DOS Issues Proposed Rule on Passport Revocation
Posted Mar 18, 1999

The State Department has proposed a regulation setting forth new grounds for revoking a passport or a Consular Report of Birth. (For general information regarding Consular Reports of Birth, see article in the February 1999 Bulletin of the Law Office of Sheela Murthy.) The proposed rule states that if a person has obtained the above document by fraud or misrepresentation, or in error, the Department of State reserves the right to revoke such a document. It also provides for cancellation of the U.S. passport when a person has been denaturalized. Please keep in mind that a person can be denaturalized under certain circumstances, such as voluntarily relinquishing U.S. citizenship or if it is revealed that a person committed fraud in obtaining U.S. permanent resident status or citizenship etc. In addition, new procedures are proposed for appeals of actions taken to revoke a U.S. passport.

The Law Office of Sheela Murthy will provide an update when we have information about the final regulations. Please keep in mind that these are proposed rules only at this time. We will keep you posted of further developments.