22 U.S.C. § 212b — Unique passport identifiers for covered

Page 11 TITLE 22—FOREIGN RELATIONS AND INTERCOURSE § 212b By virtue of the authority vested in me by Section 301 of Title 3 of the United States Code, and as Presi- dent of the United States, it is ordered as follows: SECTION 1. Delegation of authority. The Secretary of State is hereby designated and empowered to exercise, without the approval, ratification, or other action of the President, the authority conferred upon the Presi- dent by the first section of the Act of July 3, 1926 (22 U.S.C. 211a), to designate and prescribe for and on be- half of the United States rules governing the granting, issuing, and verifying of passports. SEC. 2. Superseded orders. Subject to Section 3 of this order, the following are hereby superseded: (1) Executive Order No. 7856 of March 31, 1938, entitled ‘‘Rules Governing the Granting and Issuing of Pass- ports in the United States.’’ (2) Executive Order No. 8820 of July 11, 1941, entitled ‘‘Amending the Foreign Service Regulations of the United States.’’ SEC. 3. Saving provisions. All rules and regulations contained in the Executive order provisions revoked by Section 2 of this order, and all rules and regulations issued under the authority of those provisions, which are in force at the time of the issuance of this order shall remain in full force and effect until revoked, or except as they may be hereafter amended or modified, in pursuance of the authority conferred by this order, unless sooner terminated by operation of law. LYNDON B. JOHNSON. § 212. Persons entitled to passport No passport shall be granted or issued to or verified for any other persons than those owing allegiance, whether citizens or not, to the United States. (R.S. § 4076; June 14, 1902, ch. 1088, § 2, 32 Stat. 386.) Editorial Notes CODIFICATION R.S. § 4076 derived from act May 30, 1866, ch. 102, 14 Stat. 54. AMENDMENTS 1902—Act June 14, 1902, substituted ‘‘those owing alle- giance, whether citizens or not, to the United States’’ for ‘‘citizens of the United States’’. § 212a. Restriction of passports for sex tourism (a) In general Following any conviction of an individual for a violation of section 2423 of title 18, the Attor- ney General shall notify in a timely manner— (1) the Secretary of State for appropriate ac- tion under subsection (b); and (2) the Secretary of Homeland Security for appropriate action under the Immigration and Nationality Act [8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.]. (b) Authority to restrict passport (1) Ineligibility for passport (A) In general The Secretary of State shall not issue a passport or passport card to an individual who is convicted of a violation of section 2423 of title 18 during the covered period if the individual used a passport or passport card or otherwise crossed an international border in committing the offense. (B) Passport revocation The Secretary of State shall revoke a pass- port or passport card previously issued to an individual described in subparagraph (A). (2) Exceptions (A) Emergency and humanitarian situations Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the Sec- retary of State may issue a passport or pass- port card, in emergency circumstances or for humanitarian reasons, to an individual de- scribed in paragraph (1)(A). (B) Limitation for return to United States Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the Sec- retary of State may, prior to revocation, limit a previously issued passport or pass- port card only for return travel to the United States, or may issue a limited pass- port or passport card that only permits re- turn travel to the United States. (3) Definitions In this subsection— (A) the term ‘‘covered period’’ means the period beginning on the date on which an in- dividual is convicted of a violation of section 2423 of title 18 and ending on the later of— (i) the date on which the individual is re- leased from a sentence of imprisonment re- lating to the offense; and (ii) the end of a period of parole or other supervised release of the covered indi- vidual relating to the offense; and (B) the term ‘‘imprisonment’’ means being confined in or otherwise restricted to a jail, prison, half-way house, treatment facility, or another institution, on a full or part-time basis, pursuant to the sentence imposed as the result of a criminal conviction. (Pub. L. 110–457, title II, § 236, Dec. 23, 2008, 122 Stat. 5082.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT The Immigration and Nationality Act, referred to in subsec. (a)(2), is act June 27, 1952, ch. 477, 66 Stat. 163, which is classified principally to chapter 12 (§ 1101 et seq.) of Title 8, Aliens and Nationality. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 1101 of Title 8 and Tables. § 212b. Unique passport identifiers for covered sex offenders (a) In general Immediately after receiving a written deter- mination from the Angel Watch Center that an individual is a covered sex offender, through the process developed for that purpose under section 21507 of title 34, the Secretary of State shall take appropriate action under subsection (b). (b) Authority to use unique passport identifiers (1) In general Except as provided under paragraph (2), the Secretary of State shall not issue a passport to a covered sex offender unless the passport contains a unique identifier, and may revoke a passport previously issued without such an identifier of a covered sex offender. (2) Authority to reissue Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the Sec- retary of State may reissue a passport that Page 12 TITLE 22—FOREIGN RELATIONS AND INTERCOURSE § 213 does not include a unique identifier if an indi- vidual described in subsection (a) reapplies for a passport and the Angel Watch Center pro- vides a written determination, through the process developed for that purpose under sec- tion 21507 of title 34, to the Secretary of State that the individual is no longer required to register as a covered sex offender. (3) Clarification with respect to continuing registration An individual may not be issued or reissued a passport without a unique identifier solely because the individual has moved or otherwise resides outside the United States. (c) Defined terms In this section— (1) the term ‘‘covered sex offender’’ means an individual who— (A) is a sex offender, as defined in section 21503(f) of title 34; and (B) is currently required to register under the sex offender registration program of any jurisdiction; (2) the term ‘‘unique identifier’’ means any visual designation affixed to a conspicuous lo- cation on the passport indicating that the in- dividual is a covered sex offender; and (3) the term ‘‘passport’’ means a passport book or passport card. (d) Prohibition The Secretary of State, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Attorney General, and their agencies, officers, employees, and agents, shall not be liable to any person for any action taken under this section. (e) Disclosure In furtherance of this section, the Secretary of State may require a passport applicant to dis- close that they are a registered sex offender. (f) Effective date This section shall take effect upon certifi- cation by the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Attorney Gen- eral, that the process developed and reported to the appropriate congressional committees under section 21507 of title 34 has been successfully im- plemented. (Pub. L. 110–457, title II, § 240, as added Pub. L. 114–119, § 8, Feb. 8, 2016, 130 Stat. 24; amended Pub. L. 117–347, title III, § 323(b), Jan. 5, 2023, 136 Stat. 6207.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 2023—Subsec. (b)(3). Pub. L. 117–347 added par. (3). § 213. Application for passport; verification by oath of initial passport Before a passport is issued to any person by or under authority of the United States such per- son shall subscribe to and submit a written ap- plication which shall contain a true recital of each and every matter of fact which may be re- quired by law or by any rules authorized by law to be stated as a prerequisite to the issuance of any such passport. If the applicant has not pre- viously been issued a United States passport, the application shall be duly verified by his oath before a person authorized and empowered by the Secretary of State to administer oaths. Each passport application made available to po- tential applicants (DS–11) and each passport re- newal application made available to current passport holders (DS–82) shall include a form that, if completed, indicates the applicant’s con- sent to the disclosure of information otherwise protected under section 552a of title 5 (com- monly known as the ‘‘Privacy Act of 1974’’) in the event such applicant is determined to be wrongfully detained by a foreign government. Declining to complete such form shall not affect the issuance of a passport to a qualified appli- cant or diplomatic efforts to secure the release of a United States national from the custody of a foreign government or entity. (June 15, 1917, ch. 30, title IX, § 1, 40 Stat. 227; Pub. L. 90–428, § 3, July 26, 1968, 82 Stat. 446; Pub. L. 118–159, div. G, title LXXVII, § 7706(b), Dec. 23, 2024, 138 Stat. 2555.) Editorial Notes CODIFICATION Second sentence of act June 15, 1917, which related to fees for taking application for passport, was omitted as superseded by sections 214 to 217a of this title. AMENDMENTS 2024—Pub. L. 118–159 inserted at end ‘‘Each passport application made available to potential applicants (DS–11) and each passport renewal application made available to current passport holders (DS–82) shall in- clude a form that, if completed, indicates the appli- cant’s consent to the disclosure of information other- wise protected under section 552a of title 5 (commonly known as the ‘Privacy Act of 1974’) in the event such applicant is determined to be wrongfully detained by a foreign government. Declining to complete such form shall not affect the issuance of a passport to a qualified applicant or diplomatic efforts to secure the release of a United States national from the custody of a foreign government or entity.’’ 1968—Pub. L. 90–428 substituted provisions requiring that the initial passport application be duly verified under oath before a person authorized and empowered by the Secretary of State to administer oaths for provi- sions requiring that each passport application be duly verified under oath before a person authorized and em- powered to administer oaths. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1968 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 90–428 effective on thirtieth day following July 26, 1968, see section 4 of Pub. L. 90–428, set out as a note under section 217a of this title. IMPROVEMENTS RELATED TO HAND-CARRY COURIER SERVICES FOR PASSPORT APPLICATIONS AND PASSPORTS Pub. L. 118–159, div. G, title LXXV, § 7507(b), Dec. 23, 2024, 138 Stat. 2547, provided that: ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary [of State] shall take such steps as may be necessary to— ‘‘(A) facilitate an increase in the number of compa- nies certified to provide hand-carry courier services; ‘‘(B) increase the daily maximum number of appli- cations for United States passports, by type, that such companies may submit to a passport agency of the Department [of State] (commonly referred to as ‘meeting slots’) as part of the hand-carry courier services of such company; and