Passports

[Kathryn Klos]

Thought I'd begin a new thread for this particular discussion...

Information changes and may change again before July, but I heard on the radio this morning that U.S. citizens will need a passport by July... until June, a picture I.D. and birth certificate will suffice.

It took me about three months to receive my passport in 2007.

 

[Jim Wilson]

Both my wife and I had expired passports. I applied for a new one last year, and it took 14 weeks. My wife applied for hers in January, and it took two weeks. Either I am a lot more supspect than her, or the feds have caught up on that backlog. Just remember, "Your mileage may vary".

Jim

 

[Splinter]

Passport processing speed

Plan on having enough time to get yours. The experience varies greatly.
Mine took 6 weeks 8 years ago, my son's took 3 weeks 2 years ago and we paid $$$$$ more for expidited service, Paul's took only 10 days this past fall, even though he didn't pay the extra $$$$$ for "expidited" service. It's anybodys guess. Two problems Paul ran into: 1) It wasn't any trouble with the Federal Govt, it was actually at the Courthouse where he went to get all the documents he needed to GET the passport. His birth certificate wasn't genuine (!!!) and he spent quite a bit of time finding out more about that and then getting the real thing. Get going on this NOW in case you have trouble with the unforeseen particularly if think you might have questionable or non-standard certificates from further past than 40 years ago. 2) His photo, taken at Walgreens , makes him look like a horse thief. Ask him to show it to you this summer in Ontario, I promise you'll fall down laughing. Splinter.

 

[MikeCav]

Passport Photo

Erma Bombeck used to say "When you begin to look like your passport photo - it's time to come home!"

 

[bob goeckel]

just took this from the u.s. customs Q &A section:

"As late as Spring 2009 - At a later date to be determined by the Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of State. ALL persons*, including U.S. citizens, traveling between the U.S. and Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Bermuda by land or sea (including ferries), may be required to present a valid passport or other documents as determined by the Department of Homeland Security. While recent legislative changes permit a later deadline, the Departments of State and Homeland Security are working to meet all requirements as soon as possible. Ample advance notice will be provided to enable the public to obtain passports or passport cards for land/sea entries."

hope this clarifies the issue for this summer.