22 U.S.C. § 212
Section 212 · Persons entitled to passport
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 14 court decisions — leading case Haig v. Agee (1981)
Most recently applied in Lavalle Cervantes v. International Hospitality Associates, S. en C. (SE) (May 2016)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
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.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Codification
R.S. §4076 derived from act May 30, 1866, ch. 102, 14 Stat. 54.
Amendments
1902—Act June 14, 1902, substituted “those owing allegiance, whether citizens or not, to the United States” for “citizens of the United States”.
Cross References
Aliens excluded from admission to United States, see section 1182 of Title 8, Aliens and Nationality.