Less than one-third of Americans have passports, compared with more than half of Canadians. And if you’ve ever wondered why, then it’s probably been a few years since you tried to get one.
I applied for three passports yesterday, and I’m here to tell you the real reason why most Americans lack a passport.
It’s a major hassle.
I’m traveling to Guadalajara, Mexico, to speak at the SATW meeting in October, and while making my reservations, I discovered that my passport expires in November. So I had one renewal.
Also, my whole family has been invited to an overseas destination (can’t say where yet because the details are still not nailed down) so our youngest, Erysse, had to apply for a passport, and our oldest, Aren, needed to renew his.
Now, you’d think there would be a seamless way to handle all of these items — two renewals and an application — online. Not so.
I found the State Department Web site to be confusing, at least when it comes to renewals. I wanted to apply for my renewals in person, along with the other application, but that didn’t appear to be an option. Mine had to be done by mail, apparently.
Next, we tried to download the new passport application so we could fill it out before getting to the post office. About halfway through the process, I discovered I’d actually printed the wrong document. Unsure of which form to use, I decided to wait until getting to the post office before trying again.
The folks at the passport office were very helpful. They found the right forms and helped me fill them out correctly. But still, with two kids running around — one of whom refused to have her picture taken — the situation was chaotic, at best. While I handled the forms, Mom was halfway across the room, being administered some kind of oath.
For a passport? Puh-lease!
And then there was the expense, which was probably the worst part of it. All the fees and photos came to $321. Oh, and let’s not forget the the hour it took to get through the passport ordeal. That’s gotta be worth something.
The State Department can make this process far easier. For example:
• Why not make passports more automatic? You’ve heard of motor-voter acts, which allow you to register to vote when you apply for a driver’s license? Why not have a motor-passport initiative, which lets people receive a permit to leave the country when they get a license?
• Cut the red tape. I can’t think of any good reason for the oaths and in-person signatures. Seriously, getting a passport should be as easy as registering to vote or picking up a birth certificate. A passport, in essence, is a government vouching for your citizenship and saying it’s OK to travel.
• Go online. In an age when electronic signatures and digital photos are commonly used in legal documents, why can’t the State Department figure out a way to accept our applications paperlessly? It would save time, money and it’s good for the environment.
I wish I could say I’ll find out how far we’ve come in another ten years. But my son’s passport expires in 2010, so I’m sure I’ll revisit this subject soon.
(Photo: clappstar/Flickr Creative Commons)
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Chris … I feel your pain but I don’t want passport applications accepted electronically. For a document that varifies that you are who you say you are, I want someone to see you, your passport picture and application all at once.
I agree. None of our family had passports, and it took a major ordeal to plan when BOTH parents could go with the kids, be sure we had all the birth certificates, keep the kids corraled for their photos while I did the paperwork I’d missed when I tried to be organized at home.
Fortunately, our county office was very patient and helpful. Otherwise it would have been a nightmare.
Great suggestions for improvement; I wonder if/when things will improve?
You’ve hit the nail on the head here. I was going to try and get an expedited passport to replace one that has gone MIA here at home (probably in a moving box somewhere). Then I found out it would cost me $300 + a trip to DC, and they still couldn’t guarantee that I’d have it within the two week timeframe I needed. I gave up, we’re using Webex instead. :(
Total concurrence on this topic. As a DC resident, I went in to the main passport office earlier this year to get my renewal processed. The State Dept staff were kind and efficient enough, BUT, 1) the wait to be serviced was intolerable, and 2) the outsourced security staff were racist, rude and completely lacking in any sort of customer-service skills. I erroneously thought that in-person processing would be more effective than by mail. Boy, was I wrong.
Mine expires in 2012, so now I’m dreading it based on your experience! Maybe by your next experience in 2010 or mine in 2012, it will be much improved! Here’s to wishful thinking!
I don’t know about in the US but in Canada our passports require the signature of guarantor who says that yes, these photos ARE of you and I can say this because I’ve known you for more than 2 years. The passport itself can be mailed in for processing (although it’s faster to take it in person). But our passports cost about the same as US passports and are only good for 5 years, not 10. And we just finally got a renewal process within the last few years, before that you had to go through the regular reapplying process.
It is sooo easy in The Netherlands.
You go to cityhall, hand over your photograph, sign in a little box for your passport and hand over your old passport if you have one, pay about €40 cash or debit and you’re done!
Return to cityhall in 4 to 5 days and pick up your new passport.
Sounds like an epidemic of those “overpaid political hacks abusing their authority” as Bob Knickman was wont to say on the old “AM America” morning drive show. Getting a passport in Canada was a breeze…took my forms in to an office on Monday, received it Friday of same week, without paying any usurious fee for expedited delivery. Form for a renewal was simple, easy to download and print out. Perhaps I received fast service because I listed the Chief of Staff to a cabinet minister as a personal reference (LOL!) although I doubt that the clerk in the processing centre would have known his name from that of Roberto Clemente.
I just renewed passports for my entire family at my local post office and it was a snap, though — as you point out — quite expensive. Minors always have to renew theirs in person with parents present (with ID and birth certs) and that’s a terrific idea, for obvious reasons. Our post office official called each child forward, looked at their photos, and asked them each a few questions. Not a big deal, but I was impressed with the process.
I’ve spent much of my life traveling for work and for pleasure, and have lived in five different countries. My husband (European by birth) and I have friends from all over the world. The real reasons why more Americans don’t have passports is cultural — we’re a much more insular nation in more respects than other countries, in our media, pop culture, even the way and *what* our kids are taught in public school. How many foreign heads of state or capital cities can most Americans name? We’ve been at war for years and most Americans can’t find Iraq on a map. Hell, I know so many people who haven’t been out of their home STATE. Whether we travelers like to admit it or not, that’s the crux of it.
Chris,
In Canada, you need to find a “guarantor” to vouch for you, the passport is only good for five years, and it costs pretty much the same as an American one.
Despite this, far more Canadians have passports than Americans…and yet the reason you give is that the American one is “so hard” to get.
I did both applications – my wife’s and mine – to renew, and her process was far easier (she’s American).
I think I agree more with Kathleen’s statements.
I just renewed mine while simultaneously changing my name on it after getting married… really was not that big of a deal. For one thing, you can actually take the pic yourself as long as it meets the requirements. The only thing that was frustrating to me was that in some places on the website it says they require the original marriage license for a name change and on other places (including the renewal application) says that a photocopy is fine. Like an idiot I forgot to mail in my photocopy of the marriage license when I turned everything in and got a letter back that said they needed the original. Calling them didn’t help resolve it either… when I pointed out the website contradicted the letter they were just confused. Anyway, ended up sending in the photocopy and it was fine (and they sent it back). Took 5-6 weeks total, though if I had sent everything in at once it would have been 4 weeks max to receive it. Pretty simple.
I guess I’m the odd one out. I’ve never had any issues with renewing my passport, though I agree on the cost being a little steep.
This is why I only renew my passport overseas at a consulant or embassy. What takes weeks here, I can get done in a day. The only drawback is it a “Z” passport, no optical reader. I just went thorugh this with a fine member of TSA. He said “I’ve been working with TSA for 11 years, and I ain’t ever seen one like this”
I also renewed my passport by mail a few months ago. I thought the process was very easy and I got my new passport in about two weeks. Of course, I understand that it’s is more complicated for a family.
I have to agree with Chris, but I have a slightly different problem. I have a 10 year old daughter from a previous relationship. Of course, as a child, she has to have both parents’ signatures. As I haven’t seen or heard from my ex in nearly a decade, I have no ability to get that signature. When I called our local office to inquire about it, I was told to fill out the available form and bring it into the office. Then the agent would review it and she MAY approve it. If she didn’t believe that I had not made every effort to find a way to contact him, then it would be denied and my daughter wouldn’t get a passport. A step-parent can’t sign, even if I can show he’s been her parent for years.
I understand the concept of requiring both parents, but the fact is that there are plenty of cases that both parents aren’t available to sign for various reasons. Surely they can come up with a better system than having a local agent review the form and make an arbitrary decision that may or may not be in our favor. Needless to say, all foreign travel is on hold indefinitely.
Chris, I think you made it more of a hassle than it needed to be. There is no reason to go to a passport office for a renewal. Simply fill out the form, attach the picture, and drop it by the curb. In any case, ALL passports are done by mail; the difference with a new passport is that the passport office does the mailing.
As far as the problems with the new passports: You could have saved yourself some hassle by having the pictures already; AAA will take them for free. And I’ve never found the available forms to be confusing.
As far as the oath, and in-person application goes: We do the same thing for initial voter registrations. I, for one, would like a hair more protection than easily forged documents via mail when initially obtaining a passport. A US passport is considered worldwide to be an ironclad proof of US citizenship; even more so than a birth certificate. And due to regrettable incidents of international child abduction by parents, the requirement that parents appear to obtain or renew passports for minors makes perfect sense.
I had no issues renewing my passport, and thought the process was a marvel of efficiency. In fact, I forgot to sign my application, they sent me a letter back stating so and merely required me to send in a new app to a special address (sans pictures or previous passport, which must have been stuck in a filing cabinet at the passport office somewhere.) Less than two weeks later, I got my new passport with no problem. Yes, pure online renewals would be nice, but is printing out a two page form and mailing in some pictures that you have printed out at home really that much hassle?
I don’t think the lack of passports among the American population is a cultural problem. Rather, we have so many varied and interesting places to go without leaving the country. If you are in Canada, most of the population is within a couple of hundred miles of the border, and while you do have unmatched wilderness to the north, that is about it. I can stay in the U.S. and experience a huge range of culture, people, and scenery without ever leaving the country. (Which, by the way, is far more pricey than domestic travel.) Until recently, you did not need a passport to travel to Canada or Mexico, so the only reason to get a passport was to fly overseas. While flying overseas is certainly a lot of fun, I am not sure that Europeans leave Europe that much more often than US Citizens leave North America.
For anyone getting new passports, I highly recommend epassport photo http://www.epassportphoto.com/ I did this with my son, who was 1 at the time. It took a couple of hours of trying to get a good pic of him at home against a white wall, but it saved time and money at the passport office. Plus you can then print a 4×6 photo at any photo processor to use, for something like 20 cents.
it drives me crazy, the whole process, ESP if you have kids. cost, time, bored kid. of course it is worth it – no one is saying not! but there HAS to be a better way.
I have been in the passport and travel visa business for over a decade, so I’ve got some thoughts on this both as a professional and as a passport-holder and the mother of a 6 year old who just got a passport for the second time.
My first comment is that the form used for passport renewals, the DS-82, is somewhat misleadingly titled “Application for Passport by Mail.” While passport renewals can be done by mail (and this is the least expensive option), the DS-82 is also used for passport renewals done at a U.S. Passport Office. That same application is also used to apply for a Second Valid Passport, and renewals of Second Valid Passports. I can’t tell you how often I’ve spoken to travelers who were confused by the “by Mail” on the application!
As a parent, part of me does wish that my son could have renewed his passport by mail, the way an adult can… but I also understand why my child is required to appear in person, and why both parents are required to give their consent by either appearing with the child or providing a notarized consent form.
My husband and I also chose to acquire a passport card for our son, in addition to the passport book. I am of the opinion that passport cards are virtually useless for adults, since they are only valid for land or sea travel to Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean, but for a child it is an excellent form of official identification to use when flying domestically. We find that we clear security at the airport much faster than families who do not have identification for their children.
Finally, as a visa and passport professional, I feel the need to mention that there are companies that have been licensed by the State Department to submit expedited passport applications to U.S. Passport Offices. In many cities, passport services like the one I work for are able to acquire passports same-day. Yes, you’ll pay a service fee, but it is the only way to get a passport issued/renewed/amended quickly without the hassle of trying to get into the Passport Office on your own. Just be aware that not every company that advertises this service actually has been authorized by the State Department; many companies outsource to companies that have a “passport number” to submit expedited applications, which means your application will be passed through several sets of hands before your completed passport is returned to you. Using a passport service also means that you have a professional available to answer your questions, to keep you updated on the status of your request, and to intercede for you in case there is any problem with your application.
It’s because fewer people want to leave America. Obviously if you live in Canada you need a passport unless you want your life to suck.
Just piping in to agree that the Canadian passport process is just as expensive and time consuming as the US one. But there have been signifigant changes over the past few years to make it easier. The Guarantor who verifies your identity used to have to be a professional (dentist, doctor, judge, etc.) but now any person who posesses a vaild passport is acceptable as a guarantor. Also they have really streamlined the passport office process. Lineups used to take forever, now if you print out and complete your forms online, you can get out of there in minutes.
Canadian Passports are only valid for 5 years and US for 10 years, Chris says the total fess and photos for all were $321.00 thats $32.10 a year for all of them, pretty cheap if you ask me. I live outside the US, filled out the form for renewal, sent it in with the photos and had a new passport in less than 3 weeks. What’s the big deal, pretty easy if you ask me.
I agree with Kathleen and SirWeb. My husband and I had to renew our passports this year – they didn’t expire till Jan 10, but we just went to Cozumel last week, so we had to renew early so we would have 6 mos left on our passports…Anyway, we found the process to be super easy. We went to Walgreens to have our pictures taken and brought the information to the man at the counter at the post office.
I know we could have just dropped everything in the mail, but I am glad we did it this way – he was very knowledgable about everything that we needed, checked to be sure that it was all there and got us a money order for the fees. Then, while we were getting everything sealed up, he suggested mailing it with a delivery confirmation. His point was that, since we are sending our current passports in to get them renewed, that delivery confirmation would let us know that they got to the right place…Heck, the post office even had pre-labeled envelopes for us (this office also has a passport office in it that’s open till midnight because of it’s proximity to the airport…).
It all ran smoothly and we didn’t have any issues. The one thing that made me laugh about the process was that, rather than send us one envelope with the new passport and the old passport, they sent them to us separately…
We also had the discussion about how few Americans have passports with a couple we met from Ireland a couple of months ago. They were going on the same Alaskan cruise that we went on…After we all chatted a while, a lot of it came down to the fact that you can see so many different climates and cultures without even leaving the US. Granted, there is a LOT that you miss out on by not crossing the border, but there is a lot to be seen within the US.
At least this only has to be done once every 10 years. Another option is to use a Visa service like Travel Docs (on Twitter @traveldocs) Fatemah Le Tellier can help you sort this out. There is a charge but it does eliminate the annoying day long process to get a passport.
In Europe everyone has a national identity card (they have to have their fingerprints checked on a regular basis) and passports because it is required to have “papers”.
Just a few years ago I remember the percentage of american passport holders was a mere 12%. Reaching 33% is an improvement.
Most of you are US citizens and have a voice and make yourself heard somewhere. I guess now at least some of you might understand the pain a non-citizen/international has to go through to get in and out of the country. The state department has been using these tactics for internationals for many years, only now some of us Citizens are starting to face these red tapes. I can only empathize with all of those who have newly found this old problem. And this just doesn’t stop at the passports. It is at SSN offices, drivers license offices and many more places that such red tape can be seen.
If you want to talk about difficulty getting a renewal, adding more pages, etc., try having to do so while living in a foreign country. I’ve been in India the past two years, in a city without a consulate, and they only options you have are to 1) go to the American consulate in either Delhi or Chennai to drop the application in person, then go back and pick it up when it’s ready, at a considerable expense, or 2) mail in the application and your old passport, and hope the Indian postal service gets it there and back in one piece. Uh, no thanks. They won’t allow third parties or expediters to deliver an application or pick up a passport on your behalf, and technically, you can’t even apply by mail to a U.S. passport agency from a foreign address. On a short business trip home, I ended up using an expediting service to take care of it. They charged $75 for the service, but it certainly beat the other alternatives.
Most Canadians on this site have already said a lot about the nefarious Canadian passport application, which is now thankfully much simpler.
I’m a dual citizen, and I recently renewed both my U.S. and Canadian passports. Truly, the most onerous part of the process was getting passport photos taken, and that just involved going out to my local MotoPhoto.
@Matt: I love epassportphoto.com It’s particularly great for those visa photos when you don’t want to pay $10 for a picture when you’re already paying $100 for the visa.
Once you are an adult with a U.S. passport, it’s a breeze to get it renewed. I don’t think going online is the sole solution. There’s no way to verify that you are who you say you are on the internet, no way to verify original documents or signatures, and would make identity theft that much easier.
There are also plenty of people out there still who a) don’t know how to use a computer (my mother and grandmother included), or b) can’t afford a computer or internet connection–and can you imagine going to a public library to transmit the intimate details of your identity over the internet?
You could argue that those people won’t travel internationally, but there are still plenty of those people who would love to drive across our northern or southern border for the weekend.
My grandson was born in Israel while his father had a 3-year assignment there. He was considered a U.S. citizen. It was not a dual citizenship. The Israeli government would not issue a birth certificate without a passport and the U.S. would not issue a passport without a birth certificate. Well, duh! Of course the birth certificate should come first! It took a while, but Israel finally gave in and issued the certificate so my grandson could be issued a passport to come back to the U.S. after the assignment was done.
Hmmm… on Tuesday I’m spending $400 to fly five hundred miles to renew my German passport. It has to be done in person, as they require an electronic fingerprint scan. It also requires a biometric photo, with dimesions of 35 mm by 45 mm, with a face height of 32 to 36 mm, and all my facial features need to be aligned according to a template that you have to dig through fifty pages of German writing to find. I can only pay cash, and their offices are only open from 9:00 am to noon. And I have to provide my own self-addressed, stamped envelope to receive my passport six to eight weeks from now. So cry me a river!
I don’t know what the big deal is. In the last 3 months our family renewed 3 passports. In May I needed to renew my passport between two business trips abroad, and I had 1 week to do it. CIBT did it for about $450 total, including government fees and overnight Fedex. Expensive for leisure traveller (so don’t do it, plan ahead), nothing as a business expense. In June my wife and my son were renewing their passports. With no rush, they went to the post office and paid for the regular, i.e. cheapest renewal. On the way there they stopped at Costco to get their pictures taken. I had to join them for a few minutes at the post office to confirm that I approve of my son getting a passport. We spent about 30 minutes at the post office, including filling the forms. About 6 weeks later they got their passports. What’s so hard about any of that?
I am 100 percent certain that the reason why Americans don’t have passports has very little to do with the complexity of the process. Sorry Chris. But you are not selling me that bridge.If an American is traveling internationally, they need a passport and they will get one regardless of the grief.
The reason why Americans dont’ have passports is painfully obvious. Passports in the US are used solely for international travel, rarely for identification. In the US, we travel less internationally than many other people. The reasons for less international travel are many. Some legit, some not.
In other countries, passports are used for identification. For example, in Rome, I was required to show a passport in order to purchase a cell phone. However, in the US the de facto national ID is a driver’s license, not a passport.
Several years ago as I was getting ready for a trip, I could not find my passport. I attempted to apply for a “renewal” with out the old one. After having filled out several forms and sending a check, I did find the old one which was still valid. I calles the passport office in Miami and told them this. I was advised to “out it in writing. Also, I was told that there would be a “cancellation fee” of $40.00. Okay. When my refund did not come within two months, I called back. Submit it in writing…I did and enclosed a copy of the front and back of the cancelled check. They said that they had absolutely no record of my check…I have not received anything from the passport office…certainly not my refund.
I’ve become convinced that governments at all levels tend to employ people with grandiose levels of self-importance and power-mad tendencies, but usually with the least amount of education, common sense and intellect. Thus the incredible wait times at DPS, postoffice, various city/county/state offices,etc.
I totally agree with Kathleen’s posting on July 31st. Having lived in Budapest since 2001, I believe to really see your own country you need to leave it for a while.
It was a much more tedious and frustrating task to get my driver’s license and to register my car in Ohio when I moved here a decade ago. First I had to go to one office for someone to do an “odometer inspection” (basically write down my mileage on an official piece of paper). then I had to get an emissions test, drive back to the title office to transfer my title to Ohio, stop at a third office to take the driver’s test, then finally to a fourth office, the license bureau, to get my driver’s license and tags. If you live in a state with an ad valorem tax, driving each year gets to be pricey.
People put up with this in order to drive their car. But people have to drive to get to work, to the store, and basically live (unless you’re in one of a few big U.S. cities). I think the lack of passports boils down to a lack of need or a lack of motivation to travel, not the difficulty of procuring a passport. And if you’re lucky enough to live in a state with enhanced driver’s licenses and can afford the gas, then most of the continent is at your disposal.
I renewed my passport a few years back during the “crunch” caused by the impending fee increase. My son’s passport was renewed recently during the latest “crunch” caused by the Canada/Mexico passport requirement. In both cases it was easy, the PO was helpful, and the passports came back several weeks sooner than expected. Although I’m sure the horror stories are legit, I really don’t understand the whiny attitude in the original article.
Paying $100 for a ticket to the world seems like a bargain to me. I’m sure everyone has dropped $100 on a slick new cell phone or shoes that will not last nearly as long as the 10-year passport. Years from now I will still have memories and be enriched by the places my passport let me experience, meanwhile the phone and shoes will be long-forgotten!
If I had two children who had not been trained that there are times to be quiet and times to be chaotic I would see everything within sight in a negative light.
A child who refuses to have a photo taken has an excuse only when the kid is in the range of 1.5 and 3 years old and most likely freaks out at seeing an unaccustomed face, even santa claus. Parents who don’t have control over their children will wonder what hit them when they become teenagers.
Anyone who has seen british or french children for more than half and hour should have realized it is possible to train children to be civil. If the french and brits can do it, why not us?
And for someone in the travel business not to be on top of this issue a year ahead of passport expiration simply amazes me.
Sorry, no sympathy from this grandmother of 12 mostly well-mannered kids who has never had a passport renewal problem in 50 years of overseas travel.
Boy, with such a hassle to get passports, you would think everyone actually inside America today would be documented and legal. Otherwise, how do they get in?
What a farce of a system. Of course hassle the folks doing it legally and protect those great government jobs, salaries and pensions!
So for all the problems eevryone has had….I’m sorry to hear that. Let me encourage folks here who are “dreading” a passport application. It isnt difficult at all. Just read the instructions. (I have renewed my kid passports atleast 3 times and I have no complaints)….Now to my main point. The US passport is the most sought-after passport in the world…There are whole cottage-industries in various parts of the world that are dedicated to creating fake US passports. So for those of you here who are treating this as getting a shopper’s card from your local grocery store…pls stop and think. With the threats we face, this document (which btw is the property of the US govt) needs some thought and care into producing and double-checking various data-bases before creating one. Although it takes time (and BTW the US is a place where one can pay extra $$s to speed it up if you wish) it works best when it is certralized (to a few centers) and not allow an ability for any post-office to create one of these…..just some thoughts….
The only complaint I have with US passports is the RFID chip inside of it, and where the put the ID page within the passport. The RFID chip is useless and can be read up to about 20 feet or so (and with newer technology, can be read even further away); why is this a problem? Each US passport RFID chip has the same electronic “signature”–which means that if someone wants to blow up a cafe full of Americans, they can secretly carry the readers until the find a cafe with enough of these electronic signatures to warrant the bad guy to push the button and blow the cafe up.
I do not see how the RFID chip will speed up any official purposes (like passing through Immigration) as opposed to running the bar code through a scanner (maybe on a packed A380 flight, you might save 10 minutes).
As for the ID page: on our new passports, it is no longer the inside of the front cover but is its own page (page 3 I believe). This makes the page more fragile and I am afraid that the page will wear out (by being passed through the readers at immigration) before the passport expires.
Point 1:
Most Americans don’t have passports simply because, we don’t need them. The majority of Americans don’t travel internationaly and until recently you could go over the land borders with only an ID card.
Point 2:
I think you’re confusing the hassle and expense of having kids with the relatively simple process required to secure a Passports.
I’ve renewed my passport, I’ve even requested replacement passports (twice, one lost, one stolen). Other than a few anxious moments when I wondered if they would give a two time loser a passport the process was pretty straight forward. Take a photo, fill out paperwork provided documents requested.
Why are making this more difficult than it is.
The reason so many Canadians have passports is because it’s so bloody cold and need to go somewhere warm, which is always out of the country.
You can create valid passport photos with http://idphoto4you.com website.
It uses face detection to set size and position of head.
It is free.
Built-in standards for 63 countries.