The Bureau of Consular Affairs is a bureau within the U.S. State Department that manages Americans living and traveling overseas, with a particular focus on passports, immigration and consulates. The most recent head of the department was Assistant Secretary of State Maura Harty, who stepped down in February of 2008. On March 20, 2008 two of the Bureau's employees were fired for accessing the passport files of presidential candidate Barack Obama without his permission. A third staffer was disciplined but not terminated.

• Topix.net: Bureau of Consular Affairs
• Google News: Bureau of Consular Affairs
• Boston.com: Obama demands probe over passport breach (March 20, 2008)

• MSNBC: 2 fired over Obama passport file breach (March 20, 2008)
  • 2 State Department employees have been fired after accessing candidate Barack Obama's passport information without his permission or knowledge. Both, as well as a staffer who was disciplined but not fired, were part of the Bureau of Consular Affairs. The three incidents occurred on different dates and were apparently unconnected.
• TalkLeft: Obama "Passport Information" Breached (March 20, 2008)
• International Herald Tribune: US State Department warns American spectators at Olympics not to expect privacy (March 20, 2008)
• Slate Magazine: How the passport office can help win the war on terror (August 14, 2007)
• The New York Times: F.B.I. Investigating Possible Gaps in File On Clinton Passport (October 7, 1992)
• Google Blog Search: Bureau of Consular Affairs