New US passport-related form

PSAs and News
1

A new DS 3053 form from the US State Department is now available; the old one expired in October 2024. It’s called “STATEMENT OF CONSENT: U.S. PASSPORT ISSUANCE TO A CHILD” and is available at

The notarial block has been slightly improved by removing the word “acknowledged”, making it more clear the notary is to give an oath or affirmation and not take an acknowledgement. But there are still plenty of problems:

• the word “subscribed” is now missing from the block; the word “executed” may or may not suffice in various states

• the block does not say the affiant took an oath, just that they “executed this consent for the uses and purposes therein contained” which is language normally associated with an acknowledgement

• the name(s) of the affiant(s) is not explicitly stated in the block; there is merely a reference to another part of the document

• there is no hope of fitting a notarial seal in the space provided on the form.

A new feature is that instead of appearing before a notary, the non-applying parent(s) may appear before a “Passport Authorizing Officer”. I haven’t found an explanation of where one would find such an officer, but I suspect it would only be at centers in major cities where one may apply for a next-day passport. So the new feature will be useful to very few people.

2

As I replied to you elsewhere, doesn’t appear this new form will pass muster in many states. Florida has specific language for their certs with 9 required elements and this new form doesn’t meet them. Guess we use loose certs if it has to be notarized.

3

I also would use either a loose certificate, or if the back of the page is blank, put it on the back. The decision I have would be whether to use the VT short form oath/affirmation certificate:

State of Vermont
County of____________________________
Signed and sworn to (or affirmed) before me on __________________________________________
Date
by ____________________________________________
Name(s) of Individual(s) making statement

(x)______________________________________
Notary Public—State of Vermont
My commission expires January 31, 2025.
[official stamp here]

Or to use wording consistent with VT law but which adds the information requested on the DS-3053. I’d add the city/town/village where the notarization occurred, that the signer wasn’t related to me, what kind of ID was presented, and the ID number, place of issue, date of issue, expiration date, and that I found the ID to be satisfactory.