Obtaining passport in United States

U.S. swamped with passport requests By ASHLEY M. HEHER, Associated Press Writer
Sat Mar 17, 6:26 AM ET


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.

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.

She was one of dozens of people waiting in a line that spilled into the lobby in Philadelphia's regional passport office Friday.

"My husband's is a month behind and mine is missing altogether and our honeymoon is in two weeks, and I'm either losing half my money or all of my money," she said.

People who had not received their passports two weeks before their trips were generally told to go to one of 14 big-city passport offices across the country. There, they were mostly confronted with long lines and no guarantee they would leave with a passport.

Jackie Moore drove overnight from Columbus, Ohio, to Chicago, hoping to pick up a passport for her 8-year-old grandson. The family had a 6 a.m. flight Saturday for a vacation in the Dominican Republic, and the boy was the only one whose passport had not arrived.

"My little grandson is going to be heartbroken if we don't get him on this plane," she said.

The line curled around the block outside the passport office in downtown Miami, where 29-year-old Qandeel Sakrani stood with her husband and their two young daughters, hoping to get a passport so she could travel to Pakistan next month.

"I haven't seen my parents in 18 months, and I haven't seen the rest of my family for five years," she said.

Lawndale, Calif., accountant Emilia Moreno sent in an application to renew her passport four weeks ago, only to discover there were no records it ever got there. The 48-year-old woman spent most of the week fighting for an appointment with the passport agency in Los Angeles so she would be able to travel to Italy and France for vacation on Wednesday.

"My employer already told me she's going to buy me a pizza, for me to think that I'm in Italy," she said.

For others, it may already be too late.

Judith Jones was supposed to fly to Jamaica on Friday for a vacation with friends. Instead, she spent a second day in line in Chicago, trying to track down her passport.

"It's supposed to be a girls' trip. The girls are there, but I'm not yet," said the 41-year-old from Griffith, Ind.

About 12 million passport applications were processed in 2006, and as many as 17 million are expected this year, according to the State Department said. Some 74 million Americans have valid passports.

_

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

I posted a similar article from the Los Angeles Times on this thread in the USA branch.

In Mexico, you get your mexican passport in one day at any federal office. You hand in your documents in the morning and in the afternoon you have it. It is weird.

What's so weird? I don't know the exact number of passports Mexico issues each year . . . in addition to the number of other migration documents . . . but I'll place a large bet that the number is far fewer than what the USA government processes. In Mexico, for many years . . . the government made it very difficult for it's citizens to obtain passports - well, citizens who didn't have much money. The USA government doesn't practice that type of discrimination, discrimination which is so prevelant in Mexico.

You are so wrong longford. USA has practice that class of discrimination with black citizens, doesn´t it? I don´t know where the hell you got that information, but everybody has the right to obtain a mexican passport, it doesn´t matter if you are poor. Since I have concience all mexican federal offices have given you your passport in one day (no body asks if you have one million dollars in your bank account). It is weird because Mexico has 100 million inhabitants (of whom about the half have requested a passport for traveling aboard) and also has a lot of people requesting passports (or renewals) in vacation periods and all the time you receive your passport in one day. It is just that, despite you are a first world country, you also have problems with bureocracy. Mexico has not practice that kind of discrimination.

You should learn more about your country.

<blockquote>Quote
<hr> . . . the government made it very difficult for it's citizens to obtain passports - well, citizens who didn't have much money. <hr></blockquote>

Really? How so? What are the criterias they look for in issuing a passport? Why if they're kind of encouraging people to migrate up there? Why not just make a blockade on the Mexican side to keep people from leaving like they do in the former East Germany? I am sure the American goverment would appreciate that too.

<blockquote>Quote
<hr>but I'll place a large bet that the number is far fewer than what the USA government processes. <hr></blockquote>

Bill apparently is pulling data out of his ass again.

"THERE ARE NO RELIABLE STATISTICS" ("Longford's mantra about Mexico) about the number of U.S. citizens holding passports, but it's somewhere between 7 and 15% (How Many Americans Own Passports?). They are also relatively pricey documents... 97 US Dollars (U.S. State Department passport application data).

Mexicans generally need passports to go about anywhere, so are very, very common. Alas, I don't have the figures, but they aren't a big deal, and I've seen plenty of people using them for everyday identification. Cost: 80 PESOS (Recibo de pasaportes)

Grabman, as someone who freely admits that he lived in Mexico illegally, and who routinely violates various laws in the USA - you're not one to be commenting on such matters.

This year I applied for a passport renewal at my local post office in Arkansas, and paid the extra money for expediting in 3 weeks instead of 8 weeks. It came in about 4 weeks. My advice is to apply for renewals early, when you don´t need it urgently.

John

I'm wondering what laws I violate in the U.S. The factually (and reality) challenged "longford" strikes again!

It is an interesting -- though wonky -- question. What percentage of Mexicans do acquire passports? In my normally quiet corner of the universe, the restrictions on Mexicans entering the U.S. was a disaster for local businesses on both sides of the border, though those of us on the U.S. side still regularly cross into Mexico. There's been a small boom business in passport photos (taken by the local beautician) and form filing, since a lot of us just aren't used to bureaucratic restrictions, and are kind of discombobulated at the prospect of having to show our papers just to go to the dentist or buy lunch or shop at the farmacia on the other side of the river. I've been carrying my passport when I'm out driving around the area, since we're already getting the "papers please" treatment around here.

<blockquote>Quote
<hr>[Mexican] passports are easily obtainable just as Antonio says in post #4. <hr></blockquote>

They are not obtainable the same day in Nuevo Laredo. It took nearly two weeks for my wife to receive hers.

I have no idea what your friend meant when he said the Mexican government makes it difficult for its citizens without money to obtain a passport. Maybe he meant the passport is expensive for the average Mexican wage earner. A five year passport costs 1010 pesos and a ten-year costs 1630 pesos.

#5 I asked for a passport when I just had money for that. So I do not have to learn more about my country and I do not have to show (to federal agents) that I have 1 million dollars in my bank account. If it helps I live in Mexico.

#6 because this is a free country.

#7 here is the info for mexican passports:

General info
First time

You may see at the schedules that you hand in your documents at 8 am and they give you your passport at 1 pm (the same day). I do not know why the american government makes a lot of noise (and time) with this matter. They could hand the passport the same day also, but maybe they like to investigate the person first.

Only if there are errors in the last passport or if you are a naturalized mexican citizen, than the process takes from 3 to 5 days.

It's called sarcasm. Reread your post #10----you sound like a 12 year old in a pissing match on a playground. Start a drive to get the guy banned if he's that upsetting to you.

Antonio. Now that you mention it my wife was replacing a lost passport and that might account for the difference in how long it took. It was two weeks though and not 5 days.

Geeze, guys ... don't let "longford's" bad vibes get to the rest of ya.

Alta, am I right in assuming Mrs. Alta's case was not the norm... a lost passport, resident of another country, etc? And, Nuevo Leon has crappy service?

Antonio I think was talking about the "normal" situation. And DF, where obtaining government services is relatively easy.

And, anyway, weren't we talking about U.S. passports? It looks as if the U.S. government wrote the rules before figuring out how to enforce them, or doing any thinking about implementing them. That's not unique in the annals of bureaucracy, but this present administration has a track record of taking drastic actions that turn a minor problem into a major one.

ok Alta, I missed that. But, is your wife a naturalized mexican citizen? That can make the difference. Also if your passport was stolen, it takes more because also you need a police report. Been lost and also been a naturalized mexican citizen takes more time.

Yes Rich, I was talking about the normal situation but I was not talking of DF, I was talking of Toluca. I do not know in other parts of the country, but I assume that it is the same. I know relatives in Guerrero state that also can obtain their passport the same day. Since it is a federal service, quality of service does not vary a lot from state to state.

Also it takes more time if you apply in a state or municipal link office. Some times states and municipalities have agreements with the federation to install a passport office in their territory. This means that this offices accept the documents and they send them to the nearest federal office for approval and this takes time. Fortunately in Toluca there is federal passport office.

Taking this thread back to the begining issue. My daughter applied for a passport for my grandchildas soon as her birth certificate was received. She paid for an expedited processing. It has been 4 weeks and no passport. She tried to trace it on line with no luck. They did not even show an application. The number to call gives an email address but says not to expect an answer for two days. They are due to fly into Leon on Sat.

What now? Would she be allowed to fly with a birth certificate and both parrents with passports?

Mine took 3 weeks in February. It will eventually show up in the mail. You could probably show them your copy of the application.

John

# 21, as far as I know us citizens are still allowed to enter Mexico with just a birth certificate and an ID. But the problem is returning to the US.

She was born and raised in Coahuila. She did have a police report but that was submitted with the application . I suspect that took a little longer because it was a replacement , plus there is probably more demand for passports in the frontera region. It's still faster than getting one from the US.

I don't know what Longford/Masterson was referring to and I really don't care. But comparing Mexican and US processing times for passports is kind of meaningless. This article was about how the new law requiring passports for re-entry is effecting US travellers who had planned trips to Mexico and waited until the last minute to apply for a passport.

She actually showed up two weeks early and applied ASAP. Her six week shots were given at 4 weeks to prepare for the trip.By six months she really isn't going to look like her photo.

Lets hope it shows up by Friday or I may be taking an expected drive to Laredo. On a positive note I know have a Mexican plated car and could just buy a few days tourist insurance.