30-day Tourist Card issued upon arrival for US$5 [98][99]
Peru	90 days [100]
Saint Barthélemy	3 months [101]
Saint Kitts and Nevis	14 days [102]
Saint Lucia	6 weeks [103][104]
Saint Martin	3 months [105]
Saint Pierre and Miquelon	3 months [106]
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	1 month [107]
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands	visa-free access [108]
Trinidad and Tobago	3 months [109]
Turks and Caicos Islands	30 days [110]
Uruguay	3 months [111][112]
Venezuela	3 months [113][114]
British Virgin Islands	30 days [115]

Asia

Countries and Territories	Conditions of access
Armenia	21-day visa issued upon arrival for US$30 [116]
Azerbaijan	30-day visa issued upon arrival for US$100 [117]
Bahrain	14-day visa issued upon arrival for BHD5 [118][119]
Bangladesh	15-day visa issued upon arrival for US$50 [120][121]
Brunei Darussalam	90 days [122]
Cambodia	30-day visa issued upon arrival for US$20 (tourist), US$25 (business) [123]
Republic of China (Taiwan)	30 days [124]
Georgia	90 days [125]
Hong Kong	90 days [126]
Indonesia	30-day visa issued upon arrival [127]
Iraq	visa issued upon arrival (free of charge) [128]
Israel	3 months [129]
Japan	90 days [130]
Jordan	visa issued upon arrival for JOD10 [131][132]
South Korea	90 days [133][134]
Kuwait	3-month visa issued upon arrival for KWD5 [135][136]
Kyrgyzstan	1-month visa issued upon arrival for US$36 ~ 70 (business),US$35 (single tourist),US$55 (multiple tourist) [137][138]
Laos	15-day visa issued upon arrival for US$30 [139]
Lebanon	1-month visa issued upon arrival(free of charge) [140][141]
Macau	30 days [142]
Malaysia	3 months [143]
Maldives	30 days [144]
Mongolia	90 days [145]
Nepal	60-day visa issued upon arrival for US$30 [146]
Oman	1-month visa issued upon arrival for OMR6 [147]
Philippines	21 days [148]
Qatar	21-day visa issued upon arrival for QAR55 [149][150]
Singapore	90 days (VWP) [151]
Sri Lanka	30 days [152]
Thailand	30 days [153]
Timor-Leste	30-day visa issued upon arrival for US$30 [154]
Turkey	3-month visa issued upon arrival for US$20, €15 [155]
United Arab Emirates	60 days [156]
Yemen	1-month visa issued upon arrival for YER10,500 [157]

Europe

Countries and Territories	Conditions of access
European Union
Austria	3 months in a half year [158][159]
Belgium	3 months in a half year [160][161]
Bulgaria	3 months in a half year [162][163]
Cyprus	3 months in a half year [164][165]
Czech Republic	3 months in a half year [166][167]
Denmark	3 months in a half year [168][169]
Estonia	3 months in a half year [170][171]
Finland	3 months in a half year [172][173]
France	3 months in a half year [174][175]
Germany	3 months in a half year [176][177]
Greece	3 months in a half year [178][179]
Hungary	3 months in a half year [180][181]
Republic of Ireland	3 months in a half year [182][183]
Italy	3 months in a half year [184][185]
Latvia	3 months in a half year [186][187]
Lithuania	3 months in a half year [188][189]
Luxembourg	3 months in a half year [190][191]
Malta	3 months in a half year [192][193]
Netherlands	3 months in a half year [194][195]
Poland	3 months in a half year [196][197]
Portugal	3 months in a half year [198][199]
Romania	3 months in a half year [200][201]
Slovakia	3 months in a half year [202][203]
Slovenia	3 months in a half year [204][205]
Spain	3 months in a half year [206][207]
Sweden	3 months in a half year [208][209]
United Kingdom	6 months [210]
Non-EU
Åland Islands	3 months
Albania	1 month with entry tax : €10 [211][212]
Andorra	3 months (same as France and Spain) [213]
Bosnia and Herzegovina	90 days [214]
Croatia	90 days [215][216]
Faroe Islands	3 months (same as Denmark) [217]
Gibraltar	visa-free access [218]
Guernsey	visa-free access [219]
Iceland	3 months in a half year [220]
Isle of Man	visa-free access[221]
Jersey	6 months [222]
Liechtenstein	3 months in half a year (same as Switzerland) [223]
Macedonia	3 months [224]
Moldova	90 days [225]
Monaco	3 months (same as France) [226]
Montenegro	90 days [227]
Norway	3 months in half a year [228]
San Marino	90 days (same as Italy) [229]
Serbia	90 days [230][231]
Switzerland	3 months in half a year [232]
Ukraine	[233][234]
Vatican City	3 months in half a year (same as Italy) [235]

Oceania

Countries and Territories	Conditions of access
American Samoa	visa-free access [236]
British Antarctic Territory	visa-free access
Cook Islands	31 days [237]
Fiji	4 months [238]
Guam	unlimited access [239]
Marshall Islands	visa-free access [240]
Federated States of Micronesia	30 days[241][242]
New Caledonia	3 months [243]
New Zealand	3 months [244]
Niue	30 days [245]
Northern Mariana Islands	unlimited access [246]
Palau	1 year [247][248]
Papua New Guinea	60-day visa issued upon arrival for PGK100 (tourist), PGK500 (business) [249]
Pitcairn Islands	visa-free access
French Polynesia	1 month [250]
Samoa	60 days [251]
Solomon Islands	3-month visitor permit issued upon arrival [252]
French Southern and Antarctic Lands	3 months [253]
Tokelau	free cruising permit can be obtain in Apia, Samoa [254]
Tonga	31-day visa issued upon arrival (free of charge) [255]
Tuvalu	1 month [256]
Vanuatu	30 days [257][258]
Wallis and Futuna	3 months [259]
Australia	pre-arrival Electronic Travel Authority required [260]
Norfolk Island	same as Australia [261]

Note that travel involving diplomatic and official passports normally requires the issuance of a visa, even if the destination country grants visa-free travel to holders of personal (blue) passports.

References

• International Civil Aviation Organization. Machine Readable Travel Documents. http://mrtd.icao.int.
• Krueger, Stephen. Krueger on United States Passport Law (Hong Kong: Crossbow Corporation, 1999 and supplements) (2nd ed.).
• Lloyd, Martin. The Passport: The History of Man's Most Travelled Document (England: Sutton Press, 2003) (ISBN 0-7509-2964-2).
• U.S. Department of State. Passports.
• U.S. Department of State. The U.S. Electronic Passport.