I 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 8234 
To authorize the Secretary of State to designate additional persons eligible 
to serve as passport acceptance agents, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 2, 2024 
Mr. MAST (for himself, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, and Ms. SALAZAR) 
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
Foreign Affairs 
A BILL 
To authorize the Secretary of State to designate additional 
persons eligible to serve as passport acceptance agents, 
and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY OF STATE TO DES-
IGNATE ADDITIONAL PERSONS ELIGIBLE TO 
SERVE AS PASSPORT ACCEPTANCE AGENTS. 
(a) AUTHORITY TO DESIGNATE.—The Secretary of 
State may designate any person described in subsection 
(b) that meets such other requirements as the Secretary 
may prescribe under regulations to serve as a passport ac-
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ceptance agent, unless the Secretary withdraws such au-
thorization on a case-by-case basis with respect to a given 
person. 
(b) AUTHORIZED PERSONS.—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 ap-
plications. 
(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 ap-
plications. 
(6) Any person commissioned or appointed as a 
notary or notary public or otherwise authorized to 
perform a notarization under the laws of a State or 
territorial government. 
(7) Any other person specifically designated by 
the Secretary. 
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(c) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of State shall pre-
scribe or revise such regulations as may be necessary to 
carry out this Act. 
SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENTS RELATING TO HAND-CARRY COU-
RIER SERVICES FOR PASSPORT APPLICA-
TIONS AND PASSPORTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall take 
such steps as may be necessary to— 
(1) facilitate an increase in the number of com-
panies certified to provide hand-carry courier serv-
ices; and 
(2) increase the daily maximum number of ap-
plications 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. 
(b) HAND-CARRY COURIER SERVICE DEFINED.—In 
this section, the term ‘‘hand-carry courier service’’ in-
cludes— 
(1) the transport of applications for United 
States passports to a passport agency of the Depart-
ment of State for processing; and 
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(2) the retrieval of newly issued United States 
passports for delivery, directly or indirectly, to the 
passport holder. 
SEC. 3. REVISION TO DATE OF EXPIRATION OF UNITED 
STATES PASSPORTS. 
The Secretary of State shall take such actions as may 
be necessary to provide for the date of expiration of each 
United States passport issued or renewed on or after the 
date that is 180 days after the date of the enactment of 
this Act to be the same date as the date of birth of the 
applicant or holder of the passport. 
Æ 
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