I will be getting one next time. Our state has had real ID for years, but it seems to be harder and harder to get old documents accepted at places that require more than 1 piece of ID. $30 for 10 years seems reasonable.
Debating getting a Passport Card
- Thread starter Carmudgeon
- Start date
That's about what I did, except I got mine printed at Walgreens. I had the camera on the tripod, with it set to wirelessly fire two strobes bounced off the ceiling so there would be no shadows on my face nor on the background. I trimmed the finished print to 2x2 in the drafting room at work. Super easy.
the woman at the SOS office called me by my full name and when I said "I only use the middle initial, I never use my full middle name" she responded by telling me "Well, your name is... from now on according to the federal government..."
anyway it wasn't that big a deal but just seemed strange to me
Bill
In my case, I needed a new birth certificate to get my passport card (I am sure my parents lost my birth certificate years ago). I was born in Ohio, so I went to their website to apply for a replacement certificate. When it came in the mail a few weeks later, I noticed they spelled my middle name wrong! So I had to call them and get another copy printed and sent to me. My middle name is weird and I never use it, but for this one time when I really had to use it, they managed to spell it wrong! Annoying, but at least they eventually got it right.
I got it years ago because I needed a Passport ID for a project I was working on. Unfortunately I lost my passport while onsite. Getting the card gave me the ID without having to take my passport with me.
I don't plan on upgrading my driver's license to RealID until I need to, so in the mean time it will suffice for domestic travel too.
I don't plan on upgrading my driver's license to RealID until I need to, so in the mean time it will suffice for domestic travel too.
When was it ever $10, other than for children? The initial price was supposedly $20 back in 2008. That's what I paid maybe a year later. My passport hadn't expired and they called it a "renewal" where I just needed to mail it with my passport, a $20 check, and two photos. My passport was returned intact separately from the passport card. I believe passport cards are shipped directly from their supplier in Texas.
For me, it goes in my wallet. You never know what might happen where one needs to prove being a US citizen.
I also remember this story about a woman who was born to counterculture parents, never had a birth certificate, and didn't have a social security number. The evidence of her birth was only the memory of her family members, and entries in a family bible. She wanted to work legally and sued to get a social security number/card. A federal judge eventually ordered the State Dept to issue her a passport card with all the claimed date and place of birth, which she would then use as a "foundational document" to get that social security number/card. I don't believe she ever got a birth certificate though.
I was trying to figure it out, because it makes no sense. But then I saw the table for online renewal. I did my online renewal during the pilot program, and I don't recall this back then. Must be something new. However, I had an expired passport and an expired passport card, where both were expired less than 5 years. They weren't issued from the same application.
Document (s) I have | Document(s) I want | Can I renew online? |
|---|---|---|
Passport Book | Passport Book | Yes |
Passport Book | Passport Card | No |
Passport Book | Passport Book and Card | No |
Passport Card | Passport Card | Yes |
Passport Card | Passport Book | No |
Passport Card | Passport Book and Card | No |
Passport Book and Card | Passport Book and Card | Yes |
The table doesn't say what if someone has both but just wants one, but I suppose that's covered as "have book/want book" or "have card/want card".
You could certainly renew online now, then get a passport card later. But then you would need to send in your physical passport as part of the "renewal" process, although it's supposed to be returned intact.
I think my passport card has been useful over the years. It's accepted as ID and valid for 10 years. It also doesn't include an address. Some people get paranoid that someone might know they're not at home.
I believe if you fly you still need passport. Driving across US Canada border, Nexus card is sufficient.
Most people wouldn't get NEXUS though. I've heard that it's kind of a pain and more expensive than a US passport card. The only thing I can think of for someone in the US is that permanent residents are eligible. However, the requirement now for permanent residents to cross between the US and Canada is that a passport would be required, and the country of nationality would be on the NEXUS card.
Addendum: A NEXUS card would only be valid for 5 years, and the cost in the US is $120 with a more involved application process.
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Was $60, must have gone up. Yes you are interviewed and now get in line. Takes like a year. We just get in Nexus line, which is awesome. Also gives you instant pre-check.
Oh - it's $120 now, although it would be free for children. Not sure how that works though, if they expire when a child turns 18. I guess it's paying for the cost of the interviews.
The application-processing fee of $120 (USD) per adult applicant is non-refundable. Children under the age of 18 must also apply and, if eligible, are admitted to the program free of charge. Once approved, membership is valid for five years.
I guess it might give access to some lines that speed up travel. For a US permanent resident I'm thinking it might not make all that much sense. I think it used to be possible to enter Canada and return to the US with just a green card, but now they require a passport in addition to the green card. And any adult permanent resident is supposed to have a green card available at all times, where it's actually a crime to not do so. But there might have been a time when a US permanent resident could travel between the US and Canada with just a NEXUS card.
Yeah, I think you're right on that one.
I renewed my passport at the local post office back in 2015. I checked the box on the form and it was only $10 in addition to the fee for renewing the passport booklet.
That sounds odd, because it’s been $30 since July 2010. It took some time to find a dated source indicating when the price went up, but I actually found this from the USPS. Apparently an old press release for post offices in South Carolina. It doesn’t mention that getting both at the same time only costs a single acceptance fee though.
New Passport Application Services Fees Effective July 13
Price increase for U.S. Passport Book, U.S. Passport Card and other passport services
July 06, 2010
Release No. 10-00
COLUMBIA – The Department of State has announced that new fees for the U.S. Passport Book, U.S. Passport Card and other passport services will be in effect on Tuesday, July 13. This increase does not apply to acceptance fees collected by the Postal Service (acceptance facility). There are 83 designated passport acceptance Post Offices throughout the Greater South Carolina District, ZIP Codes 290-6 ready to accept your application. To find a passport acceptance office near you, go to www.travel.state.gov and click on “passports”, or visit usps.com and click on “locate a post office”.
Passport application fees are not only used to cover the cost of producing a U.S. Passport Book or U.S. Passport Card. Fees also cover the costs of providing emergency services for American citizens in crisis situations overseas, such as the earthquake disaster in Haiti; helping Americans who have been the victims of crime while traveling or living abroad; providing support to families of American citizens who have died in a foreign country.
The schedule of new fees for passport application services is as follows:
U.S. Passport Book | |||
| Passport Fee Payable to Department of State * | Acceptance Fee Payable to Acceptance Facility ** | Total Applicant Fee |
Adults: First-Time (Age 16 and older) | $110 | $25 | $135 |
Adults: Renewal (Applying with DS-82) | $110 | $ 0 | $110 |
Minors (Under age 16) | $80 | $25 | $105 |
| |||
U.S. Passport Card | |||
| Passport Fee Payable to Department of State * | Acceptance Fee Payable to Acceptance Facility ** | Total Applicant Fee |
Adults: First-Time (Age 16 and older) | $30 | $25 | $55 |
Adults: Renewal (Applying with DS-82) | $30 | $ 0 | $30 |
Minors (Under age 16) | $15 | $25 | $40 |
| |||
Other Service Fees | |||
Additional Visa Pages | $82 | ||
File Search Fee | $150 | ||
Expedite Processing | $60 |
I paid CAD $160 for Canadian 10 year passport in Canada, US$50 for 5 year Nexus which is well worth it to me as I live 5 miles from border and go back and forth every week, I save on average $15-18 on tank of gas when buying in US.
I’ve been curious about the whole thing with duties. I understand Canada has no duty free exemption for trips of less than 24 hours and a pretty small exemption for 24-48 hours. But then stuff made/grown in the US, Canada, or Mexico are supposed to be exempt. I guess fuel is something different because it just goes in the tank.
Maybe alcohol is separate?
I take it you’re getting NEXUS to spend less time in line? How does it work with declarations?
You just declare what you bring in, whether it's within or beyond allowance, if I bring across something worth over say $400 or cross with firearms then I go thru regular line as one cannot go with guns thru Nexus. If they want to tax/duty or to inspect the firearms then they pull you into secondary.
I've never gone into secondary in either direction. Crossed at a bunch of places over the years - mostly Douglas/Peace Arch, but I think I used Pacific Highway once thinking it might have a shorter line. Entered through Victoria once on the Black Ball Ferry and returned to Washington once on Washington State Ferries. That one was certainly different because the questioning was all on the BC side by a US CBP officer and when we got to Washington our car was waved through. They did tell us that we could bring produce into Washington if we could prove it was from the US, like with a sticker or in a package. We were typically asked if we had any food, but were never asked to produce it. We were never asked if we brought anything else, and what we had would have been within any reasonable limits. I don't recall ever being asked if we had any cash to declare, and in any case we never had that much cash anyways that we were over the declaration requirement.
I have been watching some of the old videos from the Australian versions of the show "Border Security" that were recorded in the US and Canada. Man they got really weird sometimes, like an American who brought a loaded/concealed handgun into Canada and claimed that he "had a carry permit" and said he was told that he should never admit that he had a gun, even to law enforcement. I heard the Canadian version was axed after there were some privacy complaints. Also noticed that the uniforms says CBSA-ASFC for most of the series, but is ASFC-CBSA in French speaking parts of Canada. I learned a little bit about getting duties. The one recorded in the US once had a group of Canadian coming in with mail on some kind of business trip. Not sure exactly what it was but they were told that they had to pay some sort of fee for the privilege. They were told something like "thirteen forty" as the fee, which they thought meant $1,340, but was clarified as $13.40.
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I have the Nexus and the APEC cards. They are both a hassle to get; required an in-person interview at DHS, which can be hard to get an appointment. I find it is worth having these cards.
Ultimately, that is the conclusion I reached. This first time application required a little more hassle, but when it come times to renew again, both can be done online since I will have already applied for both.
The hard part, so to speak, is over, unless the rules change in the next decade.
An extra $3/year is a small price to pay, for an additional form of what is probably one of the most trusted forms of ID a typical person can carry (outside of something like a military ID, costly trusted traveler program card, etc.).
It seems the gubmit will finally end the series of extensions, and enforce the Read ID requirement to fly in a few months, so for those who don't have compliant state driver licenses, or even driver licenses at all, this could be necessary. Or even entry into gubmit buildings.
The table in Step 4 is important.
People have remarked that valid books they have submitted as part of the secondary application process have been returned invalidated, and to include a note or letter to make sure they don't inadvertently wipe out the remaining term of something you had intended to keep using. Not going to risk that, instead of simply surrendering now a book that only has a few months left on it anyway, to get both. A small one time hurdle that should make things easier in the future.
When making the entry to the check register, the app autofilled the info from the last time I renewed. It was $110 for a book a decade ago.
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