Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, 1914, Supplement, The World War

[Unnumbered]

Executive order of November 13, 1914

RULES GOVERNING THE GRANTING AND ISSUING OF PASSPORTS IN THE UNITED STATES

1. By whom issued and refusal to issue. No one but the Secretary of State may grant and issue passports in the United States (Revised Statutes, Sections 4075, 4078) and he is empowered to refuse them in his discretion.

Passports are not issued by American diplomatic and consular officers abroad, except in cases of emergency; and a citizen who is abroad and desires to procure a passport must apply therefor through the nearest diplomatic or consular officer to the Secretary of State.

Applications for passports by persons in Porto Rico or the Philippines should be made to the Chief Executives of those Islands. The evidence required of such applicants is similar to that required of applicants in the United States.

2. Fee. By Act of Congress approved March 23, 1888, a fee of one dollar is required to be collected for every citizen’s passport. That amount in currency or postal money order should accompany each application made by a citizen of the United States. Orders should be made payable to the Disbursing Clerk of the Department of State. Drafts or checks will not be accepted.

3. Applications. A person who is entitled to receive a passport, if within the United States, must make a written application, in the form of an affidavit, to the Secretary of State. The application must be made by the person to whom the passport is to be issued and signed by him, as it is not competent for one person to apply for another.

The affidavit must be made before a clerk of a Federal or State Court within the jurisdiction of which the applicant or his witness resides, and the seal of the court must be affixed.

If the applicant signs by mark, two attesting witnesses to his signature are required. The applicant is required to state the date and place of his birth, his occupation, the place of his permanent residence, and within what length of time he will return to the United States with the purpose of residing and performing the duties of citizenship. He is also required to state the names of the foreign countries which he expects to visit, and, if any such country is at war, he must state the object of his visit thereto. The latter statement should be brief and general in form, thus: “commercial business”; “to attend to the settlement of an estate”; “to bring wife and children to this country”.

The applicant must take the oath of allegiance to the Government of the United States.

The application must be accompanied by a description of the person applying, and should state the following particulars, viz: Age, ———; stature, ——— feet ——— inches (English measure); forehead, ———; eyes, ———; nose, ———; mouth, ———; chin, ———; hair, ———; complexion, ———; face, ———.

The application must be accompanied by an affidavit from at least one credible witness that the applicant is the person he represents himself to be, and that the facts stated in the application are true to the best of the witness’s knowledge and belief. This affidavit must be made before the clerk of the court before whom the application is executed and the witness must be an American citizen who resides within the jurisdiction of the court. The applicant or his witness must be known to the clerk of the court before whom the application is executed, or must be able to satisfy such officer as to his identity and the bona fides of the application.

4. Native citizens. An application containing the information indicated by rule 3 will be sufficient evidence in the case of a native citizen.¹

A person of the Chinese race, alleging birth in the United States, must obtain from the Commissioner of Immigration or Chinese Inspector in Charge at the port through which he proposes to leave the country a certificate upon his application, under the seal of such officer, showing that there has been granted to him by the latter a return certificate in accordance with rule 16 of the Chinese Regulations of the Department of Labor. For this purpose special blank forms of application for passports are provided.

Passports issued by the Department of State or its diplomatic or consular representatives are intended for identification and protection in foreign countries, and not to facilitate entry into the United States, immigration being under the supervision of the Department of Labor.

5. A person born abroad whose father was a native citizen of the United States. In addition to the statements required by rule 3, his application must show that his father was born in the United States, resided therein, and was a citizen at the time of the applicant’s birth. The Department may require that this affidavit be supported by that of one other citizen acquainted with the facts.

6. Naturalized citizens. In addition to the statements required by rule 3, a naturalized citizen must transmit his certificate of naturalization, or a duly certified copy of the court record thereof, with his application. It will be returned to him after inspection. He must state in his affidavit when and from what port he emigrated to this country, what ship he sailed on, where he has lived since his arrival in the United States, when and before what court he was naturalized, and that he is the identical person described in the certificate of naturalization. The signature to the application should conform in orthography to the applicant’s name as written in his certificate of naturalization, or an explanation of the difference should be submitted.

7. Woman’s application. If she is unmarried, in addition to the statements required by rule 3, she should state that she has never been married. If she is the wife or widow of a native citizen of the United States the fact should be made to appear in her application, which should be made according to the form prescribed for a native citizen whether she was born in this country or abroad. If she is the wife or widow of a naturalized citizen, in addition to the statements required by rule 3, she must transmit for inspection her husband’s certificate of naturalization or a certified copy of the court record thereof, must state that she is the wife (or widow) of the person described therein, and must set forth the facts of his emigration, naturalization, and residence, as required in the rules governing the application of a naturalized citizen.

(A married woman’s citizenship follows that of her husband so far as her international status is concerned. It is essential, therefore, that a woman’s marital relations be indicated in her application for a passport, and that in the case of a married woman her husband’s citizenship be established.)

8. The child of a naturalized citizen claiming citizenship through the naturalization of the parent. In addition to the statements required by rule 3, the applicant must state that he or she is the son or daughter, as the case may be, of the person described in the certificate of naturalization, which must be submitted for inspection, and must set forth the facts of emigration, naturalization, and residence, as required in the rule governing the application of a naturalized citizen.

9. A resident of an insular possession of the United States who owes allegiance to the United States. In addition to the statements required by rule 3, he must state that he owes allegiance to the United States and that he does not acknowledge allegiance to any other government; and must submit affidavits from at least two credible witnesses having good means of knowledge in substantiation of his statements of birth, residence and loyalty.

10. Expiration of passport. A passport expires two years from the date of its issuance. A new one will be issued upon a new application, and, if the applicant be a naturalized citizen, the old passport will be accepted in lieu of a certificate of naturalization, if the application upon which it was issued is found to contain sufficient information as to the naturalization of the applicant. Passports are not renewed by the Department, but a person abroad holding a passport issued by the Department may have it renewed for a period of two years upon presenting it to a diplomatic or principal consular officer of the United States when it is about to expire.

11. Wife, minor children, and servants. When the applicant is accompanied by his wife, minor children, or servant who would be entitled to receive a passport, it will be sufficient to state the fact, giving the respective ages of the children and the allegiance of the servant, when one passport will suffice for all. For any other person in the party a separate passport will be required. A woman’s passport may include her minor children and servant under the above-named conditions.

(The term servant does not include a governess, tutor, pupil, companion, or person holding like relation to the applicant for a passport.)

12. Titles. Professional and other titles will not be inserted in passports.

13. Blank forms of applications. They will be furnished by the Department free of charge to persons who desire to apply for passports.

14. Address. Communications should be addressed to the Department of State, Bureau of Citizenship, and each communication should give the post-office address of the person to whom the answer is to be directed.

Section 4075 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, as amended by the Act of Congress approved June 14, 1902, provides that “the Secretary of State may grant and issue passports, and cause passports to be granted, issued and verified in foreign countries by such diplomatic or consular officers of the United States, and by such chief or other executive officer of the insular possessions of the United States, and under such rules as the President shall designate and prescribe for and on behalf of the United States.” The foregoing rules are accordingly prescribed for the granting and issuing of passports in the United States.

The Secretary of State is authorized to make regulations on the subject of issuing and granting passports additional to these rules and not inconsistent with them.

Woodrow Wilson

The White House,

November 13, 1914.

Note: An applicant who expects to go to Russia accompanied by wife and children should inform the Department to that effect and state the names of the wife and children so that they may be inserted in the passport, to conform with the Russian regulations.

1. But a person born in the United States in a place where births are recorded should submit a birth certificate with his application.