Sponsors
The bill clarifies and expands passport notations to better identify non-citizen U.S. nationals and ease access in some contexts, but it risks creating confusion or legal ambiguity about citizenship status and imposes modest administrative costs to implement.
Non-citizen U.S. nationals (for example, people from American Samoa) will be able to obtain passports that explicitly recognize their 'national but not a citizen' status, improving the accuracy of travel documentation and proof of nationality for those individuals.
Nationals residing in States or covered territories may request passports identifying them as both 'national' and 'citizen,' making it easier for those individuals to use passports as proof of citizenship where institutions or service providers expect a 'citizen' notation.
Clarifying statutory headings and the table of contents reduces administrative confusion for the Department of State and passport applicants, improving implementation and paperwork clarity.
Non-citizen U.S. nationals could face confusion or inconsistent treatment at U.S. border checkpoints, by foreign governments, or by private carriers if passports explicitly label them 'national but not a citizen.'
Allowing passports to be marked as both 'national' and 'citizen' for some holders may create legal ambiguity about an individual's citizenship status and lead to inconsistent evidentiary value of passports in administrative or legal contexts.
Repealing 8 U.S.C. 1436 could require changes to statutes, forms, and internal procedures, producing transitional implementation costs and administrative burden for the State Department.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires passports for U.S. non-citizen nationals and allows passports to be labeled either "national, but not a citizen" or, in certain cases on request, "national and citizen."
Introduced November 19, 2025 by Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen · Last progress November 19, 2025
Requires the Secretary of State to issue U.S. passports to people who are U.S. nationals but not U.S. citizens when they provide satisfactory proof of that status. It permits two passport labeling options: a passport that identifies the holder as a "national, but not a citizen," or, for applicants living in a State or in certain territories, a passport that identifies the person as both a "national and a citizen" if the applicant signs a written request. The bill also updates the statutory wording for passport procedures and repeals a separate statutory provision (8 U.S.C. 1436).