U.S. Code » Title 18 » Part PART I— CRIMES › Chapter CHAPTER 45— FOREIGN RELATIONS

18 U.S.C. § 951

Agents of foreign governments

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(a) Whoever, other than a diplomatic or consular officer or attaché, acts in the United States as an agent of a foreign government without prior notification to the Attorney General if required in subsection (b), shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.(b) The Attorney General shall promulgate rules and regulations establishing requirements for notification.(c) The Attorney General shall, upon receipt, promptly transmit one copy of each notification statement filed under this section to the Secretary of State for such comment and use as the Secretary of State may determine to be appropriate from the point of view of the foreign relations of the United States. Failure of the Attorney General to do so shall not be a bar to prosecution under this section.(d) For purposes of this section, the term “agent of a foreign government” means an individual who agrees to operate within the United States subject to the direction or control of a foreign government or official, except that such term does not include—(1) a duly accredited diplomatic or consular officer of a foreign government, who is so recognized by the Department of State;(2) any officially and publicly acknowledged and sponsored official or representative of a foreign government;(3) any officially and publicly acknowledged and sponsored member of the staff of, or employee of, an officer, official, or representative described in paragraph (1) or (2), who is not a United States citizen; or(4) any person engaged in a legal commercial transaction.(e) Notwithstanding paragraph (d)(4), any person engaged in a legal commercial transaction shall be considered to be an agent of a foreign government for purposes of this section if—(1) such person agrees to operate within the United States subject to the direction or control of a foreign government or official; and(2) such person—(A) is an agent of Cuba or any other country that the President determines (and so reports to the Congress) poses a threat to the national security interest of the United States for purposes of this section, unless the Attorney General, after consultation with the Secretary of State, determines and so reports to the Congress that the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States require that the provisions of this section do not apply in specific circumstances to agents of such country; or(B) has been convicted of, or has entered a plea of nolo contendere with respect to, any offense under section 792 through 799, 831, or 2381 of this title or under section 11 11 See References in Text note below. of the Export Administration Act of 1979, except that the provisions of this subsection shall not apply to a person described in this clause for a period of more than five years beginning on the date of the conviction or the date of entry of the plea of nolo contendere, as the case may be.(June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 743; Pub. L. 97–462, § 6, Jan. 12, 1983, 96 Stat. 2530; Pub. L. 98–473, title II, § 1209, Oct. 12, 1984, 98 Stat. 2164; Pub. L. 99–569, title VII, § 703, Oct. 27, 1986, 100 Stat. 3205; Pub. L. 103–199, title II, § 202, Dec. 17, 1993, 107 Stat. 2321; Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII, § 330016(1)(R), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2148.)Historical and Revision Notes

Based on section 601 of title 22, U.S.C., 1940 ed., Foreign Relations and Intercourse (June 15, 1917, ch. 30, title VIII, § 3, 40 Stat. 226; Mar. 28, 1940, ch. 72, § 6, 54 Stat. 80).

Mandatory punishment provision was rephrased in the alternative.

Minor changes in phraseology were made.

Editorial NotesReferences in Text

Section 11 of the Export Administration Act of 1979, referred to in subsec. (e)(2)(B), was classified to section 4610 of Title 50, War and National Defense, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 115–232, div. A, title XVII, § 1766(a), Aug. 13, 2018, 132 Stat. 2232. Provisions relating to penalties are covered generally in section 4819 of Title 50, as enacted by Pub. L. 115–232.

Amendments

1994—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 103–322 substituted “fined under this title” for “fined not more than $75,000”.

1993—Subsec. (e)(2)(A). Pub. L. 103–199 substituted “Cuba or any other country that the President determines (and so reports to the Congress) poses a threat to the national security interest of the United States for purposes of this section” for “the Soviet Union, the German Democratic Republic, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, or Cuba”.

1986—Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 99–569 added subsec. (e).

1984—Pub. L. 98–473 designated existing provisions as subsec. (a), substituted “Attorney General if required in subsection (b)” for “Secretary of State”, and added subsecs. (b) to (d).

1983—Pub. L. 97–462 increased limitation on fines to $75,000 from $5,000.

Statutory Notes and Related SubsidiariesEffective Date of 1983 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 97–462 effective 45 days after Jan. 12, 1983, see section 4 of Pub. L. 97–462, set out as a note under section 2071 of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 73 cases (15 in the last 5 years), 1950–2025 · leading case: United States v. Campa, 529 F.3d 980 (11th Cir. 2008).
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United States v. Campa, 529 F.3d 980 (11th Cir. 2008). · cites it 18× “§ 794 (c); eight counts of acting as an agent of a foreign government without notifying the Attorney General, 18 U.S.C. § 951 , and one count of conspiracy to do so, 18 U.”
United States v. Bijan Rafiekian, 991 F.3d 529 (4th Cir. 2021). · cites it 8× “6 As discussed in detail below, this case involves two distinct notification statutes— 18 U.S.C. § 951 and the Foreign Agents Registration Act.”
United States v. Duran, 596 F.3d 1283 (11th Cir. 2010). · cites it 6× “§ 371 , and of acting in the United States as an agent of a foreign government, without prior notification to the Attorney General, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 951 , as a result of his involvement in attempting to cover up the so-called “Suitcase Scandal” between Venezuela and…”
United States v. Khaled Abdel-Latif Dumeisi, 424 F.3d 566 (7th Cir. 2005). · cites it 5× “Trial On July 16, 2003, Dumeisi was indicted for acting in the United States as an agent of a foreign government without prior notification to the Attorney Genei*al (in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 951 (a)); conspiracy to do so (in violation of 18 U.”
Alderman v. United States, 394 U.S. 165 (1969). · cites it 4× “§§ 794 (a), (c), and of conspiring to violate 18 U. S. C. § 951 by causing Butenko to act as an agent of the Soviet Union without prior notification to the Secretary of State.”
United States v. Bijan Rafiekian, 68 F.4th 177 (4th Cir. 2023). · cites it 5× “§ 371 , the objects of which were 1) acting as an undisclosed foreign agent in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 951 , and 2) making a materially false FARA registration in violation of 22 U.”
United States v. Byrne, 422 F. Supp. 147 (E.D. Pa. 1976). · cites it 11× “The defendants argue that the Court erred in failing to sever the Counts charging them with acting as an agent of a foreign government without prior notification to the Secretary of State in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 951 13 and 18 U.S.C. § 11 14 from the rest of the Counts, and…”
United States v. Campa, 419 F.3d 1219 (11th Cir. 2005). · cites it 10× “The Indictments Campa, Gonzalez, Guerrero, Hernandez, and Medina were arrested on a criminal complaint on 12 September 1998, and were subsequently indicted with nine codefen-dants for conspiring to act as agents of the Republic of Cuba without registering with the Attorney…”
United States v. Truong Dinh Hung, United States of Am. v. Ronald Louis Humphrey, 629 F.2d 908 (4th Cir. 1980). · cites it 3× “§§ 371 and 641; acting as agents of a foreign government without prior notification to the Secretary of State in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 951 and 2; delivery of material related to the national defense to unauthorized persons in violation of 18 U.”
United States v. Latchin, 554 F.3d 709 (7th Cir. 2009). · cites it 3× “§ 1425 (a), and (2) acted as an unregistered foreign agent in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 951 (a). 2 The jury answered “yes” on both counts, and now we must decide whether that verdict was supported by sufficient evidence.”
United States v. Chung, 659 F.3d 815 (9th Cir. 2011). · cites it 2× “§ 371 ; on one count of acting as an unregistered foreign agent, 18 U.S.C. § 951 ; and on one count of making a false statement to federal agents, 18 U.”
United States v. Ji Chaoqun, 107 F.4th 715 (7th Cir. 2024). · cites it 5× “The statute, 18 U.S.C. § 951 , imposes penalties upon anyone acting within the United States as an agent of a foreign government without first registering as such with the Attor- ney General—that is, unless they fall under one of four enu- merated exceptions.”
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