Evening star., 1926-12-12

Two months trial of the new pass
mort regulations of the Department OF
state. whereby American consular Of
ficers are issuing passports to Ameri'
can citizens in foreign countries. point
to their success and value. Under the
old system Americans had to nle tnelr
applications at consular omces, put
the actual issuance of the passports
was in Washington. This resulted IN
yexatious delays. Not 1nfrequently
the delays worked actual nardsnlps
upon the applicants.
Now the travelling American, or one
temporarily resident In another coun-
try. if he needs a new passport Tor any
reason. gets it Immediately upon filing
his application at an authorized con-
sular office, II he is entitled to 1t under
the law.
The change was made possible DE
the act of Congress OF July 3, 1870.
Not all conslils are authorized TO issue
passports. The law leaves 1t to the
discretion of the Secretary of State
to designate those who may exercise
this authority, but a large number
have been so esignated-suf1icient to
care for the needs Of Americans In all
parts Of the world.
It ds not known the exact number
of passports that have been issued
under the new system, as the hgures
have not been segregated as yet.
From January to November, inclusive,
of the current year, however, a totai
of 1877 .6O2 passports were issued, lndl-
eating a probable issue of more than
ITS 900 for 1926. This total compares
with 1909 for 1925 and 146,37S for
1924, and the increase over last year
especially may be indicative OF a
speeding up incident to the new regu-
lations.
Not all Americans can get passports
at consulates, any more than all con-
sular officers can issue them. Those
who benefit by the speeded-up service
must be indubitably entitled to TINS
governmental favor, and they are list
ed in four classes. There are five
classes of Americans who must wait
until their applications have been for
warCied to Washington and approved
there.
The Preferred Classes of Citizens.
The preferred classes are: Native
citizens to whom departmental pass
ports have been issued or who nave
been included in departmental pass
ports subsequent to January 3, 1918,
or who. subsequent to October /, 1926,
are identified by service passports Is.
sued to or including them; native ana
uaturalized citizens whose regiStrat1o
at q consulate IL valid at the time
when the application is filed and has
received the approval or the Depart
ment; naturaliZed citizens TO Whom
departmental passports have been ls-
sued. or who have been included In
such passports. subsequent to Jahu-
ary 8. 1918, and against whom the
presumption Of expatriation under
the law Of 1907 has not arisen, and c1t1-
zens not included in the foregoing
three groups, in certain emergency
cases, but the emergency must De
very real and clearly established.
The five classes who are required to
file their applications and await actlon
in Washington, as under the Old sys-
tenn, are clearly defined In the reguia'
tions, but they include everybody who
thinks he is entitled to an American
passport, but who cannot qualify In
any one of the four preferred groups.
In these cases the consular ofncer Tor
wards to the State Department, along
with the applications, full explana-
tions of the reasons he has refused to
approve the issue OF or to issue serV'
ice passports. A consular oficer is
not authorized to make a f1nal re1usai
disposing of an application, that au-
UCIIiB fcSlCo oiiS AAA ~"S
retary OF State.
The new regulations have made no
change in the rules under which the
eligibility of an applicant for a pass
port is established. Some Americans
think there Is needless red tape about
the procedure they must go through
In order to get their Government
credentials which enable them to
travel abroad, and some even object to
the necessity OF getting passports.
But the rules are necessary under the
law. A passport IL required before
an American can enter certain Tor
eign countries. and an American who
ever gets in a jam abroad will be ex-
ceedingly glad he has documentary
evidence of his citizenship.
Most of the objections that are
heard, however, are to the visa fees
that must be paid in order to travel
in certain countries. These fees, 1t
should he remembered. are fixed by
the laws of those countries They
vary from so cents for Monaco. which
Is visited by most speculativelyI in
clined Americans and some sightseers,
to $40 for a number of countries. and
it is estimated that visas cost the
xesArnsricsn traYeler &2oa IN ad-