Title 22 — Foreign Relations and IntercourseRelease 119-73

§4202 Exaction of excessive fees for verification of invoices; penalty

Title 22 › Chapter CHAPTER 52— - FOREIGN SERVICE › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER XIV— - POWERS, DUTIES AND LIABILITIES OF CONSULAR OFFICERS GENERALLY › § 4202

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

The fee set by law for a consular officer to verify invoices must cover the blank declaration forms the shipper signs and the consular officer’s work in preparing, signing, and sealing the certificate. If a consular officer charges more than that fee, demands or accepts extra payments for official services, or lets a clerk take extra money, they can be jailed for not more than one year, fined not more than $2,000, and removed from office.

Full Legal Text

Title 22, §4202

Foreign Relations and Intercourse — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

The fee provided by law for the verification of invoices by consular officers shall, when paid, be held to be a full payment for furnishing blank forms of declaration to be signed by the shipper, and for making, signing, and sealing the certificate of the consular officer thereto; and any consular officer who, under pretense of charging for blank forms, advice, or clerical services in the preparation of such declaration or certificate, charges or receives any fee greater in amount than that provided by law for the verification of invoices, or who demands or receives for any official services, or who allows any clerk or subordinate to receive for any such service, any fee or reward other than the fee provided by law for such service, shall be punishable by imprisonment for not more than one year, or by a fine of not more than $2,000, and shall be removed from his office.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification R.S. § 1716 derived from act Mar. 3, 1869, ch. 125, § 3, 15 Stat. 321. Section was not enacted as part of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 which comprises this chapter. Section was formerly classified to section 1182 of this title, and prior thereto to section 85 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

22 U.S.C. § 4202

Title 22 — Foreign Relations and Intercourse

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73