Letter to Secretary of State Regarding Refusal to Issue Passport

To: The Honorable Secretary of State

From: _________________________
Date: June 9, 2026

Subject: Statutory Distinction Between Passport “Subscribers” and “Applicants” Under 22 U.S.C. §§ 212 and 213

Introduction

An analysis of the United States Code reveals a precise, dual-track architecture governing the issuance of travel documents by the Department of State.

While administrative practice often collapses the terms “subscriber” and “applicant” into a single category, 22 U.S.C. §§ 212 and 213 maintain an intentional statutory separation. By isolating these provisions alongside the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. § 552a) and the Neutrality Act of 1939 (22 U.S.C. § 456(f)), a clear legal framework emerges: the Department is authorized to process both a general class of “passport” for those owing temporary allegiance, and a particular class of “United States passport” reserved exclusively for citizens who owe permanent allegiance called a citizen of the United States as termed in 5 U.S.C. § 552a.

1. The General Class: The “Subscriber” and Temporary Allegiance

The foundational boundaries for all passport issuances are established in 22 U.S.C. § 212, which dictates:

“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.”

By explicitly including the phrase “whether citizens or not,” the law decouples the issuance of a passport from strict citizen of the United States, grounding eligibility purely in the concept of allegiance. Under the law of nations, allegiance is dual-faceted, consisting of permanent allegiance and temporary (local) allegiance—the latter being owed by an alien, as defined by the writers on the law of nations, while physically present within the territorial jurisdiction of the sovereign, Furthermore, 22 U.S.C. § 456(f) defines a “citizen” broadly as “any individual owing allegiance to the United States.” Taken together, those owing temporary allegiance (whether characterized as a law-of-nations alien or a Neutrality Act citizen) meet the baseline requirement of § 212.

When such a person interacts with the Department, their role is strictly governed by the first sentence of 22 U.S.C. § 213:

“Before a passport is issued to any person… such person shall subscribe to and submit a written application…”

1.1. The DS-11 is an application for passport.

The application (such as the form DS-11) is a government instrument created and owned by the Secretary of State; it is a federal record, not the private property of the individual, even though it contains private information.

Therefore, the private person executing it does not “own” the application.

It is is incorrect for the government to say “you can chech your applicaton” it is more correct to say you can check the processing of the application.

1.2. The Private Subscriber

A person owing tempoaray allegiance with in the United States has an abode in a real and substantial sence. They are legally a subscriber—one who signs and submits a state-owned instrument to fulfill an administrative prerequisite. Because their allegiance is temporary, their legal status terminates here; they do not reach the heightened statutory tier of an “applicant.”

2. The Particular Class: The “Applicant” and Citizen of the United States.

The statutory text shifts decisively in the second and third sentences of 22 U.S.C. § 213. Here, the law introduces a specific document—the “United States passport”—and attaches a new legal status to the individual: “the applicant.”

As expressly provided in 22 USC 213, this particular class is explicitly bound to the protections of the Privacy Act of 1974. Section 213 mandates that forms DS-11 and DS-82 include a waiver indicating consent to disclose information otherwise protected under 5 U.S.C. § 552a. Crucially, § 552a(a)(2) defines the protected “individual” strictly as:

“…a citizen of the United States or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence.”

Because an “applicant” under this portion of § 213 triggers the specific statutory machinery of the Privacy Act, the person filling this role must qualify as an “individual” under 5 U.S.C. § 552a(a)(2). Thus, the “applicant” for a United States passport is textually locked into the category of a citizen of the United States owing permanent allegiance( see: U.S. v Wong Kim Ark(1898), Erie v Thompkins(1938))

3. The Total Disqualification of the Non-Allegiance Alien

This statutory architecture leaves an entirely separate class of individuals completely outside the realm of Department of State travel documents.

An alien who owes zero allegiance to the United States (such as a standard alien defined under external frameworks like the Immigration and Nationality Act) fails the absolute threshold command of 22 U.S.C. § 212.

Because they owe no allegiance, they cannot act as a “subscriber” under the first sentence of § 213, nor do they qualify as an “individual” under the Privacy Act to become an “applicant” for a United States passport. They are completely disqualified from receiving any passport document.

Conclusion

For the Secretary of State, recognizing this statutory division is vital to maintaining the precise execution of federal law. The code provides a clear hierarchy:

• The Subscriber: Executes a government instrument and its application to receive a general passport based on temporary allegiance.
• The Applicant: Exercises a specific statutory right to a United States passport and Privacy Act protections based on permanent allegiance to the United States under 5 USC 552(a)(2).

By maintaining these distinct boundaries, the Department properly aligns its administrative forms and issuances with the strict mandates of federal law.

Declaration of Intent

With the above in mind:

1. It is my intent that at birth and remaining thereafter my home is my abode in a real and substantual sence.
2. It is my intention, beginning at birth and remaining continuously thereafter, to owe only a temporary allegiance to the United States.
3. It was and is my intention that the application is a government instrument belonging entirely to the United States.
4. It is my intention to be only a subscriber as described in 22 USC 213 and not and never an “applicant.”

NOTICE AND DEMAND

Where is the passport, the Secretary took considerarion, now please provide the passport.

Respect,

John Doe