§213a — Title 22 Foreign Relations and Intercourse | U.S. Code

Summary

The Secretary may appoint people to act as passport acceptance agents if they meet rules the Secretary sets, and can take that role away from any person. Those who can be appointed include court clerk employees, workers at selected post offices, DoD or other federal employees at authorized sites, U.S. notaries who work for reputable companies, and anyone else the Secretary names; the Secretary must make or update rules to do this.

Title 22, §213a

Foreign Relations and Intercourse — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Secretary may designate any person described in subsection (b) that meets such other requirements as the Secretary may prescribe pursuant to regulations to serve as a passport acceptance agent, unless the Secretary withdraws such authorization on a case-by-case basis with respect to a given person.

(b)A person described in this subsection is any of the following:

(1)An employee of the clerk of any Federal court.

(2)An employee of the clerk of any State court of record.

(3)A postal employee at a United States post office that has been selected to accept passport applications.

(4)An employee of the Department of Defense at a military installation that has been authorized to accept passport applications.

(5)An employee of a Federal department or agency that has been selected to accept passport applications.

(6)A United States citizen who, as determined by the Secretary, is employed by and provides services through a reputable, established company or institution and is commissioned or appointed as a notary or notary public or otherwise authorized to perform a notarization under the laws of a State, district, or territorial government.

(7)Any other person specifically designated by the Secretary.

(c)The Secretary shall prescribe or revise such regulations as may be necessary to carry out this division.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

This division, referred to in subsec. (c), is div. F of Pub. L. 118–31, Dec. 22, 2023, 137 Stat. 963, known as the Department of State Authorization Act of 2023. For complete classification of div. F to the Code, see Tables.

Amendments

2024—Subsec. (b)(6), (7). Pub. L. 118–159 added par. (6) and redesignated former par. (6) as (7).

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Definition For definition of “Secretary” as used in this section, see section 6002 of Pub. L. 118–31, set out as a note under section 2651 of this title.

§213a Authority to designate additional passport acceptance agents