Friday, December 01, 2006

Passport stupidity

My wife and I are planning on going to Germany to visit her father next year. Our passports are valid through 2009.

Graydon is three years old and Kayla is five years old. We now have to get them passports.

I just looked up the rules and I thought I would post them here.

It is going to cost us $164 so that our kids have the ability to travel abroad for five years.

It is going to take us about half a day as well...

What a joke.

Here are the requirements:

The nearest passport office is the post office at 1501 South Clinton. Phone is 427-7301. Hours for passports are:
Mon – Fri 8 AM – 4:30 PM
Sat 9 AM – 2 PM

Take the following:
Kayla and Graydon must appear in person
Forms filled out in black ink
Official birth certificate for each child
Both parents must go and both parents must take their official (Raised printing) birth certificate AND a valid drivers license OR
One parent must go and the other parent must fill out form DS-3053 and it must be notarized. 2 Passport photos per kid.
Cost is $82 per kid. Call post office for methods of paying, some require exact cash.

After you drop off a valid passport application at the post office you will generally get your passport back within six weeks…

Good grief.

Mike Sylvester

8 comments:

Robert Enders said...

I supposed it is to prevent baby smuggling. We don't want foriegn five year olds sneaking into this country and taking away jobs from hard working American kindergarteners.

Jeff Pruitt said...

I think you even need a passport to go to Canada now do you not? Just another "tax"...

Anonymous said...

Goog grief, indeed! Ditto to what a joke! Why, the entire process is almost as inconvenient and as expensive as preparing a Thanksgiving dinner. Clearly an outrage!

The nearest post office with passport capabilities is in downtown fort wayne? My God, every post office should have that capability and their should be little sub post offices in every neighborhood that do nothing but process children's passports. No child should be forced to travel further than a 2 year old can toddle to obtain a passport. I think that's required now by the "No Child Left Behind at the Airport" Act.

The Post Office is only open for passports 47 and one-half hours per week and not at all on Sundays? Obviously not enough! Banks, courts and the stock market are ALMOST open that many hours per week, and we all know our children have very busy schedules.

How foolish and unnecessary to have the child appear in person. If Graydon is old enough to say "Graydon" and hold up three fingers, the whole thing ought to be handled over the phone. Why in the world would anyone other than a true blue, bona fide, US citizen child ever want a child's passport? What would anyone else ever do with such a document? It's not like a passport is the most widely accepted proof of US citizenship. I mean, nobody could use a bogus child's passport to claim state or federal benefits for a child. No adult would ever seek legal alien residence status using a bogus passport to establish US citizenship of their child. Wow, what a joke for sure.

A birth certificate for the child? What is our government thinking? I mean, they already make the child be their in person- It should be pretty obvious that child was born! Duh.

Black ink? Who the Hell has black ink? What a burden on child travel- probably unconstitutional. I bet they charge a fortune for a black ink pen. It's a conspiracy I tell you.

They want the parents there with birth certificates? Why? Nobody would ever want to get a passport for anyone other than the their own child. Certainly not at $82 a pop. You couldn't pay me to travel internationally with somebody else's kid. Foolish paranoia I say.

Not one but TWO photos. What a burden. What do they want to do, keep one on file in case there is ever a question about the authenticity of the passport? Yeah, like that actually happens. Sounds like a needless requirement in place only to benefit the Polaroid lobby.

Six damn weeks! It's not like they are trying to verify the information. What an insult to our globe-trotting infants! Let our children travel!

Mike, I share your outrage and I'm sure we all feel your pain. I hope this expewrience hasn't lessened your pride in being an American.

Mike Kole said...

Jeff- Yes, you will need it for re-entry from Canada beginning in 2007. Yep- just another tax.

Charlotte A. Weybright said...

I would like to see the government worry less about our citizens traveling abroad, and worry more about outsourcing almost every item you buy.

The next time you go shopping, look at the place the item was made. I can't find too many items made in the United States anymore.

Why does the government put fewer requirements on corporations sending their business overseas than we do our own citizens who want to travel?

Robert Enders said...

Because if the government puts restrictions on foriegn imports, other countries put restrictions on US exports. That is what led to the Great Depression.

Mike Kole said...

Mike, I'm glad you brought this subject up. It reminds me that I need to renew my son'd passport and get one for Isabel before next year's higher prices take effect.

Jeff Pruitt said...

This has NOTHING to do w/ what led to the great depression Robert. Please enlighten us as to what you are referring to...

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