File No. 1271.
[Untitled]
Washington, April 19, 1907.
To the diplomatic and consular officers of the United States.
Gentlemen: Paragraphs 150, 151, 152, and 163 of the Diplomatic Instructions and Consular Regulations as amended by the executive order of April 6, 1907, read as follows:
150. When passports may be issued.—Passports can not be issued by diplomatic or consular officers if the applicant has time to apply to the Department of State and await its reply. Where inconvenience or hardship would result to a person entitled to receive a passport unless he received it at once, a diplomatic officer, or a consular officer who shall have received authority to do so from the Secretary of State, may issue to such person an emergency passport, good for a period not to exceed six months from the date of issuance, and to be used for a purpose which shall be stated in the passport.
This paragraph shall become effective July 1, 1907.
151. Applications.—Persons entitled to receive passports who desire to secure them when they are abroad may make applications therefor to the Department of State through a diplomatic or consular officer. Native citizens thus applying must make an affidavit with respect to birth, take the oath of allegiance, and furnish identification by a creditable person, all in duplicate and according to Form No. —. Naturalized citizens must comply with the same requirements, using Form No. —, and, if claiming citizenship through naturalization of husband or parent, using Form No. —. A naturalized citizen must also exhibit his certificate of naturalization, or that of the husband or parent through whom citizenship is claimed, or a duly certified copy of the court record thereof. Further evidence of the applicant’s citizenship may be required, if deemed necessary. A loyal resident of an insular possession of the United States, in addition to the information now required in the case of a citizen of the United States, must state that he owes allegiance to the United States and does not acknowledge allegiance to any other government, and must submit an affidavit from at [Page 14] least two credible witnesses having good means of knowledge in substantiation of his statements of birth, residence, and loyalty. The identity of an applicant for a passport should always be established when the application is taken.
This paragraph shall become effective July 1, 1907.
152. Expiration of passports.—A passport issued by the department is good for a period of two years, when it expires; but it may be renewed for a further period of two years by a diplomatic officer, or by a consular officer who has received authority for the purpose from the Secretary of State. It is permissible to renew passports only once.
This paragraph shall become effective July 1, 1907.
163. Return of passports.—As soon as an emergency passport is issued by a diplomatic or consular officer he shall transmit to the Department of State a duplicate of the application and a statement of the proof accepted by him for the issuance of the passport and of the reason why the issuance of the passport was necessary. Whenever an application for a passport is made to the Department of State through a diplomatic or consular officer he shall transmit a duplicate of the application and of the accompanying proof of the right to receive a passport to the Department of State, but he need not, unless otherwise instructed, transmit a certificate of naturalization.
This paragraph shall become effective July 1, 1907.
Consuls at the following places shall have the right to issue emergency passports:
Adis Ababa, Abyssinia; Barbados; Calcutta; Colombo, Ceylon; Curaçao, West Indies; Nassau, New Providence; St. Michaels, Azores; Seoul, Korea; Sierra Leone; Singapore; Tahiti; Taruatave.
A consul in a country where there is diplomatic representation of the United States may issue emergency passports during the temporary absence of the diplomatic representative.
Emergency passports may be issued only when it is clearly shown that the person applying for the passport is about to proceed to a country to obtain admission into which a passport is obligatory. They may be issued for use with the local authorities only in case such authorities will not accept as evidence of a right to recognition as an American citizen the certificate of registration provided for in paragraph 172 of the Consular Regulations, as prescribed in the executive order of April 8, 1907. Emergency passports shall be in the form now used for regular passports, except that there shall be inserted therein the following statement:
Emergency passport.—This passport is issued to _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _, in order that he may proceed to _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.
(If the passport is issued for other purposes than travel, the fact should be stated.)
Diplomatic officers and all consular officers may take applications for the issuance of passports to American citizens by this department, following the rules now in force on the subject of the issuance of passports, and shall forward each application to the department, with the evidence of the right to secure the passport. In the case of an application by a naturalized citizen who presents his certificate of naturalization, this document need not be forwarded to this department, being the property of the applicant; but the application should set forth the name of the court in which the applicant was naturalized and the date and place of such naturalization.
Diplomatic and principal consular officers are authorized to extend for a period of two years passports issued by this department which are about to expire and presented to them for extension. Such extension should be made by marking conspicuously across the passport the following words: [Page 15]
Extended under the authority of the Secretary of State for two years, and not valid after _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ (Date of expiration.)
this being signed and dated by the diplomatic or consular officer and his seal affixed. A passport which has been thus extended is not valid after the date to which it was extended. A passport which has expired can not be extended, and no passport can be extended more than once. Emergency passports can not be extended.
Immediately upon thus extending a passport the diplomatic or consular officer should notify the department of the name of the holder of the passport, its number and date, and the reason why the extension was asked.
I am, gentlemen, your obedient servant,