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sooo...today i went to the post office to RENEW my passport...i have my 2 photos my drivers license and a blank check from Tim Dear (my dad) with me. I get up to the desk and the lady looks at my pictures...she rejected them...i had them done at a professional place in erie that is well known for their photography...so they called the place and told them they had to re-do my pictures...then the lady told me to go get my pictures and come back...she took my stuff and started to process it...and all of a sudden she goes do u have ur birth certificate...??? of course not because im just renewing my passport...i already have one my stuff has been approved....WELLL! apparently because i got my passport before i was 15 i needed to show my bc again... because obviously my birthday and birthplace have changed in the last 5 years....does anyone else find this a little bit over the top....???

well i did go get my pics...and they wouldnt let me smile this time...so i dont even know if i can get into another country because i look like a criminal in my photo...

i know homeland security is a pretty big deal...and i understand that there are probably good reasons for the requirement of my birth certificate...BUT

im just in a poopy mood...nothing is going my way today...

You lost me when you typed "ur"

I don't understand why you need to show your birth certificate again. My daughter and I went to the post office in early June to RENEW hers for our October trip to Bonaire. She was under age 16 when she got her first one. There was no need to show a birth certificate because she already had a passport. They took her picture at the post office for $15. Sent all the stuff off and we're still waiting for her new one to arrive.
One more thing...........EVERYBODY looks like a criminal on their passport photo.

Since 9/11......I am a big advocate of making it as difficult as possible to get in or out of the good old US of A. SO ...... while I am sorry that you had a cruddy time of it.... I am glad to see they are enforcing strict regulations.

I dont understand why you couldnt smile tho...you have a pretty smile!

Makes no sense to me, we just had pics take at a local Walgreen's and they are fine, we just got an email that are on the way.... Took about 1 1/2 months. These were a renewal as well, but I am way older than 15

They also told us no smiling, in my old one I was smiling.....

Eternally fins up!!!

sorry, me too. I believe in the regs, keep those darn evil dooers out...

Jeanie

Did you have your old passport with you?

PIA wrote:sooo...today i went to the post office to RENEW my passport...i have my 2 photos my drivers license and a blank check from Tim Dear (my dad) with me. I get up to the desk and the lady looks at my pictures...she rejected them...i had them done at a professional place in erie that is well known for their photography...so they called the place and told them they had to re-do my pictures...then the lady told me to go get my pictures and come back...she took my stuff and started to process it...and all of a sudden she goes do u have ur birth certificate...??? of course not because im just renewing my passport...i already have one my stuff has been approved....WELLL! apparently because i got my passport before i was 15 i needed to show my bc again... because obviously my birthday and birthplace have changed in the last 5 years....does anyone else find this a little bit over the top....???

well i did go get my pics...and they wouldnt let me smile this time...so i dont even know if i can get into another country because i look like a criminal in my photo...

i know homeland security is a pretty big deal...and i understand that there are probably good reasons for the requirement of my birth certificate...BUT

im just in a poopy mood...nothing is going my way today...

Smile and bat your eyes, I'd give you anything you want.

Is your passport only good for 5 years instead of 10 because you were a minor when you got it?

ToplessRideFL wrote:Since 9/11......I am a big advocate of making it as difficult as possible to get in or out of the good old US of A. SO ...... while I am sorry that you had a cruddy time of it.... I am glad to see they are enforcing strict regulations.

I dont understand why you couldnt smile tho...you have a pretty smile!

thank you....

the man told me so they could see my eye color... thats another thing the lady at the PO was complaining about my first picture...

alphabits wrote:Did you have your old passport with you?

YUP!!!

and all that still happened....

LIPH wrote:

PIA wrote:sooo...today i went to the post office to RENEW my passport...i have my 2 photos my drivers license and a blank check from Tim Dear (my dad) with me. I get up to the desk and the lady looks at my pictures...she rejected them...i had them done at a professional place in erie that is well known for their photography...so they called the place and told them they had to re-do my pictures...then the lady told me to go get my pictures and come back...she took my stuff and started to process it...and all of a sudden she goes do u have ur birth certificate...??? of course not because im just renewing my passport...i already have one my stuff has been approved....WELLL! apparently because i got my passport before i was 15 i needed to show my bc again... because obviously my birthday and birthplace have changed in the last 5 years....does anyone else find this a little bit over the top....???

well i did go get my pics...and they wouldnt let me smile this time...so i dont even know if i can get into another country because i look like a criminal in my photo...

i know homeland security is a pretty big deal...and i understand that there are probably good reasons for the requirement of my birth certificate...BUT

im just in a poopy mood...nothing is going my way today...

Smile and bat your eyes, I'd give you anything you want.

Is your passport only good for 5 years instead of 10 because you were a minor when you got it?

yup i got it in 2001 and it expired last year...

Reefdiver wrote:I don't understand why you need to show your birth certificate again. My daughter and I went to the post office in early June to RENEW hers for our October trip to Bonaire. She was under age 16 when she got her first one. There was no need to show a birth certificate because she already had a passport. They took her picture at the post office for $15. Sent all the stuff off and we're still waiting for her new one to arrive.
One more thing...........EVERYBODY looks like a criminal on their passport photo.

I got mine renewed, had to show a birth cert, another form of ID, and all that. I have no problem with it taking as much effort as possible to get the little blue book.

sent mine in on 12/9 last year and had it a month later.

Feel your pain - but they do get detailed... hang in there!

I on the other hand am JOBLESS!

alphabits wrote:Did you have your old passport with you?

Yes, we had to submit this to them to get the new one, so they have the orignal, new pics, and the application and the fee $$$$

I am going to renew mine now ... hope it is an easy process out here

I got mine expidited in Feb and got it back in less than two weeks.
My wife did the same but hers did not arrive for over a month and on the day before we left for Mexico. Their mistake. They said they filed it wrong.
I had my pics done at Walgreens.

PIA wrote:

LIPH wrote:

PIA wrote:sooo...today i went to the post office to RENEW my passport...i have my 2 photos my drivers license and a blank check from Tim Dear (my dad) with me. I get up to the desk and the lady looks at my pictures...she rejected them...i had them done at a professional place in erie that is well known for their photography...so they called the place and told them they had to re-do my pictures...then the lady told me to go get my pictures and come back...she took my stuff and started to process it...and all of a sudden she goes do u have ur birth certificate...??? of course not because im just renewing my passport...i already have one my stuff has been approved....WELLL! apparently because i got my passport before i was 15 i needed to show my bc again... because obviously my birthday and birthplace have changed in the last 5 years....does anyone else find this a little bit over the top....???

well i did go get my pics...and they wouldnt let me smile this time...so i dont even know if i can get into another country because i look like a criminal in my photo...

i know homeland security is a pretty big deal...and i understand that there are probably good reasons for the requirement of my birth certificate...BUT

im just in a poopy mood...nothing is going my way today...

Smile and bat your eyes, I'd give you anything you want.

Is your passport only good for 5 years instead of 10 because you were a minor when you got it?

yup i got it in 2001 and it expired last year...

technically you can only renew valid passports. since your old one expired it's not valid, so it's not quite the same thing.

There actually is a grace period if they are expired, but it does say on the websites and paperwork that you cannot renew a passport that was issued when you were a minor, you have to do the full process again. Unfortunately it is not as boldly stated as it should be. The same thing happened to me when I tried to renew my first passport, but I had sent it all in and they held onto it for a couple of months before sending it back saying I had to start over and by that time I couldn't get it back in time for my trip. I ended up at the LA Fed building the Wed. before my Saturday flight to London and they said if I was lucky I might have it on Friday, they wouldn't do same day. Actually it was just this one worker who was saying that, his ass got canned on that Friday when his supervisors found a room full of people who had been told the same thing.

I just renewed mine again, and it took 3 months. I got my pics taken at AAA and there was no problem with me smiling. But my postmaster chose not to deliver my passport and returned it to New Hampshire as undeliverable without even notifying me, so I had quite a scare not knowing where it had been delivered to. The state dept found it and fed ex'd it to me on their dime. There was an article in the LA Times during this same time period that mentioned that Postmasters had admitted to losing passports and not saying anything about it.

I don't suppose you'd post your new, non-smiling, criminal-looking passport picture, PIA ?

I guess this is a new regulation or something because when I renewed my passport in 2002, I don't think I had to show a birth certificate.

Where are you taking me???