New US Passports

I made a simple black & white copy on an office copier. I keep the copy in my filing cabinet, away from the original certificate which I keep in a bank safety deposit box.

In addition, I also use my office scanner and scanned my certificate. It is a professional scanner, the size of a washing machine, and the picture file is 42.6MB.(almost ten times the picture size of the the pictures that I take with my 10mp digital camera) The office copy room geek told me that scanner cost almost $25,000..... Obviously I only keep this file for my personal records. I triple-encrypted the picture file(256-bit encrption, three times) and burned it on a CD. The CD is safely store 5000 miles away in my grandmother's basement. :)
 
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Dad is going to get his passport tomorrow. I know that we can go apply for it at a USPS, but I heard that there are offical places to apply. Well, he needs it as soon as possible as he will be traveling, but can't make it to LA. Besides USPS and Federal Building, what do people mean by offical location?

For Arizona would it be at the Clerk of the Superior Clerk?
http://www.clerkofcourt.maricopa.gov/passport.asp#applications


Thanks :)
 
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cregan said:
Dad is going to get his passport tomorrow. I know that we can go apply for it at a USPS, but I heard that there are offical places to apply. Well, he needs it as soon as possible as he will be traveling, but can't make it to LA. Besides USPS and Federal Building, what do people mean by offical location?

For Arizona would it be at the Clerk of the Superior Clerk?
http://www.clerkofcourt.maricopa.gov/passport.asp#applications


Thanks :)
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cregan, what is the timeframe for your father's travel? If it is within two weeks, he can go to a Regional Passport Agency and get the passport the same day. (He needs to show a travel itinerary to get an appointment.)

Otherwise, by mail usually takes less than three weeks or around two weeks for expedited service.

Here is more information:

http://travel.state.gov/passport/get/first/first_830.html
http://travel.state.gov/passport/about/npic/npic_898.html
 
Now the really interesting question is why you have to "hand over" (mail) your original Natz in the first place. If the passport agency isn't checking records with USCIS?

I would assume they do and for that purpose all they need is the certificate number.

Actually, maybe they don't. Considering that there is no standard for bith certificates either or mandatory registration.

Rather goofy procedure
 
I think the issue is that USPS accepts passport applications, but a different department, the State Department, is the one that has the responsibility to determine if an applicant is indeed a citizen or not.

MartinAub said:
Now the really interesting question is why you have to "hand over" (mail) your original Natz in the first place. If the passport agency isn't checking records with USCIS?
Click to expand...
 
MartinAub said:
Now the really interesting question is why you have to "hand over" (mail) your original Natz in the first place. If the passport agency isn't checking records with USCIS?

I would assume they do and for that purpose all they need is the certificate number.

Actually, maybe they don't. Considering that there is no standard for bith certificates either or mandatory registration.

Rather goofy procedure
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I applied for my passport in person at the nearest US Passport Agency.
(only 6 minutes walking time from my office building)

I made phone appointment and went there the day after my naturalization
oath ceremony.

My appointment was at 10:00AM, but I showed up at 10:20AM.
They took my application/photos/money and of course my naturazliztion
certificate.

The employee told me that they do indeed verify the validity of the
naturalization certificate, but would not say how they accomplish this.

I was given a pick-up voucher and told to come back at 1:30PM.
(only three hours later). When I showed up at 1:40PM, my spanking,
shiny, new US passport was ready! :) They also handed me back my
natz certificate in a big baby-blue envelope, which was nice because
my certificate didn't get bent or anything! :) Very impressed with how
fast their service was.

Total time from filing N400 to oath ceremony: 12 and half months.
Only three hours to get my first passport. WOW! :)
 
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I made a color scan of mine since it's for my records. If I need a black and white copy, it's easy to set any printer to print black and white. No way was I going to not keep a copy while I sent the original for my passport app.
 
Hello.

I have my oath ceremony this Thursday, and would like to apply for my passport the very same day. I would also like to apply for a Passport Card, but am unclear on one issue: I've been reading conflicting information about the cost of applying both for a passport card and passport booklet. I've read somewhere that if I apply for both it'll cost $120, but that information is not available on the State Department website. Do I have the right information?

Thanks
 
Mr Vertigo said:
Hello.

I have my oath ceremony this Thursday, and would like to apply for my passport the very same day. I would also like to apply for a Passport Card, but am unclear on one issue: I've been reading conflicting information about the cost of applying both for a passport card and passport booklet. I've read somewhere that if I apply for both it'll cost $120, but that information is not available on the State Department website. Do I have the right information?

Thanks
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Passport book only costs $100 total. If you apply for passport card also you pay an additional $20. The execution fees is charged only once if you apply together.
 
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At the passport agency they charged me $20 extra for the card. I expedited so it was $169.85 plus execution fee of $51 to the court. I understand your confusion as it seems prices are different, it doesn't seems as I paid the price stated on the website :-o
 
So is the online system any good? I applied 8 days ago and there's no information on the website whatsoever. I need to travel within 3 weeks so hopefully there's no hiccups..
 
Mr Vertigo said:
So is the online system any good? I applied 8 days ago and there's no information on the website whatsoever. I need to travel within 3 weeks so hopefully there's no hiccups..
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online system is totally useless. I applied and kept checking my status online every day. My check was cashed two days later and passport received in a week, but web site still as of this day don't have any information. As soon as you check is cashed, wait for 5-6 days afterwards.. you should get it...


good luck

aero_ir
 
aero_ir said:
online system is totally useless. I applied and kept checking my status online every day. My check was cashed two days later and passport received in a week, but web site still as of this day don't have any information. As soon as you check is cashed, wait for 5-6 days afterwards.. you should get it...


good luck

aero_ir
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Thanks for your reply aero. I actually sent a money order, so no way for me to track it that way :( Hopefully next week it'll be here.
 
Mr Vertigo, I received mine about 1 1/2 later and then received my certificate today. my father's took 1 week. I called this Monday when I was worried, was on hold and then a representative answered all my questions as to when it was shipped, etc :)

Hope you get it soon. It doesn't feel complete until we have all our doc in our hands.
 
cregan said:
Mr Vertigo, I received mine about 1 1/2 later and then received my certificate today. my father's took 1 week. I called this Monday when I was worried, was on hold and then a representative answered all my questions as to when it was shipped, etc :)

Hope you get it soon. It doesn't feel complete until we have all our doc in our hands.
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Congrats - the journey is finally over for you :) I wouldn't be so jittery about it if I didn't have a trip planned for April 8th. I know I'll probably receive a lot earlier than that, but you never know with government bureaucracy... I tried calling today but wasn't able to get a hold of an agent for 30 minutes at which point I gave up. Hopefully I get it by next week and can finally say that I'm all done :D
 
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