Insufficient oversight by the State Department allows criminals, illegal immigrants and suspected terrorists to fraudulently obtain a U.S. passport far too easily, according to a report on the test by the Government Accountability Office to be released today.

The lapses occurred because passport applications are not routinely checked against comprehensive lists of wanted criminals and suspected terrorists, according to the report, which was provided to The New York Times by an official who had access to it in advance. For example, one of the 67 suspects included in the GAO test managed to get a passport 17 months after he was first placed on an FBI wanted list, the report said.

The State Department also too often fails to aggressively pursue leads that could allow the government to catch black-market sellers of phony identification documents essential to getting a fraudulent passport, said Michael Johnson, a former State Department security official.

Once issued, a passport typically becomes a critical tool for illegal immigrants who are seeking work or who want to travel internationally, as well as for people involved in crime.