Truth Parlor

New Passport Law

You’ve probably heard about the recent changes to the passport law.To cross the border by land, you now have to have at least a passport ‘card.’ If you are traveling by air, you MUST have a passport ‘book.’

Family Reunion

Well, we’ve been planning this trip to see my only living grandparent, my dad’s mom, for over 6 months now for her 90 birthday party and a family reunion that happens like once a decade. We’re coasting along and all of a sudden we’re caught up in a rush to get passport cards for our kids.

So what’s the big deal? Well try this:

1. They just changed this law just a few weeks ago.
2. Dad didn’t get his VC approval until Tuesday of this week (that would’ve nixed our trip if he couldn’t go).
3. My sister & I rush online to fill out paperwork online. This part was awesome.
4. I fill out the passport card info since it’s half the price, add the ‘expedite’ fee which is another $60 (per kid) though they can’t even tell you for sure how fast it will get here.
5. We get to the post office to turn in our application and you can’t expedite a passport card, only a passport book. So even though it gives you the option online to expedite the card and even tells you your fees, it’s not allowed. WTF. Really?
6. Now we’re paying double what we anticipated and all because it all happened so fast that even if we would’ve applied the same day they announced the changes, they wouldn’t have guaranteed it’s arrival in time. Ok, I know I’m cheap, but I hate to pay almost double for something that will only last half the time an adult’s passport will. Kids under 16 years of age only  have a 5 year life span on their passports.
7. I have made 4 trips to get passports for my kids & nephew. Don’t ask why 4 separate trips were needed or your computer will self destruct at the obscene obstacles. (Ok, to be fair, one of the extra trips was my own fault for not reading the fine print & having a birth certificate for one of my kids. Duh.)

Don’t Ask Any Questions

So of course you know me, I have to open my big mouth and ask the nice, overworked post office lady who could care less if our family makes it to our reunion, “So what happened to all those families who had their summer vacations planned across the border who didn’t have the time or resources to get their passport cards processed? Especially if it’s really taking a true 6-8 weeks to process?”

Now I get a disdainful, “Well, it’s been on the news for yeeeears. Haven’t you watched the news at all? So everyone should’ve been prepared for this…blah blah blah.”

Oh my God. Bullshit. Not the post office lady’s fault, but again, poor planning again by our government. I’ve stopped expending my energy trying to figure them out.

And then, when on my 2 trip to the post office to help my nephew, Darren, get his passport, the lady said that we had to have a notarized copy of this form when it clearly states and option for when:

You are the applying parent or guardian, and the written consent of the non-applying parent or guardian cannot be obtained.

So when I translate this into Lee-ese, I take this to mean that my sister could fill that portion out without a hitch. Well, we even went an extra step to have my Darren’s dad write up a letter and fax it to us, but this new post office lady said we needed to have  a notarized copy of the form.

Um. I have read that statement over and over again. Can anyone explain why I would think it was OK to just have his mom there and note from his dad. Where did I misinterpret “and the written consent of the non-applying parent or guardian cannot be obtained.”

You know the funny thing after writing all of this is that it’s sooo jumbled and that’s how I feel my life has been the past few days with my multiple trips and attempts to compete all of this in time. And it also feels like a crazy rant…so should I just delete this thing so you don’t lose 3 minutes of your life on this ridiculous subject? Apparently not.

PS – You can thank me later for not getting into the wait time at the post offices. Absurd.

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