Castelano et al. v. Clinton et al.


On August 14, 2009, the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Texas approved a settlement agreement in Castelano et al. v. Clinton et al., CA M-08057. 

Press inquiries may be made to CAPRESSREQUESTS@state.gov.

Potential class members

Potential class members should complete the online Castelano v. Clinton qualification and registration. Note that completing this process does not automatically qualify a person for class membership. Please allow four weeks for a reply from the U.S. Department of State.

Confirmed class members

If you have received an official letter from the U.S. Department of State indicating that you are a verified class member, you are eligible to re-apply for a passport book or a passport card (but not both) without paying the application fees, but you must do so by 5:00 pm on December 31, 2010. You may avoid paying the $25 execution fee if you re-apply at any U.S. passport agency or at the special Castelano Class Member acceptance events described below. Or, you may choose to re-apply at any one of our Passport Application Acceptance Facilities, in which case you will be required to pay the $25 execution fee.

We are pleased to announce that we will be holding the following special Castelano Class member acceptance events which will only accept applications from verified class members:

             November 17: Del Rio, Eagle Pass, El Paso, Laredo
             December 1: Brownsville, Harlingen, McAllen

These temporary units will provide fee-free acceptance for registered class members only.  Sign-up for one of the temporary mobile units.

Please note that in order to qualify for the fee-free adjudication, all potential class members must first go through a registration and verification process before filing a fee-free passport application. The verification process can be initiated through the online Castelano v. Clinton qualification and registration form or by mail. Once verified, class members will receive a verification letter identifying them as class members and which must be presented at the time the fee-free application is filed. Fee-free applications cannot be accepted unless they are accompanied by a letter from the Department of State confirming formal verification of class membership. There are no exceptions.

Regardless of how you choose to re-apply for a passport book or passport card, you must present the letter from the Department verifying your class membership. There will be no exceptions. You can also save time by completing, printing, and bringing the required form: DS-11 Application for a U.S. Passport.