AmberHeartsDisney
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2009
they are good for 10 years too i think right?
I seriously don't sweat the small stuff. I figure if I'm dropping 1-2k on a cruise, the $139 bucks for a passport is not a deal breaker and hopefully I will travel a couple of more times in the next 10 years (that's a long time in my life).
I do break it down to the lowest common denominator and for me that's a love of travelling. I love to travel, if spending a couple of hundred one time allows me to do that easily. No worries.
Because their processing is so overstaffed. The gov't doesn't process them, they contract them out. I used to work for the large financial organization that processed them, started in data entry entering the passport info from scanned forms then worked my way up.
They staff up for the busy season in the spring. We're talking about 200 people per shift for 3 shifts, plus a weekend shift. In the spring and early summer, they need that many people; 3-4 months. The rest of the year, they don't but keep the staff. The staff are mainly temps but they keep them anyway. The rest of the year, they get paid to go home early when there is no work. The government pays for all of this. This, to me, is a poor management choice. I think you'll find similar choices in most gov't agencies and contracts.
There are also fully staffed locations in LA and CT where they both scan in the passport forms and enter in the data. There could be some cuts made in staffing. The situation could have changed, I quit 3 years ago. However, I see on FB that some of my former coworkers who still work there are still going home early through a lot of the year. Perhaps they wised up and only pay the perm staff to go home and not the temps? We can hope.
Technically, the REAL reason is because so few Americans have them. This infrastructure is necessary and must be paid for, but if the majority of Americans had a passport the per-person share of the cost of supporting that infrastructure would go down.
I am sitting here with my kids' passport applications right now. What annoys me about the ones for the kids is not that they are only for 5 years, it's that you have to apply from scratch each time, rather than being able to renew my mail. I have to drag all the kids with me (because they have to appear in person), get DH to take time off of work (or get his notorized permission, which is another hassle), and go into the office in person, wait a ridiculous amount of time to see someone to file, etc. I don't understand why my kids need to show their birth certificates AGAIN, when they already have been issued passports before. The State Department has verified their identity once...why do it again?
I am sitting here with my kids' passport applications right now. What annoys me about the ones for the kids is not that they are only for 5 years, it's that you have to apply from scratch each time, rather than being able to renew my mail. I have to drag all the kids with me (because they have to appear in person), get DH to take time off of work (or get his notorized permission, which is another hassle), and go into the office in person, wait a ridiculous amount of time to see someone to file, etc. I don't understand why my kids need to show their birth certificates AGAIN, when they already have been issued passports before. The State Department has verified their identity once...why do it again?
Yes, but just yesterday we paid $345.00 for my kids to go on a cruise. We got ours a couple of years ago. We don't plan on leaving the country other than the cruise, but we don't want to take the chance of not having passports.
Yes I think it is a little bit of a rip off. Those people are on payroll, but they don't just do passports, they have other jobs. Much like everything in the Gov't. pretty much a waste of money. But I do agree, it is a choice, and we are paying the price, but not liking it that much.
1) Identity theft.
2) child abduction
3) 5 years, kids features change.
Why do we assume every thing has to be easy and convenient.
Please forgive the rudness but really, you're mad because you have to drag YOUR kids with you? The state departments job is to make sure the correct information and the correct person is applying. Not to make sure you can do it in a manner that is easy because you have kids.
It's not Disney, the agency is not there to be entertaining.
If some one had a phoney copy of your kids birth certificate wouldn't you'd like the state department to take the time to VERIFY their identity?
You're right, and you have valid points. I guess I'm just thinking that identity theft could happen to anyone, not just kids, so why don't they make everyone reapply from scratch each time instead of just the kids, but I suppose if the main reason is to prevent a non-custodial parent abduction, I can see the point.
but the price of most items are not dependant on the number of uses. If you brought a lawn mower or snow blower you couldn't go into sears and say, listen I only plan on using this one time would you lower the price? Or if you buy a dvc time share, you can't go to Disney and say "you know, could you drop the price 5 grand, I only plan on using it for 2 or 3 trips". The price is fixed and the value comes in using it more than once but that does not change the selling point.
I'd say try a different office if you can. When I did my kids passports I waited 15 minutes, max.
Someone clearly forgot to relay that information to Airline personnel and US Immigration and border protection agents....
Thanks, I'll give that a try. The office we have gone to before doesn't do appointments, so maybe if we try one that is farther away and can get an appointment it would go quicker.
The passport application needs both parents if the child is 16 & under.