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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 243 / Wednesday, December 22, 2021 / Rules and Regulations ACTION:

Final rule.

Pursuant to Department regulations, the renewal of a U.S.
passport must meet certain requirements to qualify for submission of an application by mail. The Department will now provide qualified applicants the option of submitting renewal applications by mail or on-line via the Departments official website.
This amendment will provide more flexibility for the renewal applicant, will improve the customer experience, and eliminate the added burden, time, and cost to the customer by providing the on-line option as an alternative to the mail in process.
DATES: This final rule is effective on December 23, 2021.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Kelly Cullum, Office of Adjudication, Passport Services, 202 4858800, or email PassportOfficeofAdjudicationGeneral@
state.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department published a proposed rule, Public Notice 11457 at 86 FR 43458, August 9, 2021 the NPRM, with a request for comments to amend 22 CFR
51.21b, b2, b3; and 51.8a, b, c, and d to allow eligible applicants the option to apply on-line via the Online Passport Renewal OPR system.
Applicants must meet all of the eligibility requirements for using OPR or will be referred to the paper application process. Applicants using OPR will enter their application information and upload their photos directly into the OPR system and submit their payment through pay.gov. This process will improve efficiency and accessibility by offering online verification of renewal eligibility, electronic photo upload, and electronic payment. Applications received through OPR will automatically enter review queues at the passport agency, thus eliminating the physical application and processing at the Lockbox. The new OPR system will improve the customer experience, reduce operational and maintenance costs, and focus on data quality, protection, and traceability. The first release of the OPR system will be limited in its release and apply to persons in the United States who are submitting an application in the same name, gender marker, date of birth, and place of birth as the most recently issued passport of the same type with the intent that future releases will permit changes and be used by persons applying abroad.
The rule was discussed in detail in Public Notice 11457, as were the
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Departments reasons for the other changes to the regulations. The Department is now promulgating a final rule with minor changes from the proposed rule and no substantive change.
Analysis of Comments: The Department provided 60 days for comment on the NPRM. The comment period closed October 8, 2021.
The Department received twelve responsive comments, none of which were opposed to this amendment.
Several commenters noted their concerns about possible identity theft and insisted on the use of the latest technology to protect applicants. Online passport applications are subject to the same rigorous protection of personally identifiable information PII as physical applications. The Department processes passport applications, whether mailed or submitted online, on controlled workstations accessed by authorized employees only. The rollout of the OPR
system is compliant with the Departments policy 5 FAM 772.1 in that encryption and digital certificates must be integrated into the applications to the greatest extent possible.
Two commenters also requested that online payment be acceptable and specifically, that it include use of credit cards. As noted in the proposed rule, applicants using the OPR will submit payment through pay.gov which already accepts credit cards.
Two commenters discussed the need for online submission of supporting documents or using existing information in U.S. government databases to verify citizenship. They noted the difficulty of sending original vital records and naturalization certificates. As discussed in the proposed rule, eligible OPR users will upload applications and photos directly to the system eliminating the need for paper-based applications.
Adults renewing passports who are eligible to use OPR generally do not need to submit supporting documentation because the issuance of a prior passport serves as citizenship evidence. In most cases prior passport issuance information is already available in adjudication systems. The Department coordinates with federal agencies such as USCIS as well as vital records offices to protect the integrity of the passport application process, verify citizenship documentation, and confirm entitlement to a U.S. passport. Passport Services modernization efforts include online document verification.
One commenter requested that the Department make OPR available for first-time applicants and another requested it be available for applicants located outside the United States. As
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defined in 22 CFR 51.21a, first-time applicants who by statute, 22 U.S.C.
213, are required to verify their application by an in person oath, applicants who have never been issued a passport in his or her own name, applicants who have not been issued a passport for the full validity period of 10 years within 15 years of the date of a new application, and minors under the age of 16 must apply for a passport by appearing in person before a passport agent or passport acceptance agent. The applicant must verify the application by oath or affirmation before the passport agent or passport acceptance agent, sign the completed application, provide photographs and any other information or documents as prescribed or requested by the Department. These requirements cannot be addressed through OPR. As noted in the draft rule, the first release of the OPR system will apply to persons in the United States, with the intent for future releases applying to persons abroad.
One commenter stated that applicants requesting a change in gender marker and those identifying as any gender besides male or female should be ineligible for OPR due to fraud concerns. The Department takes fraud very seriously and reviews all passport applications for possible fraud.
Adjudicators receive extensive fraud training and utilize facial recognition technology and social security and birth information data verification to detect fraud, regardless of the method of application. Thus, while the Department appreciates the commenters concern, it does not believe that the possibility of someone successfully committing fraud would be any greater after OPR is operational.
Regarding gender markers and other changes that an applicant might wish to make to their information, the proposed regulatory text proposed section 51.21biii provided that the first release of the OPR system will require that the application be submitted in the same name, sex i.e., gender marker, date of birth, and place of birth as the most recently issued passport of the same type with the intent that future releases will permit changes. This text was removed from the text of the final rule because the Department determined that it is more appropriate for a statement of policy in the preamble and is not regulatory text. It does, however, reflect the limitation on the first release of the OPR system, but not Department policy for future releases.
While supportive of OPR, several commenters noted the continued need for the Department to reduce service times and paperwork and the
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