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CNMI ranks second lowest on issued passports among states, territories
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Posted on Feb 06 2012
By Haidee V. Eugenio
Reporter
Reporter
The U.S. State Department issued 2,411 U.S. passports to CNMI residents in fiscal year 2011 or an average of six every single day, but that’s a 24-percent decline from the previous year’s 3,191. Across the United States, there’s been a drop in the number of passports issued.
State Department data shows that the CNMI ranked second to the lowest among all U.S. states and territories when it came to the total number of passports issued in FY 2011.
The CNMI outranked only American Samoa which had only 1,509 passports issued in the last fiscal year.
The U.S. Virgin Islands ranked third lowest with 8,844, followed by Guam with 10,753, Wyoming with 16,445, and South Dakota with 21,642.
On the other end of the spectrum was California, which had the highest number of U.S. passports issued at over 1.6 million in FY 2011, followed by New York with 923,888, and Texas with 800,648. These three states also posted a decline in the number of passports issued in recent years.
In the CNMI alone, the number of passports issued has been declining in recent years, and this may have been a result of a shrinking population caused by economic slowdown.
In FY 2008, passports issued totaled 4,629. This went down to 3,312 in FY 2009 and further down to 3,191 in FY 2010 before falling below the 3,000-mark in FY 2011 with 2,411.
These figures are a combination of first-time issuance and renewal. In the CNMI, people apply for passports to travel for vacation, for medical reasons or for studying in other states or territories. Naturalized citizens also apply for U.S. passports.
