Getting a US Passport is horrible

[jgirvine Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close jgirvine]

Applied back on March 12th. Leave on June 16th for Grand Cayman. Called the Passport office, called the congress man's office. NO PASSPORT. Today the AP has a new release that they are going to supend the rule for Mexico and Canada but not the Caribbean, yet NBC Nightly News tonight included Caribbean in the story. UGGGGGGGGGGG

[nell Member Find all posts View Profile Close nell]

I hope you have better luck than my daughter (25). She renewed her passport for our trip to Harborside on May 26th. They sent it back with errors. She had to send it back overnight and expedited but they did not get it back in time. Their reply was so sorry and yeah we know we're having a lot of problems with the Texas offices, nothing they can do! She missed vacation with us and almost cost us our options. What did they think would happen when they implemented this policy!!!

[lawren2 Malibu Beach Barbie & A Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close lawren2]

What did they think would happen when they implemented this policy!!!

They believed that people would heed the warnings about delays and apply EARLY.

They are good for 10 years, under 17/18 for 5 years.

My family applied for our passports 24 months ago anticipating caribbean travel difficulties for 2005. <and my BIL fought tooth and nail about it> We got all of them renewed or new issued promptly and are prepared for our England trip in August '07 and GCM trip in March '08.

I am sorry both the OP and 2nd poster are having issues but this is not a new development.

[jgirvine Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close jgirvine]

They believed that people would heed the warnings about delays and apply EARLY.

They are good for 10 years, under 17/18 for 5 years.

My family applied for our passports 18 months ago anticipating caribbean travel difficulties for 2006. We got all of them renewed or new issued promptly and are prepared for our England trip in August '07 and GCM trip in March '08.

I am sorry both the OP and 2nd poster are having issues but this is not a new development.

So basically you are saying ignore what the government says.

Right now on their website they say allow 10 weeks. Sorry, we did not know we were going 2 years ago. This trip only came up in Febuary. Took till Mid March to get all the forms. (parents divorced and major hurdles in paperwork in order to get a passport to take a minor child out of the country.) That said, Passport office says 10 weeks, it has been 13.
I guess I should have looked at our crystal ball and known this.

[lawren2 Malibu Beach Barbie & A Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close lawren2]

So basically you are saying ignore what the government says.

Right now on their website they say allow 10 weeks. Sorry, we did not know we were going 2 years ago. This trip only came up in Febuary. Took till Mid March to get all the forms. (parents divorced and major hurdles in paperwork in order to get a passport to take a minor child out of the country.) That said, Passport office says 10 weeks, it has been 13.
I guess I should have looked at our crystal ball and known this.

jgirvine I am not saying ignore what they say. and your circumstances sound special. Did you need the letter to take the child out of the country before you applied or could that have been done in the interim. Could any of the passports been done prior to the individual in question?

I do have a problem with people that don't have the hurdles that you are facing applying 8 to 12 weeks out, that KNEW well in advance of their trip, howling about processing time.

I certainly hope that yours show up in time....and perhaps someone can give you a way to track where these passports are.

[nell Member Find all posts View Profile Close nell]

They believed that people would heed the warnings about delays and apply EARLY.

They are good for 10 years, under 17/18 for 5 years.

My family applied for our passports 18 months ago anticipating caribbean travel difficulties for 2006. We got all of them renewed or new issued promptly and are prepared for our England trip in August '07 and GCM trip in March '08.

I am sorry both the OP and 2nd poster are having issues but this is not a new development.

My daughter renewed back in January for an end of May trip. I consider this renewing early. She had it back in time but they had errors on several parts of the passport and had to RETURN it (overnight and expedited). They put it in the regular pile of applications instead of expedited. She started calling two weeks before we were to leave and was told it was being overnighted time and again. The day before we left, she finally got someone to tell her they hadn't even looked at it yet because of their second blunder (my words, not theirs). If everyone with still a year or two left on their passports starting renewing now just in case, what then?

[Laser1992 Member Find all posts View Profile Close Laser1992]

Passport time is ridiculous

I agree this is bad. It is very stressful, to be so looking forward to a nice vacation book it and try and get all the paperwork done.

If you were illegal alien, you would have no problem just go ahead and go, and just come on back in. No problem.

I am just dreaming right now of a trip outside the country. So I am trying to work on getting passports. I have had to locate and order birth certificates for both my husband and I. We still got to get the pictures taken and the rest of the paperwork. But I am basically working on the passport before I even start working on booking something.

Best of luck that you get the passport soon!!!

Laser

[jgirvine Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close jgirvine]

There is a form that you have to get from the Gov and then it has to be signed by both parents and notorized. Ex's do not live in the same state, so this took time. In addition, we also have to have another notarized statment at time of departure to show the airline.

[JudyS Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close JudyS]

Is it still possible to expedite the passport by paying an additional fee? That's what my DH did for our last-minute trip in March. He had already started the passport process, but then we planned a trip sooner than we had expected, so he upgraded to expedited service. He got the passport pretty quickly after he paid the extra fee, but I can't remember exactly how long it took.

[JudyS Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close JudyS]

Wow, four of us posted at the same time!

Nell, that sounds really bad!

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

Alright I better get off my butt and get my kids' done before I am another oOPster... it is a pain to get the kids' done, and we're not even dealing with ex's (at least not yet ).

[happymum Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close happymum]

In Canada we have to start from scratch every 5 years. When the US rules changed in January the line-ups at passport offices were unbelievable. Most places it has quited down, but you still hear stories of people paying others to stand in line for them. Of course all of these will be up for renewal at the same time, so 5 years hence it will be another huge nightmare. The government seemed hugely unprepared for the onslaught of applications. Although they started advertising last fall, most people delayed until it was essential. Conversely, you also had people who had never travelled outside the country deciding they also needed one right now.

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

What's the point of waiting to get a passport until it's time to travel??

Passports are useful for a lot of matters besides travel. If you ever lose your wallet it's a lot easier to get replacement IDs if you've got a passport. They are also a much more secure form of ID (as compared with a driver's license) to use when you need to produce a photo ID. As I've posted before, in this day and age I don't see a good reason to start giving people access to the most easily forged form of personal ID in your possession. I think that's particularly to do when you are traveling, especially when you're simultaneously alerting anyone who might intercept that ID that you are away from your house for some period of time.

In the US, we need to get people to quit thinking that passports are only for travel.

[jgirvine Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close jgirvine]

This case, it is actually my brother and his kids. He is a single father with custody (don't ask about the ex ) He basically just makes ends meet. This is a person who would never need a passport. In Feb., I found out that none of my kids could go down to the Caymens with us, so I had a big unit and just my husband and I. I work for an airline, and get buddy passes. Called and told my brother that if he could swing the passport fees, I would have the place to stay, already have a car rented, and I would pay the service charges from my company and I always cook in the unit so he would not have to worry about food. He is soooooooo thrilled and excited. I am so worried this is going to blow up in his face, and he and his kids will be so disapointed.

3 weeks from departure, my Mother called their congressman's office, then on 2 separate times my brother called the passport office. Then, yesterday, I call the passport office. I am told that the 2 kids passports have been pulled from the lineup to have them rushed and overnighted, but even after 2 calls by my brother, and an email from their congressmans office, his passport had no tag on it in the system saying it needed rushed. HOPEFULLY now it does. I am to call back on Monday to check. So at that point we are 5 days and counting.

[lawren2 Malibu Beach Barbie & A Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close lawren2]

This case, it is actually my brother and his kids. He is a single father with custody (don't ask about the ex ) He basically just makes ends meet. This is a person who would never need a passport. In Feb., I found out that none of my kids could go down to the Caymens with us, so I had a big unit and just my husband and I. I work for an airline, and get buddy passes. Called and told my brother that if he could swing the passport fees, I would have the place to stay, already have a car rented, and I would pay the service charges from my company and I always cook in the unit so he would not have to worry about food. He is soooooooo thrilled and excited. I am so worried this is going to blow up in his face, and he and his kids will be so disapointed.

see now that adds an entirely new spin to the thread. It was so kind of you to invite him and the children will love the visit. I can understand how the nearly $300 for passports could be a hardship...and for a father to have custody? ahhh I won't go there.

For instances other than yours I must agree with Steve though. My child has no OTHER official ID other than that passport. We use them as often for domestic travel as we do for international travel. Americans need to wake up to the fact that passports are required.

My fingers are crossed jg, that your very generous offer to this family will come to fruition.

Please keep us updated.

ETA My dear friend Glitter....your kids don't have passports? SHAME SHAME