FRENCH GOVERNMENT INTENDS DISTRIBUTION OF SECURE E-

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 001855 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: CMGT ETRD CVIS FR SUBJECT: FRENCH GOVERNMENT INTENDS DISTRIBUTION OF SECURE E- PASSPORTS BY SUMMER 2006 Reftel: PARIS 1414 ¶1. SUMMARY. Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs Maura Harty and Paris Consul General Donald E. Wells met with the Director of French consular services, Francois Barry Martin Delongchamps at France's MFA on March 10. Ambassador Harty learned the GOF intends to begin distribution of its e-passport in April. The GOF has also introduced a new machine-readable, emergency passport featuring a digital photo and other security features intended to meet current Visa Waiver Program (VWP) requirements. This passport is not meant to substitute for current full-validity passports that do not conform to VWP rules, but the MFA offered to allow some French citizens traveling to the U.S. to apply for this passport as an MFA courtesy. Delongchamps also raised the issue of visa requirements for French nationals traveling between France and French Polynesia. On a topic raised by A/S Harty, Delongchamps was supportive of the USG position during discussions of the Hague case of Esther LaFourcade. END SUMMARY. ¶2. Ambassador Maura Harty, Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs and Embassy Paris Consul General Donald E. Wells met with the Director of Services for French Citizens Living Abroad at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on March 10. DISTRIBUTION OF FRENCH E-PASSPORTS BY APRIL -------------- ¶3. Delongchamps informed Ambassador Harty that problems surrounding who would print France's e-passport (Reftel) had been resolved. The GOF will begin issuing its e-passport in April out of its central processing facility in Nantes. This same passport will also be produced in June at some of France's larger consular sections, such as the one in Washington, DC. The new e-passport will conform to ICAO, European Union and U.S. standards. ¶4. The MFA has already started issuing a new one-year validity emergency passport at consular missions abroad. Though issued for emergency travel, this passport incorporates a digital photo. Delongchamps assumed it would be valid for travel to the U.S. without a visa because it is machine-readable and includes other security features that meet ICAO standards. A/S Harty told Delongchamps she would take exemplars of this new temporary-use passport to DHS for examination. Ambassador Harty also agreed to provide DHS' decision on the documents to the MFA through Embassy Paris. (Note: State 44888 already contains the results of A/S Harty's inquiry). ¶5. Ambassador Harty asked if the GOF could issue the French emergency passport to U.S.-bound travelers if this new document is VWP compliant. Delongchamps explained the MFA did not intend the emergency passport to be used by French travelers needing a visa for U.S. travel to circumvent to the visa application process at Embassy Paris. First, French consuls in Europe's visa-free travel Schengen countries are not obligated to issue French citizens an emergency issuance passport but can require them to travel back to France and apply for a full-validity passport. Second, France's consulates in neighboring countries would not be able to meet the needs of the high volume of travelers to the U.S. due to the lengthy security checks that are required to apply for a French passport abroad. Delongchamps offered the possibility that the MFA could meet the USG "half-way" and offer the issuance of an emergency issuance passport at a neighboring country consulate to U.S.- bound travelers on a case-by-case as a "courtesy." FRENCH ENCOUNTER DIFFICULTY TRAVELING TO AND FROM FRENCH POLYNESIA -------------- -------------- ¶6. Delongchamps next raised the issue of French travelers to and from Tahiti with passports issued after October 26, 2005 who currently are required to apply for a visa to transit. The only practical route from Papeete to French territory requires travelers to transit the U.S. via Los Angeles using Air Tahiti, the only airline offering direct flights between these two parts of France. This has proved especially difficult for French citizens resident in French Polynesia. The nearest U.S. consulate is located in Suva, requiring eight hours of travel each way prior to boarding the flight transiting Los Angeles. The GOF perceives this as a sovereignty issue as these travelers are citizens traveling between territories of the same country. This situation could also is likely to have adverse economic consequences for Air Tahiti. ¶7. Ambassador Harty clarified that there are currently no exceptions to transiting the U.S. without a visa if a passport does not meet VWP requirements. She offered to explore whether or not an exception could be made for French citizens who are resident in French Polynesia. DELONGCHAMPS APPEARS SUPPORTIVE OF HAGUE CASE INVOLVING ESTHER LAFOURCADE -------------- -------------- ¶8. Delongchamps expressed concern and support for the U.S. position on The Hague case involving Esther LaFourcade an American citizen minor abducted and brought to France by her French citizen mother. Ambassador Harty explained that the USG differs with the French court's interpretation of Articles 12 and 13 of the Hague convention. The court decision that granted custody of Esther to her mother was based on these two articles. As pertains to Article 12, Esther's U.S. citizen father filed a Hague petition in the French court system within the required 12 months, but was forced to wait 10 months before the case received a hearing. With regard to Article 13, while each country may decide the age at which a child is mature enough to express a choice as to which parent to reside with, the USG considers Esther, who was nine years old at the time of the case, to be too young to decide whether she wants to live with her mother or father. ¶9. While Delongchamps noted that the MFA is unable to override the court's decision, he appeared to agree with the USG view. He stated that he will convey the U.S. perspective on Articles 12 and 13 of The Hague Convention to the French Ministry of Justice, including his concern about the outcome in the LaFourcade case and its implications for French obligations under the treaty. Stapleton