Implications of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations upon the Regulation of Consular Identification Cards

Publication Date: May 2005

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

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Research Area: International relations

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Abstract:

Recent controversy regarding the use of consular identification cards (IDs) by aliens within the United States, in particular Mexico's matricula consular, has led to calls for legislation to regulate the issuance of the cards by foreign missions or their acceptance by U.S. government and private entities. This report identifies possible implications that U.S. regulation or monitoring of the issuance of these cards by foreign missions might have upon U.S. obligations under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (VCCR), which protects foreign missions in the exercise of their legitimate consular functions and codifies customary international law with respect to the inviolability of consular premises and documents. The REAL ID Act (P.L. 109-13, Division B) prohibits states, when issuing drivers' licenses or state ID cards, from accepting for purposes of personal identification foreign documents other than valid passports, if such drivers' licenses or ID cards are to be accepted for federal purposes. Other recent legislative proposals aimed at restricting the acceptance (but not the issuance) of consular IDs include H.R. 688, the SAFER Act, introduced by Representative J. Gresham Barrett on February 9, 2005; H.R. 815, the Financial Customer Identification Verification Improvement Act, introduced by Representative Scott Garrett on February 15, 2005; and H.R. 925, the Identification Integrity Act of 2005, introduced by Representative Elton Gallegly on February 17, 2005.