New from Uncle Sam: a passport that fits in your wallet
Filed under: Extracurriculars, Simplification, Technology, Transportation, Travel, Identity Theft
For Americans who travel a lot across borders by land or sea, say to Canada, Mexico, or on Caribbean cruises, the State Department is now issuing zippy little Passport Cards, which are sized for wallets and contain the mandated (and controversial) RFID chip that makes crossing borders much breezier.
Makes sense to me. Booklet-size passports are vestiges of an earlier age, back when we traveled with steamer trunks and dollar notes were as big as hankies. Passports are also easy to lose, partly because they don't fit in wallets and partly because crooks can easily spot them. Having a high-level federal I.D. in your wallet at all times can also be mighty handy. Bouncers and postal clerks may quibble over accepting that gym membership card, but it's hard to argue with a passport.
According to the U.S. Department of State, you use the same supporting I.D. documentation for apply for a passport card as you do for a traditional passport, which means once you've got one, you're vetted, and you can use it to apply for a booklet passport later on if you want. You can even apply for both the booklet and the card at the same time without having to pay an extra execution fee or send more photos (just two will do the trick for both).
The downside is that you can't use the passport card to travel by air, mostly because so many countries are used to passport booklets. But for many routine crossings, a card will be enough and easier to keep track of. I'm sure just about everyone in Detroit will have one by the time the year is out. Passport Cards are also a good start for smoother worldwide travel.
If you've never had a passport of any kind before, the card costs $45 ($35 for kids), but if you have a passport issued within the past 15 years, it's just $20. If you've never had a passport at all (don't be ashamed; Sarah Palin got her first one just last year, which is admittedly unusual for someone vying for a top federal position with international responsibilities), I strongly suggest having one on hand for spontaneous travel. Besides, having one is now required for entry to nearly every country you can think of. The new Passport Cards began production on July 14.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
9-10-2008 @ 9:34PM
ronzo said...
No thanks
Reply
9-10-2008 @ 11:28PM
DB said...
Hooray! As a Republican, my key goal is to be left alone, to quote Greta Garbo. My second goal is to leave others alone. If someone wants to reverse those priorities I am fine with that too! My third goal is to have all Americans treated better.
The government in general has made enormous steps in leaving us a lone and treating us better by taking the hassle out of taxes (necessary--whether you want to pay more, Democrats, or less, Republicans)--IRS & State online filing; Govt electronic deposits of so much from SS to tax refunds; e-filing of corp docs--annual listings, licenses, etc. EZ Pass for tolls. Town taxes.
Now comes the "put it in your wallet" passport. What a blessing.
It meets the three goals--plus saves the govt a lot of money (anything e does that, or smaller). So our tax dollar go farther.
Dems and Reps alike should tip the hat to all govt people, at all levels, for hassling us less and treating us better, while making our tax dollars go further.
That's change--for real (no Dem, especially O, has explained what their "change" is--other than mood, and they would be back in charge).
This is REAL change. And we should thank them! Another small change with the passport--for everyone's good.
Reply
9-11-2008 @ 4:49AM
kachina321 said...
YES OUR TAX $$$$$$ HAVE GONE FUTHER. THEY WENT TO ALASKA....GET YOUR FAX RIGHT BEFORE REPEATING WHAT YOUR FATHER HAS TOLD YOU. IT'S ALWAYS THE PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY THAT MAKE UNDER $100 GRAND A YEAR PAYING MOST OF THE TAXES. DO SOME RESEARCH
INSTEAD OF JUST REPEATING AND REPEATING ALL THE B.S YOU HEAR....
9-11-2008 @ 6:20AM
al coholic said...
Why oh why don't we have a competency test before allowing people like DB to vote?
Reply
9-12-2008 @ 6:31AM
B said...
AMEN Al!
9-12-2008 @ 11:47AM
David said...
Because if we did that, the Republicans would always win. The trailer park vote would be gone and the Dems would lose half their constituency. DUH!!
9-12-2008 @ 6:40AM
Bob said...
This is nothing new. If you travel in Europe you will see the separate "EU" lines. Everyone within the EU has been traveling across Europe on these cards for years! The passport booklet is old news and mostly necessary when coming here, not because "so many countries are used to passport booklets." Why not use the United Nations members and standardize this passport card worldwide. Otherwise we will have nothing but separate systems that don't work once outside the United States similar to our wonderful cell phone standards that are behind the times when leaving the US for Europe!
Reply
9-12-2008 @ 6:49AM
kevin said...
Hey, Halfwit, tell me about the passport card and spare me the sarcasm about Governor Palin. Is this a news piece or an opinion piece? Who edits these things Howard Dean?
Reply
9-12-2008 @ 6:48AM
DAB said...
Whoa DB, you make me ashamed to share those initials. Kachina, I second you ( with the exception of your spelling and grammar). But Really? this new passport is a way so that when you leave the country and they scan that chip "big brother" is watching every move you make immediately. It takes the paperwork out of people exiting the country. Ezpass, is another monitoring device, they know how many times someone goes from point a to b. Everything that is said to make our lives easy really means that under the patriot law, anything that seems the least bit suspicious gives them the right to invade your life and mine.
Really Republicans NEED to stop drinking the punch and throwing it up. Digest it.
Reply
9-12-2008 @ 7:53AM
Sam said...
I tried to use it at Atlanta's Airpot as an ID. Steve the TSA agent told me:" I do not acept this as an ID show me your drive license".....go figure.........
Reply
9-12-2008 @ 8:14AM
mary said...
Hard to argue with a passport? When I was 18 years old, I didn't have a drivers license. AT that time, licenses in my state didn't have photos on them,either. Try walking into a bar and have a bouncer look at this official US document with a stamped photo. They didn't know what to do with it. Nowadays, who knows what kind of reaction I would get with my passport. It just illustrates how stupid some people can be. A bona fide indication of who I was and how old I was wasn't as credible as a 2x3 piece of paper, easily forged, with no photo on it.
Reply
9-12-2008 @ 8:18AM
William VonDell said...
If it is not already, it will turn into the Gov., ID card that no one wanted...
Reply
9-12-2008 @ 8:23AM
Nick said...
My entire family got passports just this year for the very first time. We applied because of the new travel rules, even though we have no immediate travel plans. I wish I had known about this card coming with new passports BEFORE I spent all that money. I could have waited a few months to apply. I think these cards should be issued FOR FREE to people who just got their first, or recently renewed pass ports. We should get them at NO extra cost.
Reply
9-12-2008 @ 8:47AM
No Passport either said...
"If you've never had a passport at all (don't be ashamed; Sarah Palin got her first one just last year, which is admittedly unusual for someone vying for a top federal position with international responsibilities)"
What does this have to do with a story on Passports? Again, just more proof of the clear Media Bias in this country. Can't people just report news without throwing in their own views? Apparently not. This just lets me know where Jason Cochran stands and to take that into account when reading anything produced by him. If only Liberals would actually research rather than taking every piece of info found on blogs as "Gospel" - oh yeah - Liberals always like taking things out of context and "spinning stories".
P.S. I don't have a passport either so I guess that means I am "uninformed" and "uneducated" in the ways of the world.
Reply
9-12-2008 @ 12:40PM
Alisa said...
YES! You are "uninformed" and "uneducated" in the ways of the world. Books don't cut it. TV doesn't cut it.
The only reason that it doesn't matter to me is that YOU are NOT running for a national office.
You don't really know someone until you live with them.
You can't really understand other people's culture until you see it first hand.
9-12-2008 @ 8:51AM
Cap said...
RFID: Zietgiest
Reply
9-12-2008 @ 9:07AM
Carol said...
Oh lovely....another way for Big Brother to track my every move.
Reply
9-12-2008 @ 9:33AM
kim said...
No Thanks. I love the fact that US citizens need a passport now to get IN to our own country, while the illegals from wherever keep pouring in, undocumented and actually welcomed by our government.
Until this changes, keep your passport. Track the illegals, not the rest of us!
Reply
9-12-2008 @ 9:44AM
Nscarnut said...
All I want to know, is how long will it take before the illegal immigrants start fraudulently making theser cards, like they do their drivers license's ?? I help people apply for their passports, and have illegals immigrants at my passport counter, almost every day.
Reply
9-12-2008 @ 11:30AM
Trudi said...
I went ahead and requested this card when I renewed my passport this time around. It is quite handy as a second form of ID -- no digging around for my birth certificate or social security card. (And for those of you concerned about the opinionated views of the writer: I'm pretty sure this is a blog, not a news story.)
Reply