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Reference

Sources used in the US guides

Short answer: This page lists the sources behind the US guides: federal statutes from Cornell's Legal Information Institute, federal and state agency pages, regulation text from the eCFR, and news reports. It also lists the official pages that blocked our requests and that we therefore did not quote.

Last reviewed: · By Mark Dent

Statutes and regulations

  • 18 U.S.C. 1028, 1546, 1543, 1343, 1341, 42 U.S.C. 408: maximum terms and definitions. Read October 5, 2026.
  • eCFR: 22 CFR 22.1 (passport fee schedule), 49 CFR 380.721 and 383.71 (training provider registry and CDL applications). Read October 5, 2026.
  • SSA Program Operations Manual RM 10205.400: limits on replacement cards.

Federal agency pages

  • USA.gov pages on state motor vehicle services, REAL ID, renewing a passport, lost passports, Social Security cards, birth certificates, international driver's licenses, identity theft, imposter scams and reporting scams.
  • FBI IC3 home page and its April 12, 2024 public service announcement on road toll smishing.
  • FTC consumer advice: how to avoid a scam; how to recognize phishing.
  • SSA Office of the Inspector General home page.
  • CDC NCHS where-to-write directory and the DOJ Recognition and Accreditation page, read through our fetch tool.

State pages

  • California DMV: scam alert, driver's license application, REAL ID. Georgia DDS: fake text scams. Illinois DOT: text scam alert. Florida Department of Health: certificates.
  • State attorney general and consumer pages on notario fraud: California, Connecticut, Washington; Maryland People's Law Library.
  • Fifteen state licensing sites opened for the directory; see the state directory.

Cases and news reports

  • Oversight.gov and FreightWaves for the California DMV commercial license bribery cases.
  • WPTV, Scripps News and Nurse.org for Operation Nightingale figures that cite Justice Department announcements. NPR for state DMV warnings in May 2025.

Pages we could not open

These sites refused automated requests, so nothing on this site is quoted from them directly: travel.state.gov (passport fee page), ssa.gov (replacement card pages), justice.gov press releases, fmcsa.dot.gov and the Department of Transportation, uscis.gov, dhs.gov and the American Bar Association's notario page. Where a fact would normally come from one of these, we use the regulation text, USA.gov, or a state source, or we mark the item as unverified.

Corrections are logged on the corrections page.

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About the author
Written by Mark Dent from federal statutes, agency pages and state government pages that were opened on the date shown. Truthdocuments sells, issues and arranges no license or document, and has no tie to any DMV, federal agency or government body. See the editorial policy or report a mistake.