[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 171 (Wednesday, September 4, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46556-46557]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-19024]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
RIN 1601-AA91
Designation of REAL ID Identity Documents for Citizens of the
Freely Associated States; Unexpired Foreign Passport With an Approved
Form I-94, Documenting the Applicant's Most Recent Admission to the
United States
AGENCY: Office of Strategy, Policy, and Plans, Department of Homeland
Security (DHS).
ACTION: Notice designating identity documents for citizens of the
Freely Associated States applying for a REAL ID driver's license or
identification card.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: This notice announces that the Department of Homeland Security
(DHS) is designating an unexpired foreign passport and valid Form I-94
(Arrival-Departure Record) as acceptable identity documentation for
purposes of obtaining a REAL ID driver's license or identification card
for eligible citizens of the Federated States of Micronesia, the
Republic of Palau, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands
(collectively known as the Freely Associated States, or FAS).
DATES: This designation takes effect September 4, 2019.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Steve Yonkers, Director, Biometrics
and Credentialing/REAL ID Program, Department of Homeland Security,
Washington, DC 20528, telephone (202) 282-9708; email
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
A. The REAL ID Act
The REAL ID Act (the Act) was enacted in 2005 in response to a
recommendation from the 9/11 Commission to improve the security of
forms of identification such as state-issued driver's licenses and
identification cards.\1\ The Act sets minimum standards for the
issuance and production of state driver's licenses and identification
cards in order for federal agencies to accept those documents for
official purposes, which include accessing Federal facilities, boarding
federally regulated commercial aircraft, entering nuclear power plants,
and any other purposes the Secretary of Homeland Security shall
determine.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ The REAL ID Act of 2005--title II of division B of the
Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global
War on Terror, and Tsunami Relief, 2005, Public Law 109-13, 119
Stat. 231, 302 (May 11, 2005) (codified at 49 U.S.C. 30301 note).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
B. The Compacts of Free Association
The Compacts of Free Association (COFAs) between the United States
and the Freely Associated States allow most citizens of the Federated
States of Micronesia (FSM), the Republic of Palau, and the Republic of
the Marshall Islands (RMI) to be admitted to the United States as
nonimmigrants without having to obtain a visa, and to indefinitely
reside, work and study in the United States.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ See Public Law 108-188 (48 U.S.C. 1921 note) (Republic of
the Marshall Islands and Federated States of Micronesia); Public Law
99-658 (48 U.S.C. 1931 and 1931 note) (Palau).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
C. REAL ID Act Modification for Freely Associated States Act
In December 2018, President Trump signed the REAL ID Act
Modification for Freely Associated States Act (REAL ID Modification
Act).\3\ The REAL ID Modification Act authorizes states to issue full-
term REAL ID-compliant driver's licenses and identification cards
[[Page 46557]]
to FAS citizens admitted under the COFAs. Prior to the enactment of the
REAL ID Modification Act, FAS citizens were only eligible for temporary
REAL ID driver's licenses and identification cards, valid during the
period of the applicant's authorized stay in the United States or for
one year where there is no definite end to the period of authorized
stay, which is the case for FAS citizens.\4\ The REAL ID Modification
Act amended the REAL ID Act to create a separate lawful status category
for FAS citizens to make them eligible for full-term driver's licenses
and identification cards. It did not, however, address the regulatory
requirements regarding acceptable documentation to establish identity
for purposes of obtaining a REAL ID compliant license or identification
card.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ Public Law 115-323.
\4\ REAL ID Act Sec. 202(c)(2)(C)(ii).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
D. REAL ID Identity Documents for FAS Citizens
The REAL ID regulations require applicants for REAL ID compliant
licenses or identification cards to present at least one of several
listed documents for purposes of establishing identity.\5\ For
nonimmigrants, these documents could be either an unexpired foreign
passport with a valid unexpired U.S. visa affixed, and an approved I-94
form; or an unexpired employment authorization document (EAD) issued by
DHS.\6\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\5\ 6 CFR 37(c)(1).
\6\ The source documents listed in 6 CFR 37.11(c)(1) are all
acceptable, but most nonimmigrants do not have access to the other
source documents listed. They are limited to the options of an
unexpired EAD, or an unexpired foreign passport with a valid U.S.
visa affixed with an approved Form I-94, per 6 CFR 37.11(c)(1)(v)-
(vi). Most nonimmigrants are not eligible for an EAD (because either
they are not eligible to be employed in the United States, or
because they are authorized for employment with a specific employer
incident to status and are not issued an EAD), but FAS nonimmigrants
under the COFAs may apply for an EAD as evidence of their work
authorization in the United States.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Under the Compacts of Free Association between the United States
and the FAS, most FAS citizens are eligible to be admitted to the
United States as nonimmigrants without a visa, and live and work in the
United States indefinitely. As such, FAS citizens who are lawfully
living and working in the United States under the terms of the Compacts
may not have a visa or EAD, which would be necessary to satisfy the
identity requirements in order to obtain a REAL ID compliant license or
identification card.\7\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\7\ Citizens of all three FAS nations admitted under the
Compacts are authorized to work incident to that status, i.e., they
can obtain an EAD as evidence of work authorization but do not need
to obtain one in order to be authorized to work. Under the amended
Compacts with the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of
the Marshall Islands, an unexpired passport and I-94 combination is
acceptable evidence of identity and employment authorization. As a
result, many FAS citizens do not find it necessary to obtain an EAD
in order to exercise their right to work in the United States,
although some may still find it more convenient to obtain and use an
EAD for this purpose, since many employers are much more familiar
with the EAD and/or the individual's passport may have expired. The
Palau compact does not include this provision, so as a practical
matter, Palau citizens are more likely to need to obtain an EAD in
order to exercise their right to work in the United States.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
II. Designation of Identity Documents for FAS Citizens
The REAL ID regulations, at 6 CFR 37.11(c)(1)(x), authorize DHS to
designate additional identity documents through a Federal Register
notice. Pursuant to that authority, DHS is designating the following
documentation as acceptable evidence of identity for purposes of 6 CFR
37.11(c)(1):
A valid unexpired passport issued by the Republic of the Marshall
Islands, the Republic of Palau, or the Federated States of Micronesia
with an approved Form I-94,\8\ documenting the applicant's most recent
admission to the United States under the Compact of Free Association
between the United States and the nation that issued the passport.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\8\ See 8 CFR 1.4 for a definition of Form I-94.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
DHS believes it is appropriate to designate this identity
documentation for FAS citizens given the unique relationship between
the United States and the FAS and considering that to live and work for
indefinite periods, FAS citizens are not required to obtain a visa or
EAD, which are documents currently required to establish identity for
REAL ID purposes. DHS also believes the designation is consistent with
the intent of Congress to facilitate the issuance of REAL ID licenses
and identification cards to FAS citizens as demonstrated by enactment
of the REAL ID Modification Act. This accommodation for FAS citizens
also is consistent with the spirit of the COFAs, although it is not
required under any provision of the COFAs.
David Pekoske,
Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2019-19024 Filed 9-3-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9110-9M-P