Question:
My wife got caught in this a few years ago. She sent in the fee they
said was required, and they sent a notice (after SEVERAL weeks) telling
her she hadn't paid enough. But did they straighten out their Web site?
No! It still says, in the only place most people would think of
looking, that the fee is only $67.
I wonder if anyone in the relevant section of the State Department has a brain?
Answer:
Leave it to the stupid US Government to mess up everyone who consults
their Web sites and tries to renew a passport.
The main site with instructions,
, says there
is a $67 fee for renewal. It's not until you consult a second site on
fees, , that
you find there is an ADDITIONAL $30 "execution fee" that you'd better
pay too, or you won't get your passport.
Hmmm....I just renewed my passport in August. Fee was $67. The $30
execution
fee, I was told, was for new applications, not renewals.
I had no problems doing mine. I was sure to be careful and read
EVERYTHING pertaining to getting a new passport. Seems to me your wife
is the one without a brain? Perhaps the reason they dont change the
page is because the overwhelming majority of people have no problems
with it.
Or Bush appointed people with the same qualifications as the guy who
ran a race track and became head of FEMA?
Right. What I found confusing about the passport info on the
government's web site is it gave directions on how to renew if your
passport expired five or fewer years ago. My passport expired six years
ago, and I didn't see any directions on what to do in that situation. As
it turned out, I had a day off from work, so I just went over to a
county office two weeks ago and I took my old passport with me. I had to
go to the mall where that office is located anyway, so renewing my
passport in person was no big deal. For $67, I got a new passport photo
and a county clerk handled my passport application. I didn't have to pay
anything extra, not even for the photo. My new passport has not arrived
yet, but I was told it would take 4-6 weeks, which is fine by me.
