UNCLASSIFIED (U)

8 FAM 103
Responsibilities

8 FAM 103.1

Responsibilities

(CT:CITZ-79;   08-25-2022)
(Office of Origin: CA/PPT/S/A)

8 FAM 103.1-1  Responsibilities of the Passport Specialist and Consular Officer

(CT:CITZ-1;   06-27-2018)

a. This section is a summary of your adjudicative responsibilities and is not all-inclusive.  Your full adjudicative responsibilities are provided in this and other sections of the 8 FAM, the 8 FAH-1, guides, and other guidance.

(1)  Consular officers receive additional responsibilities in their work requirements and via ALDACs; and

(2)  Passport specialists receive additional responsibilities in their work commitments in the individual performance plan, via memoranda to the field from CA/PPT headquarters or regional/local management, and from other duties as assigned.

b. You must follow established adjudication and annotation procedures to ensure that the passport application and submitted documents are legible, accurate, and complete.  The submitted documents must be issued and certified by the appropriate custodian of records, e.g., a government agency or court that issued and maintains the record.

c.  You must issue the passport application if the applicant is entitled to the passport, has met the standard of evidence for both identity and citizenship, the passport application is acceptable in its totality, and there are no other barriers to issuance.

d. You must ensure that the passport application is acceptable in its totality and resolve any outstanding issues by adjudicating the passport application to the extent possible and then suspending or referring, as appropriate, the passport application until adequate information and/or documentation is obtained.

8 FAM 103.1-2  Fraud Awareness

(CT:CITZ-1;   06-27-2018)

a. You must ensure the submitted documents are genuine and unaltered, following established anti-fraud procedures.

b. You must be alert for fraud indicators (see 8 FAM 200, "Fraud Prevention").

c.  You must use appropriate resources to verify facts and develop fraud cases.

8 FAM 103.1-3  Citizenship Adjudication

(CT:CITZ-79;   08-25-2022)

a. You must follow established adjudication policies and procedures; use adjudicative logic and discretion; and research and use appropriate resources to ensure that the standard of evidence for citizenship is met.

b. You must ensure that the submitted documents fulfill the criteria for acceptable primary or secondary evidence of citizenship provided in 8 FAM 300, "U.S. Citizenship and Nationality."

c.  You must ensure that the applicant has not lost their citizenship (see 7 FAM 1200, “Loss and Restoration of U.S. Citizenship”) and that there are no other barriers to acquisition of citizenship, e.g., children of foreign mission members.

8 FAM 103.1-4  Identity Adjudication

(CT:CITZ-79;   08-25-2022)

a. You must follow established adjudication policies and procedures; use adjudicative logic and discretion; and research and use appropriate resources to ensure that the preponderance of the evidence of evidence for identity is met (see 8 FAM 401 "Identity").

(1)  The applicant has the burden of establishing their identity; and

(2)  You may require additional evidence of identity in accordance with Department guidelines (see 8 FAM 803.4, "Denial for Failure to Establish Identity").

b. You must ensure that all biometric checks are conducted in accordance with 8 FAM 402, "Biometrics."

c.  You must ensure that personally identifiable information changes and discrepancies are resolved in accordance with 8 FAM 403, "Personally Identifiable Information."

8 FAM 103.1-5  (U) Entitlement Adjudication

(CT:CITZ-1;   06-27-2018)

You must ensure that the applicant is entitled to a passport or Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA):

(1)  You must address and resolve all namechecks (see 8 FAM 501, "Name Checks;"

(2)  You must ensure that there is appropriate parental consent before approving a passport for a minor under the age of 16, and appropriate parental consent to issuance for minors over the age of 16 (see 8 FAM 502, "Minors;"

(3)  You must ensure that the applicant is entitled to the type and validity of the passport requested or the CRBA (see 8 FAM 503, "Special Issuance Passports," 8 FAM 504, "Second Passports," 8 FAM 505, "Limited Validity Passports and Passport Endorsements" and 8 FAM 506, "Entitlement to a CRBA."

8 FAM 103.1-6  Management and Internal Controls

(CT:CITZ-1;   06-27-2018)

a. Consular officers must follow all consular management controls (see 7 FAH-1 H-640, “Management Controls for Consular Operations at Overseas Posts”).

b. Passport specialists must follow all applicable passport management controls (see 8 FAH-1 H-640, “Management Controls for Passport Operations”) and the internal controls procedures in the Internal Controls Guide for Employees (ICG).

c.  All employees are required to safeguard the privacy rights of passport applicants (see 8 FAM 1201, "Authorized Access to Electronic Passport Records" and 8 FAM 1202, "Reporting Policy for Incidents of Unauthorized Access to Electronic Passport Records").

d. You must ensure that the appropriate fees have been collected and recorded on the passport application (see 8 FAM 602.2, "Passport Fees").

8 FAM 103.1-7  Customer Service

(CT:CITZ-1;   06-27-2018)

a. You must conduct in-person interviews courteously and professionally at the public counter or window and determine appropriate service (see 8 FAM 600, "Pre-Adjudication Processing and Acceptance of Applications").

b. You must conduct any telephone or email exchanges courteously and professionally as you provide, clarify, or request additional information.  For example, you may be assigned to contact customers who are in unusual circumstances to clarify previously-sent correspondence.

c.  You must draft and/or provide appropriate reasoning for denial letters to passport applicants for the signature of the passport agency/center director or designee or consular section chief at post (see 8 FAM 802.1, "Issuance, Denial, or Withdrawal in Writing").

d. Passport specialists must provide timely and efficient customer service by selecting appropriate Information Request Letters only as needed that remove the impediment(s) to issuance or draft supplemental language for IRLs in unusual circumstances on a case-by-case basis (see 8 FAM 801.2, "Information Request Letters and Information Notices").

UNCLASSIFIED (U)