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Well, the AP just updated their press release, and the new one says that Bermuda and the Carribbean will be include....everyone keep their fingers crossed.
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Yeah, his ex has 2 ex husbands. Each EX has custody of the 2 kids from that marriage.Originally posted by lawren2Comment
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I use my passport as my sole ID when traveling, domestic as well as international - the only travel vendors who get to see my driver's license are car rental companies. I use my passport as ID when I access my safe deposit box. Earlier this week I visited a secure US government facility - I used my passport for ID.Originally posted by lawren2
Essentially, any time I know in advance that I will need to show ID, I use my passport, not my DL. The principal exception is with a credit card purchase - I don't routinely carry my passport as I do my wallet, so when I'm at a store and I have to present ID, I usually use my DL.“Maybe you shouldn't dress like that.”
“This is a blouse and skirt. I don't know what you're talking about.”
“You shouldn't wear that body.”Comment
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My wife washed our youngest daughter's passport in the washing machine when she got back from a school trip last week. So we will need to start the process of getting her a new one right away. She was born in California and her birth certificate just has a stamp on it and not a raised seal so hope that they will take that with the old passport to meet the identy requirements. We have ordered her a new birth certificate, the California Vital Records are as slow or slower than the passport people.
Are the new passports that are issued now have the chip in them?Comment
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so happens that 2 of my best girlfriends on the planet <I can count BGs on one hand> have each married men that had sole custody of the children of their previous marriages. So I do relate. and those kids are lucky indeed to have those fathers.Originally posted by jgirvine
I hope GCM is one of the islands that flexes the restrictions on passports and if not that the passports show up.
<<<<HUGS>>>>Lawren
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There are many wonderful places in the world, but one of my favourite places is on the back of my horse.
- Rolf KopfleComment
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Most of you will remember that I had to get a congresswoman involved to get my passport in time for Mexico. Today, in our local newspaper there was an article about how all the local congressman are being unindated with pleas for help getting their passports. There was an interview with a lady who got her passports for her / & children 3 days before their trip to Europe.
It is a true nightmare and I'm glad I wasn't the only one. shaggyComment
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Why are some so much quicker than others? Does it have to do with location from which they are ordered? My husband and I already have them, as we also prefer this form of ID when travelling. This year we purchased them for our three kids, just in case we got an awesome exchange with short notice. All three kids' arrived in separate envelopes on the same day, a little over a month later. I jokingly thought it was because kids have a shorter history to search.
Incidentally, my oldest son is from my previous marriage and I did not have to produce anything other than his birth certificate just like the younger kids. In fact, they produced the certified birth cert. for me for an additional $9. The whole application process including photos and forms took under 15 minutes. It has to be a location thing because I'm never lucky.
janaComment
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The best way to expedite passports is to send them through a Congressman or Senator in the beginning. We recently used Senator Burr's office for my wife's passport. He has a staffer who is specifically responsible for handling passports and a set of office procedures to follow. Congressmen and Senators can send them through a Special Issue Passport Office in Washington, DC. It took about 4 weeks to have hers back.Comment
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Passport fiasco was not necessary
This is an article that was printed in the Houston Chronicle today about how this passport fiasco was not necessary; it blames the airlines for implementing rules concerning passports that they did not have to implement. It looks like the Bush administration is looking to implement new rules on allowing you to travel if you have applied for a passport.
Lisa Falkenberg
June 8, 2007, 12:16AM
Airlines must fess up on flexibility
By LISA FALKENBERG
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
If you're one of the millions of Americans stranded in passport purgatory, you're probably rejoicing at the news that the Bush administration is expected today to waive its passport requirements for Mexico and Canada.
But the truth is, nothing's changed. This has been the government's policy since January. It's just that nobody told you.
As it turns out, I found out this week, many of the missed weddings, frantically rescheduled vacations and hours spent languishing in lines that form before dawn at Houston's downtown emergency passport office could have been avoided if all airlines had implemented a grace period the feds have allowed since the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative took effect.
In a January memo, the Department of Homeland Security's office of Customs and Border Protection told airlines that during the initial phase of the new passport requirements, airlines wouldn't be fined for not complying. They were encouraged to implement a "flexible phased" policy allowing wiggle room while the program got off the ground, according to Customs spokeswoman Kelly Klundt.
"The goal was never to strand travelers," Klundt said.
In good faith
Technically, the government hasn't even been enforcing the new passport requirements for Americans traveling to Mexico, Canada and the Caribbean. The Customs memo promised to notify the airlines in writing 30 days before the law took full effect. That hasn't happened yet.
Customs specifically asked airlines to allow travelers without passports to board planes to Mexico, Canada and the Caribbean if they could produce documentation showing they made a "good faith effort" to obtain passports in a timely manner. (Slackers not included!) I can think of dozens of people I met last month in line at the Houston passport office who would have qualified: Some applied 15 weeks ahead of time.
But what good is a grace period if nobody knows about it? Though Customs notified airlines, it didn't share the news with the huddled masses yearning to travel freely in the Western Hemisphere.
"That wasn't publicly disseminated because we didn't want to encourage travelers not to comply," Klundt said. "We're walking a tightrope here. We're trying to implement something that Congress told us to implement, while making sure that Congress' constituents aren't stranded travelers."
In fact, before this column, one of the few ways a traveler could learn about the good-faith option was in a hard-to-find question/answer entry on the Customs Web site. The entry was promptly removed this week after I started asking questions.
Meanwhile, some airlines, such as Fort Worth-based American, chose to quietly follow the memo, allowing flexibility. For instance, American allows U.S. citizens to travel to Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean with a birth certificate if they haven't gotten their passports.
90,000 applications
Other airlines, including Houston-based Continental and Arizona-based U.S. Airways, chose to ignore the memo and require passports, even at the risk of stranding passengers caught up in an unprecedented passport-application backlog. In the Houston regional office alone, it has mounted to 90,000 applications.
The result is a national fiasco. Travelers have pleaded with congressional offices for help. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, called the passport agency "near-chaos" and wrote Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to "take immediate action" to clean up the mess. The backlog is costing Americans their money, their time and, in some cases, their sanity.
Airline flexibility could have gone a long way in easing the situation by accepting birth certificates or dealing with desperate traveler plights on a case-by-case basis. It could still have a big impact on Caribbean travelers since they aren't expected to be included in the expected "suspension" of the passport requirement.
So why has our hometown airline decided not to help?
"Because it's the law, and we're following the law," Continental spokeswoman Julie King said.
At first she said she was unaware of the grace period. After checking into it, she said Customs' policy is "unclear." She never would say whether Continental got the memo.
She did say that Continental allows travelers who made a good-faith effort to obtain a passport to reschedule their trips at no extra cost. I can see how some airlines would like to pretend that Customs never mentioned "grace period," "wiggle room" and "discretion."
Those are scary words for an industry that's responsible for protecting passengers' lives amid repeated terrorist threats. Black-and-white policies are easier to implement than gray ones.
And being flexible is inconvenient. But what about a bride who's inconvenienced by missing her wedding? A retired couple inconvenienced by missing a long-awaited vacation they couldn't afford in the first place?
And now, after five months of mayhem, somebody has decided to give American travelers a break. Excuse me if I don't applaud.
It's bad government for federal agencies not to tell travelers about flexibility in the passport law. It's bad business for some airlines not to care.
lisa.falkenberg@chron.comComment
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My oldest son got his within the last month and it was the new style. His brother and dad, who got theirs a month before that, did not.Originally posted by riverdees05
SheilaComment
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Not sure if anyone answered this...
Originally posted by JudyS
I can attest that the expediting fee works well...I submitted my application (with expediting fee) in March and received the new passports in less than three weeks. I was surprised it was so quick given the problems that I've been reading about. Here is a link...
How to Get Your Passport in a Hurry
It's a bit pricey ($60 additional cost) but sounds like it's the way to go if you have less than 3-4 months before a trip.Comment
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It depends on the office that issues the passport. I don't think they have equipped all the passport offices to issue the new chip passport.Originally posted by riverdees05Comment
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You don't say how badly damaged the passport is. You may want to check with one of the companies that assists in passport processing to see if the damage is such that she will need her birth certificate again.Originally posted by riverdees05
As for the ePassport, it is supposed to be phased in as stocks of the old passports are used up. When I renewed mine at the Washington Passport Office in December 2006, there were only a couple of offices issuing the ePassport, and Washington was one of them. That should have changed by now.Comment
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Update
Called the Cayman Islands today. Just because the US is going to waive the requirement, the Caymens are not at this point.
You used to be able to go into Caymen with just a birth certificate (which the passport office has) but when the US changed the rules, they did also.
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Like so many things, people leave it to the last minute and now the passport offices are swamped resulting in the long delays. I have aways had a valid passport whether I needed it or not as one never knows when it may come in handy. I renewed mine last year with no problems and my wife got her first one just after becoming a US citizen last year.JohnComment
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