U.S. swamped with passport applications

[blondie58]

Updated:2007-03-17 08:02:16
U.S. Swamped With Passport Requests
By ASHLEY M. HEHER
AP
CHICAGO (March 17) - Thirteen-year-old Eli Rogatz applied months ago for a passport so that he could fly to Israel with his family for his bar mitzvah. To his family's great relief, it finally came through on Friday, with just days to spare. "Given what else is being spent, we want to make sure he's there," Mitch Rogatz, a book publisher from the Chicago suburb of Glencoe, grumbled as he camped out in a federal office building for at least four hours, waiting for the passport.



Joe Raedle, Getty Images
The State Department has been hit with an unprecedented number of passport applications, which have been pouring in at over one million per month.


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Similar waiting games are being played out at passport processing sites across the country as the State Department wades through an unprecedented crush of passport applications. They are pouring in at more than 1 million per month.

Passport requests usually shoot up this time of year ahead of the busy spring and summer travel season. But the department has been really swamped since the government in late January started requiring U.S. airline passengers - including children - to show a passport upon their return from Mexico, Canada or the Caribbean.

Passport applications filed between October and March are up 44 percent from the same period a year ago, the department told lawmakers this week. In February alone, applications were up 25 percent.

Because of the glut, it could take 10 weeks instead of the usual six to process routine applications, according to the department. And expedited requests, which cost an extra $60 on top of the normal $97 fee, could take four weeks instead of two.

The State Department said it is working overtime to handle the load and hopes to have an additional 400 passport adjudicators by the end of next year.

That is little solace to travelers like Lisa Purdum, a newlywed from Yardley, Pa., who was told her husband's passport would not arrive until weeks after their planned April 2 honeymoon to Mexico. Worse, her birth certificate, which accompanied her own passport application, was reported missing, she said.


Associated Press Writers Ron Todt in Philadelphia, Laura Wides-Munoz in Miami and Solvej Schou in Los Angeles contributed to this story.

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[treestar]

1. Yeah, their next step will be to require that every US citizen have one

Maybe we can even have our resumes printed in them like they did in the old Soviet Union. Or with modern technology, the entire history of purchases and tollgate passings can be fit on one little chip. :sarcasm:

[MLFerrell]

2. I'm one of these recent applicants...

And I noticed, when I got mine at the post office, that about a half-dozen other people were getting their passports too. Now, granted, I live in a college town, and spring break is right around the corner, but this was on a Tuesday afternoon, not what I'd call high time to get a passport.

I got mine because I see the handwriting on the wall. I want to be able to get the hell out of this country on a moment's notice if need be, say, in the event of * attacking Iran. Apparently, I'm not the only one thinking along those lines...

[mnhtnbb]

3. Renewed mine early October and it took a little over 2 weeks. I've kept a current passport

since 1983. If you don't have one--get one. You never know when you're going to want to get out of the U.S.

[blondie58]

4. my first was in 1980

for a trip to Europe. However, I let it lapse- didn't have the money and I vainly didn't like the picture on it- but I wish that I would have kept it current. Now, I am a postal employee and have seen the long lines. The P.O. is swamped also in the request for applications as only certain clerks are qualified to do passports.

[BluePatriot]

5. Geez.

I'm glad hubby and I got ours last year. They still have the little RFID chips in them though.

[blondie58]

6. at least they're not requiring

those chips to be implanted anyplace on our physical being-

Yet.

[NightWatcher]

7. re: RFID,

is there a way to fry the chips?
I thought about popping it in the microwave oven for a few secs, but I wont practice on the passport.

[BluePatriot]

10. Theoretically that does it

I know ours have the chips in them even though hubby says we were a few months too early. I remember them waving it over a scanner at the airport an letting us through the line faster *shrug* What scares me is how easy the RFID signals are to pick up on:

http://blogs.business2.com/utilitybelt/2006/11/interview_rfid_.html

"...the information is encrypted, but at a recent DEFCON conference (Conference for hackers) they had already broken the passport. There is always a risk of identify theft when it comes to that data, so I would say absolutely. They are passive chips, but a reader calls to it, authenticates, and then reads everything that is seen in your passport application. That is a lot of personal info."

edit: typo queen

[blondie58]

12. I don't know if it is this way still, but

when I was in Europe, oftentimes the hotel would hold on to your passport overnight. Now, that would be at risk of any employee who is a little less than honest selling your information to supplement his measly clerk wages.

[BluePatriot]

13. People who figure out RFID

will have loads of personal info at their fingertips. It only takes aptitude and desire.

(Bleh.)

[NightWatcher]

15. I thought that was in lieu of giving a credit card

it must have been a small hotel. The last I saw that was in Koln, Germany. Most places just swipe the credit card now.

[blondie58]

16. this was twenty five years ago

and I was a student traveler, doing the youth hostel/eurail trip.

[Retrograde]

18. it was in Italy a few months ago

Most places just copied down the numbers, but according to Italian law all hotel guests' passport information must be supplied to the local police within X hours of arrival. Can't say what the laws are in other places - I didn't see this in France, Germany or Spain.

Airlines will also record passport numbers for overseas travelers.

[cascadiance]

14. I think we should demand to have RFID scan proof covers for our passports!

They should only be scanned at times when you are officially showing them to board planes, etc.

Someone else postulated that if you have them so that they aren't being blocked from random scanning, that you could have a terrorist that has a scanner someplace where you are overseas that then would have a way of determining a count of how many Americans are around him based on RFID scans and decide that's the optimal time to blow up an explosive. Perhaps that could even be done remotely from a cell phone activated device, set up with the scanner, etc. too!

[blondie58]

8. tried to edit- but past allowed time

I didn't want to post this, as I wasn't certain, but a passport is not required, IF- you are traveling by land or sea, as in a cruise. This will apply until January 1, 2008.

Beginning January 23, 2007, ALL persons, including U.S. citizens, traveling by air between the United States and Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Bermuda will be required to present a valid passport, Air NEXUS card, or U.S. Coast Guard Merchant Mariner Document, or an Alien Registration Card, Form I-551, if applicable.

As early as January 1, 2008, ALL persons, including U.S. citizens, traveling between the U.S. and Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Bermuda by land or sea (including ferries), may be required to present a valid passport or other documents as determined by the Department of Homeland Security. While recent legislative changes permit a later deadline, the Departments of State and Homeland Security are working to meet all requirements as soon as possible. Ample advance notice will be provided to enable the public to obtain passports or passport cards for land/sea entriesJanuary 1, 2008-

[BluePatriot]

11. *nods*

you're right. We're going on our much anticipated Big Vacation ( a cruise) and I heard about that.

Moral of the story: flee the US with a Mai Tai in one hand on a nice ocean view deck. Apply for asylum in small island country. (Sarcasm. I hope.)

[NightWatcher]

9. shame on me for mentioning

but when they get backlogged, it's a good time to slide a phony application into the mix. The passport office will be trying for the next two years to get them out as fast as possible.
I'm not recommending that anyone do this, but if you have need, now's the time.

[SammyWinstonJack]

17. You forgot too say hi to Agent Mike.

:hi:

[Retrograde]

19. In a way I'm glad to see this

Maybe it will encourage Americans to see more of the world beyond their own country, Canada/Mexico and the Carribean. (Just don't all go at the same time I do :)

I grew up near the Canadian border and remember the days when you could cross with essentially no papers of any sort, and I've heard all the complaints from the area about how big a financial burden this will be for people crossing the border for a concert and how easy it will make identity theft when the passports fall out of peoples' pockets during hockey games (I am not making this up) and similar woes. Essentially what the new rules are doing is making Canada/Mexico/the Carribean countries the same as the rest of the world wrt passport requirements.

However, they could be cheaper: I see no reason to raise the prices to the $100 range.

[blondie58]

20. if only that were true

but I think that the average American, or as a liberal customer of mine describes the average American, Joe Beer Can is not interested in seeing the world beyond their backyard.

When I was doing the Europe/Eurail circuit, I came across many Canadians. I thought that it was funny that they had put a Canadian flag on their backpacks, as they did not want anyone to think of them as being Americans.

[rockymountaindem]

22. If they didn't want to see the world, they wouldn't be getting passports

So this is encouraging as I believe that travel abroad is an educational experience for everybody. As for the Canadian flag thing, while you may be correct about their motives, four years of living in Canada has demonstrated to me that the Canadians are really, really proud of their flag and the maple leaf and that they put it just about everywhere. For instance, the apostrophe in the "Wendy's" logo here is a maple leaf, and there is a leaf in the middle of the golden arches at McDonald's as well. Canadians like to put maple leaves on just about everything. That's fine with me, as I think it's a pretty cool symbol, although its domestic opponents still often refer to it as the "Canadian marijuana leaf" or somesuch.

[blondie58]

23. i was always kinda jealous

they did have a lot of national pride. And I saw a lot of 'ugly Americans' while traveling- the GI's in Germany, who tried to get my attention, so I pretended to be German to not to have to respond, etc.- the American lady who was very loud in her complaints that her bed was too small and too hard, etc.

I am proud of our country. I just feel that so many people are not interested in life beyond their borders- or even their little berg.

I worked as a travel agent after my travels to Europe and worked with both types of travelers- those afraid to leave our secure borders to eat unknown food and drink and those who were excited to learn about other cultures.

[SoCalDem]

21. Passport cost of $100 = 3 tanks of gas

a couple of months of cell phone service
a couple of video games
3 cartons of cigarettes

etc etc

I know that people gripe about how they are "too expensive", but compared to things that people already spend their money on, it's a one time expense and it's good for 15 years and renewal costs less once you have one.

It's a good investment .

I have always maintained that when the government insisted on it, they should have doubled their staff and halved the cost so that people could comply easily.

and if you like to vote, it's a sure-fire way to prove you are a citizen :)