U. S. Passports

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

I have travelled a lot of the world in my 82+ years and never had a passport.  U. S.military orders and transportation took care of that.

 

Now, at the end of my years and with no intention of ever leaving Arizona, much less the United States, I have an unexplainable urge to get a passport.....just to say I have one.

 

How many of you have one, how often have you used it, and what do you think about having one?

 

$160.00 isn't much any more, about a fifth of a month's groceries for me and my dog, and my next trip of any distance will probably be in a hearse.

 

Morbid?  Maybe.  Realistic? Oh, hell yes.

 

Now, don't get all upset about this.  I'm not ready to go for a long time yet...20 more years.  I fully intend to live to be 102 years old (I want to be my own high school reunion.  I don't need the rest of that mob around.), but I just want this for the same reason I want a replica of the Colt-Burgess rifle (.44-40) and one of a Ballard (My mother's family name, but probably no relation) No. 5 Pacific (.45-70).  Just because!

 

Opinions, if you please.

 

BTW, a few years back I found out that my "birth certificate" that I had used my entire life...to let me travel all over, get Secret clearances, work on classified project in aerospace, etc....wasn't  real birth certificate at all.  It is a U. S,.Department of Commerce document that certified that my real certificate was in Portland, Oregon in a U. S, vault.

 

I called them up and asked how to get a certified copy and was told it would cost something like $60.00 and would take a long time because those years were still on microfiche and would have to be recoversedand processed.  I sent a certified check and less that six weeks later I had five certified copies.

 

I had accomplished in about a month and a half something that Barrack Obama couldn't get done in eight years...showed anyone who wanted to see it a REAL AMERICAN birth certificate. 

 

Nanner, nanner, nanner!   

Edited November 9 by Forty Rod SASS 3935

[Tex Jones, SASS 2263]

I had 3 passports expire over the years when I traveled overseas.  Didn't cost me anything as the bank I worked for paid.  Haven't had the need to get another one as I have no intention of traveling outside the US of A anymore.  No reason to have one living here. 

[Rip Snorter]

Not going outside the U.S. anymore, and don't even plan air travel inside, if you do, the passport works for that as well.

Edited November 9 by Rip Snorter
Typo

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

I’d get another if a certain government agency would let me. Used my last one for nearly 100 trips, had three blank pages when it expired.

[Abilene Slim SASS 81783]

My wife & I just got ours a few months ago. We had to start from scratch as ours had expired decades ago. Only reason we got them is because my son and wife moved to Spain to live (she’s a native).
 

The process is reasonably straightforward. Fill out the forms, attach a passport-compliant photo and show up at the authorized location with your birth certificate and checkbook. You’ll have to make out two separate checks. 
 

The only part I objected to was I had to surrender my birth certificate with the application. Mine was an original, so I was nervous about that. It was returned by mail separately from the passport about a week after the passport arrived. 
 

Google “obtaining a passport” which will give you links to the appropriate US govt website. In there will also be links to USPS passport locations as not all post offices offer the service. Hopefully you’ll have one in Prescott or Prescott Valley (as opposed to Flagstaff or Phoenix).

 

Good luck.

 

 

Edited November 9 by Abilene Slim SASS 81783

[Sixgun Seamus]

I just renewed mine. I originally got if for several cruises we were on. Had to renew it for a future planned cruise next year. It only took 18 days from when I filed for it till it came in the mail. 

[ORNERY OAF]

Get a passport if ya want kne,what the hell! Go for it,we got ours....

[Rip Snorter]

Ought to post the photos.  My original from the '70's had expired.  Got the new one 15 or so years ago!  Time warp.

[Chickasaw Bill SASS #70001]

I can NOT see any reason , to get one 

 

NO plans to get on a plane or a cruse ship 

 

  CB 

[Alpo]

Back in the early aughts, when the government decided that you now needed a passport to go anywhere, including Canada and Mexico, my boss calls me in one day and asked if I had a passport.

 

I told him no.

 

He told me I needed to get one.

 

Why?

 

Because I go to Puerto Rico a lot.

 

Well, boss, I understand that Puerto Rico is not inside the continental United States, but it is part of America. Like Hawaii. You don't need a passport.

 

However, the multinational corporation I worked for thought you did. He told me to go ahead and get it. Company would pay for it.

 

So after I got it, the first time I went to Puerto Rico, I took it with me. Just in case the company was right and I was wrong. I used it as ID to get on the plane. But nobody wanted to see it. So what I got back to the house I stuck it in the safe, and there it stayed until it expired. And there is still is.

 

And I see no need to get it renewed. I certainly don't plan to leave the country.

[Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619]

I can't think of a single solitary reason not to get a passport if you want one. 

 

We always renew ours. 

 

Maybe some circumstances might make it useful, but even if not, I'd get it. 

 

And think how many uncountable millions in the world would like to have one!

[Alpo]

2 hours ago, Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619 said:

And think how many uncountable millions in the world would like to have one!

I see what you're saying, I think. But I believe that's a dumb reason.

 

How many thousands of people, in California, would like to have a regular AR-15?

 

Is that a reason for me to buy one?

 

That seems to me to be the same argument.

[DeaconKC]

3 minutes ago, Alpo said:

I see what you're saying, I think. But I believe that's a dumb reason.

 

How many thousands of people, in California, would like to have a regular AR-15?

 

Is that a reason for me to buy one?

 

That seems to me to be the same argument.

I dunno Pal, I really don't need much encouragement to buy any new gun...

[Wild Eagle]

I don't use mine much anymore, but I would not be without one.  They're not expensive and allow you to travel whenever you want.  They are also legal ID almost anywhere you go either in the US or abroad.  If you want one, get one.  I used to always have an international driving license also.  It can also come in handy as ID and I have been to a few places that required one to rent a car.  Not many do, but there are a few.

[watab kid]

mine has expired , im not planning to leave the country again , theres a lot of this country i want to see yet that ive never seen yet , 

[Rye Miles #13621]

Never had one and don’t see the need presently to get one. 😎

[Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619]

2 hours ago, Alpo said:

see what you're saying, I think. But I believe that's a dumb reason.

 

And that's not the reason.

 

What is a reason not to get a passport if you want one? Can't quite figure that out....

[Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967]

I don't travel internationally, but would like to visit Canada again one day.  Mebbe next year.  Last two times I was there all I needed was my drivers license; no more.

 

That said, I do use my passport frequently in lieu of a "Real ID" drivers license.  In california one of the two is required to buy firearms and ammunition.  And supposedly, at some point one, or the other will be reqired to board airplanes, enter federal buildings, and other ridiculous stuff.

 

So in my case, the name on my birth certificate is not the one I grew up with and have used all my life.  As it turns out, it was a LOT easier and far less expensive to get a passport with the name I've always used than to correct the birth certificate issue.  Ironically, getting a "Real ID" requires a birth certificate with your real name, or... a passport.   

 

 

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

When you get a passport, you have the option of also getting a passport card. 
 

Quote

The card is proof of U.S. citizenship and identity, and has the same length of validity as the passport book. The card is for U.S. citizens who travel by land and sea from Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, and some Caribbean countries. The card is not valid for international travel by air and is cheaper than the passport book.

 

[Ozark Huckleberry]

You want a passport? Get a passport. 

 

Having one might inspire a, 'never thought I'd . . . ' trip somewhere.

 

If there ever came up a reason for needing one you might not have the luxury of being able to wait to get one. Sure, there are ways to cut the processing time down, but that's if you're willing to jump through hoops.

 

My wife and I haven't needed one for quite some time, but I keep them current because renewing one can get more problematic when it's expired.

[Alpo]

5 hours ago, Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619 said:

 

And that's not the reason.

 

What is a reason not to get a passport if you want one? Can't quite figure that out....

I'm not saying that. If you want one, by all means go get one.

 

But you said to go get one - think of all the millions of people worldwide that want one but can't have one.

 

And because someone else wants one but can't have one is a dumb reason for me to get one.

 

Now quite possibly I misunderstood what you meant.

[Alpo]

I wonder, occasionally, how many people actually have one. Why they have one. And if they carry it around with them.

 

I was watching this TV show - TV SHOW, FICTION - that was taking place in Las Vegas. And they had a concert. And everyone that came in got a ticket for the door prize. And at the end of the concert they drew a number, and the lucky couple won a trip to Paris. Go up to the your room and get your suitcase because the airplane is waiting at the airport to take you to Paris.

 

Well the first part of that was kind of stupid in my opinion - I'm in Vegas because I wanted to go to Vegas. If I wanted to go to Paris I'd be in Paris.

 

But if I had won that door prize, I could not have gone, because I do not have a passport. And if this was 2003, when the TV show was made, I did have a passport, but if I had gone to Vegas, my passport would have been back home in the safe. Why take my passport when I'm going to Nevada? It's not like I'm going to New Mexico - a foreign country.

 

But I have managed to make it almost 70 years now with only leaving the country one time. I was six or seven. We were on our way to California to see my mother's parents. We spent the night in El Paso, and walked across the bridge to Juarez. Only time I have ever been out of the country. And I really don't see a reason to leave again.

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

14 hours ago, Chickasaw Bill SASS #70001 said:

I can NOT see any reason , to get one 

 

NO plans to get on a plane or a cruse ship 

 

  CB 

I agree 100%...except I want one. I  might need it to get into heaven...or wherever.

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

13 hours ago, Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619 said:

I can't think of a single solitary reason not to get a passport if you want one. 

 

We always renew ours. 

 

Maybe some circumstances might make it useful, but even if not, I'd get it. 

 

And think how many uncountable millions in the world would like to have one!

Why would they want one?  People come across our borders...both ways... every minute of every day without one.

 

I hope that changes, say about January 20th.

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

11 hours ago, DeaconKC said:

I dunno Pal, I really don't need much encouragement to buy any new gun...

Good comparison.  Thanks.

[Chicken Rustler, SASS #26680]

The reason I like a passport is so I can get interesting stamps from places I go, but your reason is just as good as mine. I don't know you but I see what you write and it sounds like your whole life your philosophy has been if there's something you want you do the work to get it. No reason to change now.

Also, today is the Marine Corps birthday so I raise a glass to you and to my brother-in-law.

[Dantankerous]

Can it hurt to have a passport?

 

Don't see how.

 

 

[Chickasaw Bill SASS #70001]

40 if ya want one get it 

 

Happy Birthday to the JAR HEADS 

 

  Chickasaw (11B / grunt ) ARMY 

[Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619]

5 hours ago, Forty Rod SASS 3935 said:

Why would they want one? 

 

Can't imagine why. It's a mystery!

[Wallaby Jack, SASS #44062]

 

  ..... here's a reason to get a passport .......

 

 

AUSTRALIA

   ...... where everything wants to kill you ......

 

                    🙃🙃😃🙃🙃              😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 10 by Wallaby Jack, SASS #44062
speeling erer

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

25 minutes ago, Wallaby Jack, SASS #44062 said:

 

  ..... here's a reason to et a passport .......

 

 

AUSTRALIA

   ...... where everything wants to kill you ......

 

                    🙃🙃😃🙃🙃              😉

Does that include the koalas?

[Wallaby Jack, SASS #44062]

 

 

  ..... but, of course ..... 

[Anvil Al #59168]

Wife and I both have one.

 

Will be using it next week. 

11-day cruise. 

We have cruised quite a few times. And have also flown 

to a few Caribbean places some. 

 

So, we keep a current passport as might need it anytime. 

Heck. I think they last 10 years. 

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

19 minutes ago, Anvil Al #59168 said:

Wife and I both have one.

 

Will be using it next week. 

11-day cruise. 

We have cruised quite a few times. And have also flown 

to a few Caribbean places some. 

 

So, we keep a current passport as might need it anytime. 

Heck. I think they last 10 years. 

Yes ten years, best if you renew before nine and a half. Some countries won’t let you enter if you have less than 180 days.  And even earlier for some visas.

[John Kloehr]

Having previous ID from California, I do not have RealID in Tennessee. Tennessee has since implemented RealID and my passport is a key to getting it. I should look to see if it is expired, and if that matters to RealID but California issued drivers licenses with no regard to proof of identity while I was there so now I need to prove up. And I want to drop my middle name, so looking to get it all as part of a package.

 

One of the options with Canada is to get a simple card to show at the border. Still a passport at least in a sense but somehow supposed to be simpler. Side note, a USA DUI bans entry to Canada.