US Passport Fees Increasing Starting July 13th 2010

J

JPBoston

Registered Users (C)
As an FYI, the service fees for new US passports and passport cards as well as renewals are going up starting 7/13/2010. Read about it here: State Dept Notice

So if you're eligible and have been sitting on the fence on this one, don't delay in applying for your passport and/or passport card or even getting your existing one renewed if it needs that. Of course, you could also wait and pay more but that's your own prerogative :cool:
 
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Thanks for the info, JP. I was trying to find it after reading your initial post, but it seemed that the DOS was performing maintenance on their site. Considering that the original filing fee was $75 (not including the acceptance fee payable to the post office), this is a price hike of nearly 50%!!! In retrospect, it makes the USCIS fee hike of 2007 seem almost conservative.
 
No probs, Vorpal. I noticed that one of the biggest jumps in a specific fee is for adding new pages to your existing, unexpiring passport. What is currently a free service is now going to cost $82. File searches are going up to $150 from $60, which is the biggest jump ($ wise) of the lot.
 
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JPBoston said:
No probs, Vorpal. I noticed that one of the biggest jumps in a specific fee is for adding new pages to your existing, unexpiring passport. What is currently a free service is now going to cost $82. File searches are going up to $150 from $60, which is the biggest jump ($ wise) of the lot.
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My wife's passport is about a year away from expiration. I told her that we need to send it in for renewal within the next few days. $35 is not a big deal, but it's the principle.
 
Vorpal said:
My wife's passport is about a year away from expiration. I told her that we need to send it in for renewal within the next few days. $35 is not a big deal, but it's the principle.
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What is the earliest one can actually apply for a renewal? Is it one year?
 
JPBoston said:
What is the earliest one can actually apply for a renewal? Is it one year?
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From what I understand, it's one year. Of course, one can always "lose" their passport, but I personally don't think it's worth doing just to save 35 bucks.
 
smdk said:
from 100 to 135 for a new passport. big jump :(
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Yes it is and especially for families who all naturalize together, this can add up to a lot of additional money. I know this fee increase has been tabled for a while now (at least since February when I was getting ready for my interview). I was convinced that by the time I naturalized, these fees who have already gone into effect. Lucky me that they waited until just after I had applied for my passport and passport card to announce the fee increase date.
 
Now fee increase will make people tend not to apply for p[assport cards. Many say this card is just useless
unless you are a frequent traveller by car between USA and Canada/Mexico.
 
WBH said:
Now fee increase will make people tend not to apply for p[assport cards. Many say this card is just useless
unless you are a frequent traveller by car between USA and Canada/Mexico.
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True, it only really makes sense if you live close to the border and do drive across. For me personally, I'm just glad that for only $20 more, I don't need to carry my passport any more when driving up to Quebec, which we like to do in the summer. Plus the compact, wallet size sure is better than carrying around a bulky passport.
 
Federal law does not require US citizens to carry proof of citizenship. I don't think Arizona law is any different. if you state that you are a US citizen and have a valid drivers license, cops cannot detain you.
 
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nkm-oct23 said:
if you state that you are a US citizen and have a valid drivers license, cops cannot detain you.
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That's a false assumption since cops can still detain you if they suspect you are not a USC (despite telling them you are and have a valid DL.)
 
Jackolantern said:
I don't think a copy of anything will be good enough. Not if you have a foreign accent.
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The problem is law does not require citizens to carry citizenship proof, what the cop can do to you after you
tell them you are a US citizen? You do notr need any ID not even DL if you do not drive. If they detain you
for a long time, can you sue them for money?
 
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