The Great 2007 Passport Fiasco
Ah, yet another thing to blame the Bush administration for: Making millions of Americans virtual prisoners in their own country because of an enormous backlog of passport applications.
With the coming of summer travel season, this is no small matter.
Take the case of a friend who is a world traveler: She mailed in her passport to be renewed in early March. Three-plus months later, no passport. So she called an 800 number to find out what the problem is.
The problem is that the State Department is so short staffed (blame the Iraq war) that it is overwhelmed with passport applications and renewals. The backlog is largely due to a new rule that requires U.S. citizens to have passports when flying to Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda.
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10 Responses to “The Great 2007 Passport Fiasco”
Isn’t this another reason to realize that the immigration program proposed by President Bush is never gong to work. Millions of people all trying to apply at the same time for amnesty and supply a ton of documents (many of which is be fake).
If the government cannot do the simple things for its own citizens, why should we believe that it can implement a massive new program without a multitude of problems.
Of course, if the Senate would have hearings on the immigration bill such questions could be asked but I guess that is the last thing anyone in DC wants.
It truly is a mess. I’m may be doing some shows on cruise ships. I have a passport I need renewed. I used to just send it in (I have had a passport since 1973 when I went overseas to intern on the Hindustan Times in India). Now I have to go to a website first and fill out a form. It keeps spitting back something that is accurate saying it is not accurate. So today I will have to go down to the county board of supervisors to ask for help and if that doesn’t work contact my U.S. senator’s office. I can’t do these shows until my passport is renewed. In the past it took as along as it took to mail it out and wait for it to come back. Now there’s an 800 number that no one answers or you get a recording saying to call back later since no one can help you. In short; a huge deteriorating in government service. Let’s put aside ideology. If we used a company that was run so bad wouldn’t we either not use it (we don’t have that choice) or make our ire be known? I’ve probably wasted about four hours so far trying to use the website form. Very very bad. I’m now assuming it may be 6 months or so before I can really start my marketing to do these kinds of shows since the backlog is so bad and the bureaucracy is worse than the backlog.
Joe,
FWIW – Try the main post office in your area… they usually have a Passport Office in a side room… two years ago a post office branch saved me a lot of time.
Joe:
From what I am told, getting your U.S. senator or congressperson to intervene is just about the only way to truly expedite a renewal.
The border between the US and Canada is huge. Americans who live near it often drive up there for excellent reasons. Like, for example, to buy really good beer for pretty reasonable prices.
Now, people who do things like that will need a passport.
So it might have possible to predict a large increase in passport applications.
Heckuva job!
Joe,
Theoretically you should be able to go to a regional post office (the locations are listed on the state dept. website) and drop off your renewal app. Even if there’s not sufficient time to get it processed before you travel, you should then be able to go online and print out verification that you’ve applied for the renewal and this would suffice to allow you to reenter the US after your trip (you’d still have to check on the entry requirements of other countries that you’d be travelling to).
You may have already tried this and it’s just not working (I’m also embroiled in difficulty with my son’s passport app and the online information showing up is incorrect). But I thought I’d pass that along in case you weren’t aware.
Our issue is frustrating too- my son was born in Guatemala and even though we’ve spent thousands in attorney and court fees in order to naturalize him as a citizen and readopt him in a US court, and have obtained his social security card (none of which would have been possible without proof of his legal entry into the country), we’re still being asked to supply all kinds of documentation to prove that he’s here legally. We went through all of the additional expense and process precisely because we were told that this type of thing wouldn’t happen. Ah, bureaucracy.
Amazing.
I got my passport in one day. Actually about 4 hours.
Perhaps Joe you should try a regional passport office.
Davebo,
When did you apply? Surely not since Jan 2007- that’s when the regulations changed and the enormous backlog began. I don’t think anyone is getting quick results now, and Joe and Shaun are correct- you can’t even speak to anyone on the phone, they refuse to help you unless you are within 7-14 days of travelling.
It’s a classic example of govt making a new regulation without thinking about the consequences.
, no matter what the facts are, at any time
DLS The Bushies pushed the change for the GWOT and didn’t add personnel. I seen an aunt last weekend who works for the navy in Norfolk/Virginia Beach. They are even struggling with the Bush policy of doing it on the cheap.