A new DS 3053 form from the US State Department is now available; the old one expired in October 2024. It's called “STATEMENT OF CONSENT: U.S. PASSPORT ISSUANCE TO A CHILD” and is available at
https://eforms.state.gov/Forms/ds3053.PDF
The notarial block has been slightly removing the word "acknowledged", making it more clear the notary is to give an oath or affirmation and not take an acknowledgement. But there are still plenty of problems:
• the word “subscribed” is now missing from the block; the word “executed” may or may not suffice in various states
• the block does not say the affiant took an oath, just that they “executed this consent for the uses and purposes therein contained” which is language normally associated with an acknowledgement
• the name(s) of the affiant(s) is not explicitly stated in the block; there is merely a reference to another part of the document
• there is no hope of fitting a notarial seal in the space provided on the form.
A new feature is that instead of appearing before a notary, the non-applying parent(s) may appear before a "Passport Authorizing Officer". I haven't found an explanation of where one would find such an officer, but I suspect it would only be at centers in major cities where one may apply for a next-day passport. So the new feature will be useful to very few people.
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