After all, it wasn’t as if I was applying for a new job or another coop; I just wanted to visit a nice, peaceful city in the Netherlands for two weeks when the tulips were in bloom, and possibly see some West End plays in London if I decided to stay an additional week or two.
My conclusion? This little incident seemed just another example of my firmly held belief that the world has gone completely crazy in general, and that our security priorities are decidedly topsy-turvy in particular. Not only do I feel unsafe living in post-9/11 New York, USA, due to national security threats both internal and external, but in addition to having to be vigilant against the specter of identity theft, I can’t count on my own government to even establish my identity in the first place.
In fact, it’s not hard to imagine just how easy it could be for someone to steal my identity and be off to Amsterdam on my dime in less than a week’s time while I’d still be stuck here in identity limbo. It certainly seems like a piece of cake compared to obtaining a passport from my own government — while a pizza delivery man with murder on his mind obtains access to one of our nation's strongholds with no trouble at all.
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Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - lori
I guess it would have been easier to dig up the old passport after all, huh?
Those new requirements are ridiculous. Who can pull up the name and all other info for employers and *supervisors* over the past ten years? WTF?
I'm sure somebody will say that this experience illustrates that we need a national ID card. And I say it illustrates, instead, that the government can't handle the responsibility of such a card.
Good luck getting your passport!
2 - Kaonashi
Holy crap, that's a whole lot to ask for a passport. I don't recall having to jump through that many hoops five years ago when I obtained mine.
Then again, every application these days requires a lot of red tape. It's hellish trying to get a permit for street parking in Pasadena, CA (our apartment only allows parking for one person, and both my bf and I have a car) even if it's a renewal.
3 - Dr Dreadful
My goodness... My friend applied for a US passport for the first time in her life about a year and a half ago, and it came through without any trouble.
I wonder if it's anything to do with the new electronic chips they're going to start putting in new passports. I can see how that would up the cost of producing and printing them... maybe they've made the requirements more stringent so as to allow for more excuses not to issue a passport.
Then again, how much more is it going to cost to fart around with all that extra paperwork and background checking?
4 - gette
Good god! ***FIVE*** additional pieces of identification?... Must be all those B/C blogs... ;-)
5 - Dave Nalle
You forgot to mention that they recently increased the fee for an 'expedited' application to around $200 - which is pretty insane.
BTW, can you give examples of what kinds of additional ID they wanted? Did they want copies of utility bills and stuff like that, or affadvits or credit cards or what?
Dave
6 - Dr Dreadful
Frankly, it sounds like the list of stuff I had to come up with when I was applying for permanent residence here. It's as if, having made it as difficult as possible to get into the United States (legally, anyway), Uncle Sam wants to make it even harder to get out!
7 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Elvira,
I do not remember what kind of paperwork i had to fill in in 1999 to get a passport, but on none of them was my religion specified. Do any of the items/forms/questionnaires, etc specify religion?
I would bear in mind that the ability to control ingress or egress from a country is the hallmark of the dictatorship - and there is no doubt that your nation is merrily headed in that direction. Don't believe me?
Go check and see how many casualties there were from the Greensburg KS tornado. The first few reports mentioned some numbers. NOW, go find some numbers. If you can't, you're seeing a dictatorship at work.
I've been consistently warned in the past couple of years that the US government would be targeting Jews. When my friend Aryeh Gallin was at Kennedy Airport on his return from visiting his parents, his parents looked at two cops/soldiers in full battle dress carrying M16's, wondering what they were doing there. Aryeh, noticing the customs folks at the booth noticed their sharp BLACK uniforms - as though they had been pulled out of a Nazi's uniform closet.
Just something to think about. Boy, your country has changed. I'm real glad I got the hell out.
By the way, how come nobody has been writing about the destructive storms that have hit the east coast - particularly Westchester?
I'll forward your article to others to see what they think might be going on.
8 - Elvira Black
Many thanks to all who have commented---I will answer in more depth later.
In the interest of fairness, I must admit I did three stupid things:
I planned a trip when I was still in the middle of getting a new place;
I misplaced my old passport;
and
I waited til the last minute to apply.
Looking again at the US passport website which explains the application procedure, it does appear as if a driver's license is required, and as I now know, a non-driver's ID just doesn't cut it.
Would have helped if the postal worker who processed it had told me my ID was not sufficient, however...
But still and all...what about the questionnaire? That's really bizarre.
I had a terrible passport picture taken; maybe they got frightened by that (lol)...
More later...
9 - Elvira Black
Lori (#1)
Yes, I wish I had submitted my old passport, but with all the frenzy of moving, I didn't have time to look for it in order to submit the application in time. Dumb move...
I checked the passport website, and they are even more swamped because of the incredible volume of applications and inquiries. I can't help but wonder how many other folks might have been requested to submit additional documents a week or two before their scheduled trip....
10 - Elvira Black
Kaonashi (#2):
I can understand that after 9/11 there might be more red tape involved in any kind of applications and documents, but that didn't seem to kick in right away. My bank didn't require NY State ID right after 9/11; it was 2003 before I had any problems. I wanted to open a new passbook savings account to replace my old statement savings, and needed the NY State ID to do so, though I had other photo ID and had banked there for years. But in addition, the bank started requiring the state ID to withdraw funds. This seems prudent especially when the teller doesn't know you, but why the delay?
Plus which, getting that ID was hellacious. I had to submit a number of forms of ID, some of which I had to apply for, so the whole process took quite awhile. That's why I thought that it would be the equivalent of a driver's license. It certainly is good enough for my bank....
11 - Elvira Black
Dr. Dreadful (#3):
Perhaps the question is: did your friend have a driver's license? That seems to be the magic ticket; I guess I'm being punished for not polluting the environment...
In the interests of full disclosure, I went back and downloaded the application again, and here's what it says about proof of identity requirements:
PROOF OF IDENTITY You must establish your identity to the satisfaction of the acceptance agent. You may submit items such as the following containing your signature AND physical description or photograph that is a good likeness of you: previous U.S. passport, Certificate of Naturalization, Certificate of Citizenship, driver's license (not temporary or learner's license), or government (Federal, State, municipal) employee identification card or pass. Temporary or altered documents are not acceptable. When necessary, we may ask you to provide additional evidence to establish your identity.
IF YOU CANNOT PROVIDE DOCUMENT EVIDENCE OF IDENTITY as stated above, you must appear with an IDENTIFYING WITNESS who is a U.S. citizen, non U.S. citizen national, or permanent resident alien who has known you for at least 2 years. Your witness must prove his or her identity and complete and sign an Affidavit of Identifying Witness (Form DS-71) before the acceptance agent. You must also submit some identification of your own.
I guess that line about "we" may ask for additional evidence applies to the passport agency rather than the agent who processes the application, though it never occurred to me at the time.
Also, the fact that having a witness vouch for you is ok while my photo ID was not good enough seems a bit strange, no?
12 - Elvira Black
Gette (#4):
Though it seems unlikely that my blogging would affect anything, the thought had crossed my mind...my boyfriend is always telling me not to "make waves" by writing anything about the government, the military, etc. But I write under a pseudnym (though of course my real identity could be easily traced, I'm sure), and none of what I write about is unduly "militant"--just good old American questioning of the status quo kind of stuff.
But all I can say is, if we've reached a point where we have to worry one iota about whether what we write about will compromise our ability to get a passport, that's scary.
13 - STM
They are now using biometric info on the passports. This is the chip Doc Dred is talking about. However, it should only contain photo recognition info as a back up for the pic on your passport. And any non-US citizen entering the US visa-free now has to have a machine-readable passport.
Otherwise, you must have a visa.
I believe you also will also be refused entry to the US unless you consent to having your fingerprints/digital photo taken.
14 - Elvira Black
Dave (#5):
The form I received gave some examples, but was not comprehensive. They wanted copies of "personal documents and public records that have been issued over a period of time. Documents that include your photograph, signature and/or physical description are particularly helpful."
Examples included:
Records with photograph (valid or expired):
Driver's license; school yearbook photo with name and photo, also with school's name and year that it was issued; U.S. passports; newspaper/magazine articles (with your photo and name, newspaper's name and date);
Records with either photograph or signature (must have a date):
Employment identification card; professional license (ex. nurse, pilot, mechanic, etc); federal, state or municipal identification card; miliary identification; student identification card;
Signed Identification items (should have your legal signature and date):
Military records such as DD-214; selective service registration card; union membership (bearing name/signature or name/photo and issuance date); medicare/health insurance card; welfare card; marriage certificate; medical records; voter's registration card; children's birth certificates; social security card; traffic ticket;
If you were raised abroad you may also submit: *
Original foreign school records with name, photo, and date; original foreign passports; copy of foreign driver's license (valid or expired); foreign government issued identification, such as voter's registration cards or national identification cards.
*If in a language other than English, please provide an official translation.
The woman I talked to originally gave more examples, I think; may have included leases or deeds and so forth.
That's the reason I became so paranoid after getting that initial call; it seemed like the perfect recipe for identity theft.
15 - Elvira Black
Dr. Dreadful (#6)
It does seem a bit curious that a US citizen should go through such hoops to get OUT of the country for a few weeks or so.
Thing is, I can see the logic in a way, but it might be helpful if this were spelled out more clearly from the beginning. My first reaction was: why am I being singled out for this, when it seems to be so easy for terrorists to enter our country? If my ID was not sufficient, why not spell this out on the form or tell the passport agent not to accept it? Is it up to the discretion of the passport agency, and if so, what criteria do they use? Was it because I misplaced my old passport (though I definitely have it)? What gives?
16 - Elvira Black
Ruvy (#7):
None of the forms specified religion, though the application itself did ask for info on one's mother and father--I believe this included date/place of birth. My last name is very goyish, but my mother's was not, so I suppose one might be able to infer something from that.
My boyfriend took a trip about 6 months ago to visit his parents in Ohio, and he "vowed" never to get on a plane again due to the hassles. My ex boyfriend got strip searched several years ago before boarding a plane from NYC to, I think, Pennsylvania for a business trip.
Thanks for sending my piece to others for feedback...I'd be interested to hear what they might have to say.
As far as the storms in Westchester etc--they were still pretty "minor" compared with what happened in Kansas. I'll check out the Kansas reports you mentioned. One thing about the NY metro area is that even our "severe" weather is usually nothing much compared to what happens elsewhere in the country. It's the terrorists I'm worried about rather than Mother Nature in these parts.
17 - Elvira Black
Stan (#13)
In addition to the biochip thing, US residents are or will be required to get passports to visit countries where one didn't used to need one--I think Mexico and some others.
It's a little scary...I mean, maybe necessary in this day and age, but still...
18 - Elvira Black
OK, this is a bit creepy:
I've tried several times to publish a reply to comment #7, but it didn't go through. My reply to Stan, however, went through with no hitch. I'm gonna try one more time now...
19 - Clavos
Elvira wrote:
In addition to the biochip thing, US residents are or will be required to get passports to visit countries where one didn't used to need one--I think Mexico and some others.
That's correct. Now included (since January 2007) , are Canada and all the Caribbean nations and, in the Atlantic: the Bahamas and Bermuda. This new regulation was mandated by DHS as a security measure.
Small technical point: the passport isn't required to visit those nations: the US can't mandate that, they're sovereign nations; but it IS required to return to the US from visiting those countries.
20 - STM
Clav: I don't like the idea giving the government or any other bugger a digital image of my head for its records, or a set of fingos. I know that's what needs to happen now, but personal freedoms are personal freedoms and it's a sick world that means it's come to that. Getting your biometric info whacked on government agency computer banks for posterity is a little creepy, in my view. I don't trust all the Indian companies storing our personal and credit-card details, either.
21 - Clavos
Stan,
Couldn't agree with you more, mate. I'm VERY concerned that the feds here are pushing for a "national ID card", which at this stage is just a move to make all states' drivers licenses uniform, but there are people in the government who would like to have the feds issuing an ID that WILL include all kinds of biometric (and other) information.
Also, dogooders in this country are pushing for a medical ID card that would include even genetic info, the idea being that medical personnel could easily access your history when needed. Can you imagine what health insurance companies or potential employers, or auto and life insurance companies could do if they got their hands on that little gem?
On 9/12/01, I told everyone who would listen to me that henceforth we would have to be VERY careful in treading the fine line between keeping ourselves secure and losing a significant portion of our freedoms.
The future is here, it seems.
22 - STM
In 1983, I travelled to the Soviet Union as a guest of the Soviet government to write some stories. Before leaving Australia, I had to submit separate photographs of certain dimensions to the Soviet embassy in Sydney, one of which was then attached to a special detachable visa (kept by the russians upon leaving) contained in my passport.
The visa was in Russian, of course. There was no problem entering the country, but at the border upon leaving the Soviet Union, I was stopped and held by armed border guards who believed that I looked different both to the visa photograph and the photo provided to the Soviet government (which is probably still on file somewhere and gathering dust in the bowels of the old KGB headquarters at Dzerzhinsky Square, along with Nalle's - which doubtless came in for even more scrupulous attention).
What ensued was many hours of arguing with the KGB in a bid to convince them that I was actually me, and not a) a British/Australian/American spy or b) some poor bastard trying to escape the Soviet Union. They questioned me at length about my activities in the Soviet Union. When I told them that it mostly involved getting drunk at the late-night bar in the Leningrad railway station and eating horse, they weren't impressed.
As the bearer of a multiple-entry visia for the US, one of the things they wanted to know about were my trips to the United States, which were detailed in my passport. The flip side: every time I entered the US, I had to declare that I had visited the Soviet Union. But at the time of asking in Moscow, I was remembering the immigration people in the US and how nice they were compared to the Russkis!
Now, sadly, that kind of stuff is currently happening to people going in and out of the US. People who are on legitimate business or holidays are being stopped at the border, held for questioning, turned around, etc.
It's scary. One of my mates was refused entry. He's an Aussie journalist who grew up in inner-city South Sydney (about as tough as it gets, and as Australian as it gets) but has an Arab surname, so he got profiled and held in custody.
Finally, after becoming increasingly frustrated and giving the immigration people a gobful of ripe Aussie invective, they must have been convinced of his nationality - left in no doubt, I'd say - and let him in with strict visa conditions.
However, his was not an isolated incident - and Australia is one of the countries included on the visa-waiver list. God knows what it'd be like if you were from one of the countries whose citizens need a visa to enter.
23 - Clavos
As you may remember, I spent thirty years in the international airline business, working for foreign (i.e., non-US) carriers, including a stint in the nineties operating direct charter flights 3X week between Miami and various points in Cuba.
As a result, I'm well familiar with how the US authorities behave with foreign nationals entering the US, even much before 9/11.
They were often very difficult, not only with my passengers, but with me, as foreign carrier manager as well, and as I said, long before 9/11.
This is why I worry about the whole DHS/Patriot Act phenomenon; there's nothing like a government bureaucrat with a little power and a Napoleon complex for being an asshole and making your life miserable.
24 - Dr Dreadful
there's nothing like a government bureaucrat with a little power and a Napoleon complex for being an asshole and making your life miserable.
Nail on the head, Clav. "You must establish your identity to the satisfaction of the acceptance agent." [my emphasis] I suspect that Elvira, driver's license or not, had the bad luck to have one of those little Napoleons pick up her application. S/he probably wouldn't have been satisfied if she'd provided signed and notarized testimonials from President Bush, the Queen of England and the Pope.
25 - Dr Dreadful
I was remembering the immigration people in the US and how nice they were compared to the Russkis!
Don't be too hard on those jolly old Soviets, Stan. Being miserable bastards seems to be a malaise of immigration staff the world over. Even when I arrived in Fiji and was greeted by a passport control official with a face longer than a Congressional filibuster. I mean, come on... Fiji?!? (To be fair to the guy, it was 5.15 a.m.)
In the US, the immigration people tend to be not so much miserable as cynical and superior. The impression of rudeness and hostility the visitor is left with is much the same.
You'll be pleased to hear that the one shining, outstanding exception to this rule, in my experience, has been Australia. The immigration staff at Sydney Airport are the nicest, most professional, most welcoming of any port of entry anywhere. And you can tell them that from me the next time you meet one!