22 CFR § 42.2 - Aliens not required to present passports.

---
identifier: "/us/cfr/t22/s42.2"
source: "ecfr"
legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"
title: "22 CFR § 42.2 - Aliens not required to present passports."
title_number: 22
title_name: "Foreign Relations"
section_number: "42.2"
section_name: "Aliens not required to present passports."
chapter_name: "DEPARTMENT OF STATE"
subchapter_number: "E"
subchapter_name: "VISAS"
part_number: "42"
part_name: "VISAS: DOCUMENTATION OF IMMIGRANTS UNDER THE IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY ACT, AS AMENDED"
positive_law: false
currency: "2026-04-05"
last_updated: "2026-04-05"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
authority: "8 U.S.C. 1104 and 1182; Pub. L. 105-277, 112 Stat. 2681; Pub. L. 108-449, 118 Stat. 3469; The Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (done at the Hague, May 29, 1993), S. Treaty Doc. 105-51 (1998), 1870 U.N.T.S. 167 (Reg. No. 31922 (1993)); 42 U.S.C. 14901-14954 (Pub. L. 106-279, 114 Stat. 825); 8 U.S.C. 1101 (Pub L. 117-31, 135 Stat. 309); 8 U.S.C. 1154 (Pub. L. 109-162, 119 Stat. 2960); 8 U.S.C. 1201 (Pub. L. 114-70, 129 Stat. 561)."
regulatory_source: "52 FR 42613, Nov. 5, 1987, unless otherwise noted."
cfr_part: "42"
---


# 42.2 Aliens not required to present passports.

An immigrant within any of the following categories is not required to present a passport in applying for an immigrant visa:

(a) *Certain relatives of U.S. citizens.* An alien who is the spouse, unmarried son or daughter, or parent, of a U.S. citizen, unless the alien is applying for a visa in the country of which the applicant is a national and the possession of a passport is required for departure.

(b) *Returning aliens previously lawfully admitted for permanent residence.* An alien previously lawfully admitted for permanent residence who is returning from a temporary visit abroad, unless the alien is applying for a visa in the country of which the applicant is a national and the possession of a passport is required for departure.

(c) *Certain relatives of aliens lawfully admitted for permanent residence.* An alien who is the spouse, unmarried son or daughter, or parent of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence, unless the alien is applying for a visa in the country of which the applicant is a national and the possession of a passport is required for departure.

(d) *Stateless persons.* An alien who is a stateless person, and accompanying spouse and unmarried son or daughter.

(e) *Nationals of Communist-controlled countries.* An alien who is a national of a Communist-controlled country and who is unable to obtain a passport from the government of that country, and accompanying spouse and unmarried son or daughter.

(f) *Alien members of U.S. Armed Forces.* An alien who is a member of the U.S. Armed Forces.

(g) *Beneficiaries of individual waivers.* (1) An alien who would be within one of the categories described in paragraphs (a) through (d) of this section except that the alien is applying for a visa in a country of which the applicant is a national and possession of a passport is required for departure, in whose case the passport requirement has been waived by the Secretary of State, as evidence by a specific instruction from the Department.

(2) An alien unable to obtain a passport and not within any of the foregoing categories, in whose case the passport requirement imposed by § 42.64(b) or by DHS regulations has been waived by the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Secretary of State as evidenced by a specific instruction from the Department.

[52 FR 42613, Nov. 5, 1987, as amended at 56 FR 49680, Oct. 1, 1991]