Greetings!

My passport had been expired for almost a year, so I decided that it was time to renew it. It is an interesting fact that, in the US, you can renew your passport by mail. There are a few conditions (i.e., must have expired within the last five years, no changes in personal data, etc.). So, I renewed by mail. Filled out the forms, sent them the check and my old passport.

Well, the new passport arrived today. And, sure enough, they misspelled my last name! Yeah, I know, easy to do. But they had the form - correct. They had my old passport - correct. They had my records - correct.

So now I need to get that fixed. But, to add insult to injury:

The phone number for correcting personal data (printed in the passport) is a 900 number... So, are they trying to make money on the deal???

<groan>

Additional: Well, even though it is printed in the passport book, that number is no longer in service. There was a recording pointing me to a different number - a toll free one this time...

Or, better yet... I like their disclaimer... Our error rate is significantly below 1 percent, but, when it happens to you, that does not mean very much.

On the subject of passports, are you guys in the US aware what the US authorities are up to with regards passports and visas for vistors to the US from Europe ?

When people from Europe (and some other countries) visit the US we can do so under the visa "waiver" scheme, meaning that as long as we don't have certain criminal convictions we can enter the US without a visa.

From 26th October this year the US are changing the rules. Anyone who gets a new passport after this date will only be able to take part in the waiver scheme if their passport is "biometric".

Unfortunately we don't have "biometric" passports available yet and won't have until at least 2005. That means that anyone whose passport runs out between 26th October and whenever the new passports are available will have to get a visa to visit the US.

This means that to visit the US people in the UK that are in this situation will have to pay 67 UKP and attend an interview at the US Embassy in London. That means that someone in Scotland would have to make a 1,000+ round trip just to get the visa.

Edit: looking a bit further there are consulates in Scotland and Wales that you can go to for your interview, but that will still mean an 800 mill round trip.

I understand that most of the rest of Europe have the same problem.

Crazy !

P.S. I notice that the US Embassy in the UK also uses a 900 number

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3378717.stm

We suck.

Incidentally, I wonder if it will ever be broadly noticed that the McCarthy era's "Communists" seem to have turned into today's terrorists: there are some genuine threats, and everyone else who isn't "right thinking" is of course in league with those elements.

I wonder if the US had biometric passports?

I remember when I had last last British passport (the black one, not the fake european versions) which was hand written, and myself and some friends while skiing in Jackson Hole went to a club. Anyway, 1st person goes in and gets carded. So she shows her Kiwi passport (all computer printed). I attempt to go in and then think my passport is a bad forgery. Anyway I'm dealing with bouncers here, so no brains and way more muscles than me, so I'm not arguing, so my Irish friend gets his passport out and his is computer printed as well. So I show them the US immergration stamp from a week earlier and he calls over his supervisor (an even bigger guy). He decides it real based upon the embosed stamp over my passport photo.

I'm almost glad we now have picture driving licences.

P.S. I notice that the US Embassy in the UK also uses a 900 number

Yeah, that's to get forms etc, but you can do a lot online at www.usembassy.org.uk, in fact there's nothing you really need to call them about, they have a huge amount of information reasonably well organised.

One point: Even if you have only been arrested for something (and not convicted or even charged) you MUST apply for a visa. I think many, many people are unaware of this and look at the form on the plane and think F**K! and tick the "no" box because it is obviously too late.

I have a caution (only for illegal firearms, lol!) and must apply for one but the offence is pretty minor and of a regulatory nature so I don't expect any trouble. My boss has a caution for fraud (and hence has been arrested) and when I asked him about the visa waiver form he nonchalantly said "oh yes, I ticked the no box for 'have you ever been arrested'". D'oh!

Gareth

Unfortunately we don't have "biometric" passports

Of course, the really stupid and annoying thing is that we DO have biometric passports, and have had for many years: What else is the photograph but a biometric identification system? The real underlying goal of all these recent calls by the police states of america and their proxies in the UK for 'biometric'passports, ID cards, etc seems to be more along the lines of 'Let's build a huge database of every fingerprint in the world'. Possibly someone very high in the relevant civil service has a bet with a friend that there are duplicate fingerprints somewhere, and this is their attempt to settle it once and for all.

pca

Oooh, I have another stupid one...

US customs, according to this report, are supposed to be gaining access to Canadian visitor's tax records! WTF?

Grr....

I remember when I had last last British passport (the black one, not the fake european versions) which was hand written, and myself and some friends while skiing in Jackson Hole went to a club.

It must've been a pretty exclusive club. I've got into clubs in the US with a British Rail Young Person's Railcard without any trouble. Presumably this was on the basis that nobody would ever fake such a flimsy-looking piece of evidence, especially as it listed my date-of-birth as 9/1/72, and if one read that in American (1st September) I wasn't actually 21!

Peter

it listed my date-of-birth as 9/1/72

Happy Birthday!

--Dan.

Hehe, unless he means September 1st, as I'm used to reading it