dagblog - Comments for "Want a U.S. Passport? Not so fast, tell us about your Mom and work history"

It's not that there are no

acanuck — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 03:02:12 +0000

It's not that there are no standards; the standards are simply not spelled out in the HuffPost article. But it's pretty clear that if you have a birth certificate showing you were born in the U.S., you'll never be asked to fill out this form. I imagine it's always been the case that applicants without documentation go through a longer, more complicated process. I'm as open to conspiracy theories as anyone, but they aren't always the explanation.

Is it ok to refer to this

artappraiser — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 02:05:59 +0000

In reply to Want a U.S. Passport? Not so fast, tell us about your Mom and work history

Is it ok to refer to this thread the next time I see one of those sermons about how wunnerful all of our Federal government employees and all of our Federal government regulations are?

I actually got to send a fax

miguelitoh2o — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 01:00:10 +0000

In reply to Want a U.S. Passport? Not so fast, tell us about your Mom and work history

I actually got to send a fax to the State Department in response to this. My message: "You people are insane if you adopt these regulations. I have no idea what my various addresses were from the time I went to college to now, 40 years later. Will the last sane person to leave the US, please turn out the lights. Sincerely, Miguelitoh2o, US passport holder"

The time will come when travel restrictions will be commonplace, and policy will be implemented, (see current topic), to discourage Americans from leaving the US/spending abroad. God forbid we should adopt policy that would discourage corporations from same.

There are no standards

Qaphsiel — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 00:55:20 +0000

In reply to This is not a standard

There are no standards concerning when this form will be required, so it could be invoked for any reason or no reason.

As it's highly unlikely that most applicants would have this sort of information on hand, or have the time and resources to obtain it (if it's even possible given that people with the information might be deceased or estranged or whatever), invoking would amount to a defacto denial of a passport.

You're kidding, I hope.I

bwakfat — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 00:48:00 +0000

In reply to Want a U.S. Passport? Not so fast, tell us about your Mom and work history

You're kidding, I hope.

I applied for my passport 2 weeks ago.

Wolfie, This is snark, right?

CVille Dem — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 22:34:33 +0000

In reply to Want a U.S. Passport? Not so fast, tell us about your Mom and work history

Wolfie, This is snark, right?

This is not a standard

acanuck — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 20:51:26 +0000

In reply to Want a U.S. Passport? Not so fast, tell us about your Mom and work history

This is not a standard Passport Application form; this is additional information that could be required from some applicants, almost certainly those failing to submit a copy of their birth certificate, naturalization papers, or other proof of U.S. citizenship.

If you're trying to get a passport without supporting documents, yeah, they're going to make you jump through hoops. Listing every employer you've ever worked for does seem excessive, but as they say in the fine print answering is voluntary. Sure, there's risk of abuse -- but nothing like the sheer idiocy of booting someone off a plane because their name resembles someone else's on an arbitrary no-fly list.

Wow. That is just...

quinn esq — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 17:38:16 +0000

In reply to Want a U.S. Passport? Not so fast, tell us about your Mom and work history

Wow. That is just... criminally insane.

As are the comments from the RW nutjobs on that Consumer Traveler site. Egads. Maybe the forms are for them?

Oh, you never know. It's not

Qaphsiel — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 16:56:13 +0000

In reply to If it weren't Obama's State

Oh, you never know. It's not like the department's staff gets replaced every new administration. It could very well be a Birther who came up with this.

Apparently people at the

Qaphsiel — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 16:15:16 +0000

In reply to Want a U.S. Passport? Not so fast, tell us about your Mom and work history

Apparently people at the State Department have small families and don't move much. Glad mine is good for another 5 years (I'm being cynical and expecting they'll make the renewal process a hassle too, but maybe they won't).