Daily AncestorEmergency passport application
An emergency passport application was made abroad to a U.S. diplomat or consul for a six-month passport, from 1874 until a 1926 law ended them.
Emergency passports were issued by diplomatic and consular officials abroad and were valid for only six months. Most applicants wanted one for identification. Issuance began in 1874 and stopped under an act of July 3, 1926.
The applications are rich. They give birth date and place, occupation, permanent U.S. residence, when the person left the U.S., where they were living abroad and how long they meant to stay. Naturalized citizens also gave the date and ship of immigration and the court and date of naturalization. Applications for 1874 to 1876 no longer exist.
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Daily Ancestor. "Emergency passport application." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/immigration/emergency-passport-application. Last checked 2026-10-12.