Comments on: Here’s the real reason so few Americans have passports

By: John

John — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 00:19:03 +0000

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.

By: Jane

Jane — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:11:48 +0000

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.

By: Brian

Brian — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:40:39 +0000

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.

By: Tim

Tim — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 03:17:48 +0000

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.

By: liquidsodium

liquidsodium — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 23:16:17 +0000

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….

By: Joshua Katt

Joshua Katt — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 17:45:28 +0000

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!

By: Mary H

Mary H — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 17:03:12 +0000

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.

By: kenish

kenish — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 16:57:50 +0000

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!

By: The Fine Art of Eccentricity · How NOT to check if your gun is loaded.

The Fine Art of Eccentricity · How NOT to check if your gun is loaded. — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 06:59:01 +0000

[...] real reason so few Americans have [...]

By: Brian C

Brian C — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 02:05:09 +0000

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.