22 U.S.C. § 4202
Section 4202 · Exaction of excessive fees for verification of invoices; penalty
Applied in 2 court decisions — leading case Snyder v. United States (2024)
Most recently applied in Snyder v. United States (June 2024)
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.
The fee provided by law for the verification of invoices by consular officers shall, when paid, be held to be a full payment for furnishing blank forms of declaration to be signed by the shipper, and for making, signing, and sealing the certificate of the consular officer thereto; and any consular officer who, under pretense of charging for blank forms, advice, or clerical services in the preparation of such declaration or certificate, charges or receives any fee greater in amount than that provided by law for the verification of invoices, or who demands or receives for any official services, or who allows any clerk or subordinate to receive for any such service, any fee or reward other than the fee provided by law for such service, shall be punishable by imprisonment for not more than one year, or by a fine of not more than $2,000, and shall be removed from his office.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Codification
R.S. §1716 derived from act Mar. 3, 1869, ch. 125, §3, 15 Stat. 321.
Section was not enacted as part of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 which comprises this chapter.
Section was formerly classified to section 1182 of this title, and prior thereto to section 85 of this title.
Cross References
Refunding excessive fees, with a penalty for the collection thereof, see section 4209 of this title.