Posts Tagged ‘American Passport’

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Passport Security Makeover in the UK!

Sunday, September 5th, 2010

Passports in the UK are about to get a makeover!  The UK Passports have been redesigned in an effort to help fight identity theft and passport fraud.

Passport UK security

Enhanced passport security features include placing the passport security chip out of view as well as a personal data section of the new passport that features holograms.

The passport holder’s personal details used to be on the back of the passport and now they appear on the passport’s second page.  The passport photo of the passport holder now appears twice.  The new passports will be in circulation starting October 2010.

Cosmetic changes to the UK passport include pages that will display UK scenes such as the White Cliffs of Dover and the Giant’s Causeway.

The government expects the new passport to give UK citizens added piece of mind as well as solid protection from identity theft and passport fraud.

The main difference between the existing passports and the enhanced passports is that the security chip will now be hidden inside the passport cover.

This new feature is intended to make it more difficult to alter the chip without causing visible damage to the passport cover.

The change of adding the personal data to page 2 of the passport is an effort to speed up passenger wait times when traveling through border patrols.

This combination of physical and electronic security features will make the UK passport one of the most secure passports in the world, in line with the international passport standards.

If you are interested in getting a US Passport or US Passport Card, visit us at http://www.rushpassport.com or call us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to speak with a Live Passport Agent.  (877) 937-7277 (All 50 States) or (212) 643-9305 New York Passport Agency.  Rush Passport™ : Expediter of Passports, serving Brooklyn, The Bronx, Queens, Staten Island, Manhattan, Nassau County & Suffolk County, Long Island, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Miami, Florida.

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Passport Rules and Fee Hikes Between US and Canada

Thursday, August 12th, 2010

Passport rules seem to be discouraging some tourists from taking the trip across the US border from the Dakotas and Minnesota into Canada for the annual Folklorama event.

Passport Canada US

Folklorama is a two-week event in August that takes place in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It is the largest and longest-running festival of its kind in the world and it draws several US Passport holders that are anxious to sample the cuisine and celebrate the cultural and ethnic heritage that Canada has to offer.

Last year, 22 busses were filled with American passport holders coming to Folklorama.  This year only 11 busses made the trip.

Folklorama officials speculate that the new, mandatory passport rules for travel into Canada have discouraged some without passports from taking the trip into Canada.

Tour operators have seen a decrease in sales in the markets where people don’t have passports.  Some blame the decrease in the American passport fee increase up to $135 USD.  Others don’t blame the passport increase, but rather see the sluggish economy as the culprit.

Despite the rise in passport fees along with the slumping economy, Folklorama has had almost as many visitors this year as compared to 2009.  It seems that less visitors are passport holders and more people are coming from rural Manitoba.

There’s still time to get your passport and visit Folklorama – but you’ll have to hurry up…  Folklorama will be ending on August 14th.  If you are interested in getting a genuine US Passport or US Passport Card, visit us at http://www.rushpassport.com or call us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to speak with a Live Passport Agent.  (877) 937-7277 (All 50 States) or (212) 643-9305 New York Passport Agency.

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Passport Initiative at Popular University Encourages Students to Get a Passport

Thursday, July 29th, 2010
Ohio State officials estimate that just 20% of the university’s 62,000 students have a US Passport. To help facilitate the passport process, officials from the National Passport Outreach Center in New Hampshire will process students' <a href=passport applications at a Study Abroad Expo at the Ohio Student Union on Oct. 7th, 2010.” width=”400″ height=”266″ />

In an earlier, Rush Passport™ blog entry, it was reported that U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk in his commencement speech at SMU this past spring urged students to “Get a passport!” 

Now it seems that Ohio State University is following suit.  In an effort to better prepare students to become citizens of the world, OSU plans to double the number of students with passports.  The campaign starts this summer, and the initial focus is to encourage the more than 6,000 incoming freshmen to get passports.

Dolan Evanovich, Ohio State’s vice president made the following analogy: “The passport is really the driver’s license to the world.”

The passport initiative was first announced in March 2009 and among the steps towards encouraging every student to have a passport, is doubling the number of international undergraduates at Ohio State. 

Ohio State officials estimate that just 20% of the university’s 62,000 students have a US Passport.  To help facilitate the passport process, officials from the National Passport Outreach Center in New Hampshire will process students’ passport applications at a Study Abroad Expo at the Ohio Student Union on Oct. 7th, 2010.

While the State Department received over 14 million passport applications in 2009, only about 30% of Americans have passports.

When asked why they did not have passports, some students blamed not getting passports on their cost.  Now, the cost will present even more of an issue as the passport application fee increased from $75 to $110 on July 13th, 2010.

Having a passport creates international opportunities for students.  Studying abroad widens students’ world views and provides an appreciation for other cultures, languages and perspectives.

You don’t have to be a student to get a passport.  Well, what are you waiting for?  If you are interested in getting a US Passport or US Passport Card, visit us at http://www.rushpassport.com or call us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to speak with a Live Passport Agent.  (877) 937-7277 (All 50 States) or (212) 643-9305 New York Passport Agency.

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Passport Emergency Almost Derails NY Times Frugal Traveler

Friday, July 16th, 2010

Got a passport?  Do you think that you could live on $500 a week, just about $70 a day, on a three-month, 10 country trip from Brazil to New York?  Well, that’s just what the “New Frugal Traveler” was all set to do… that is until he lost his passport.

Frugal Traveler Passport

Seth Kugel was getting ready to embark on his grand debut in the frugal spotlight when he realized that his passport was missing.  He looked all over the apartment, but could not locate his passport.

After successfully sparking his memory, he remembered last having his passport at São Paulo’s Guarulhos airport.  With his passport gone, he began to wonder whether or not he would be able to cross international borders without the elusive travel document.  Would the American Consulate be able to help him get his new passport in time?

On a whim, he decided to call the airport.  He asked if anyone had found an American Passport belonging to Seth Kugel.  He was shocked to find out that the Customs office had his passport as a good Samaritan turned it in. 

He drove over the airport and retrieved his passport and quickly embarked on his trip.

For the next 3 months, Seth will take on the persona of The New Frugal Traveler as he will attempt to live on just $70 for meals, travel and lodging while spanning 10 countries en route from Brazil to New York. 

If you are interested in keeping up with him, you can do it: via Twitter, the Frugal Traveler page on Facebook, e-mail at frugaltraveler@nytimes.com, or by commenting on his posts.

As the last leg of his adventure, he will be entering the United States through the Texas border.  Let’s just hope that he doesn’t lose his passport along the way.

If Seth Kugel or anybody reading this finds yourself in a passport emergency, be sure to contact Rush Passport™ (877) 937-7277 (All 50 States) or (212) 643-9305 / New York Agency 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and speak with a Live Passport Agent or visit us online at http://www.rushpassport.com.

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Passport Prices Around the Globe: Is the US in the Top 10 Most Expensive? You’ll Be Surprised…

Wednesday, July 14th, 2010

With the US Passport service fee increases now in effect as of July 13th, I wondered how America’s passport fees measure up against the rest of the world.  I had several questions: Were our passport fees the most expensive?  Which country charges the most for a new passport?  Which country charges the least?

Passport Globe

I decided to do some research and I turned to google to search results for the cost of passports around the world.

My passport fee research looked promising as I was pleased to find a chart put together by the British government that listed passport fees from around the world as of May 2009.  You can access the passport chart here.  However my passport research hit a bump in the road when I noticed that the fees were listed in their original currencies as exchange rates vary more than passport fees.  Also, I discovered that some countries offer passports that are only valid for 5 years while other countries offer passports that are valid for 10 years.

So in order to compare apples to apples, I had to put all passport fees on a level playing field.  I utilized the Google Currency Converter and Yahoo Currency Converter with currency rates as of July 7, 2010 to make the process of deciphering passport fees from around the world a bit easier.  Also, passport fees that were valid for 5 years were doubled so that all passports are on the 10 year scale.

Let’s start off with the highest passport fees in the world.  So, which country has the highest passport fees in the world?  That distinction belongs to Turkey.  The cost of a Turkish passport valid for 10 years is a whopping $642.11  The least expensive passport is from Georgia (and I don’t mean the state in the US) which comes in at approximately $20.00 for a 10 year passport.

Interestingly enough, the United Kingdom passport runs at just under $110 USD.  An Australian passport will cost you about $180 – that’s an awful lot of “shrimp on the barbie”.  You would think that the Belgian passports come with diamonds, chocolates or even waffles – but for $180 you only get a passport.  Canadians have to shell out a lot of bacon as their passports cost over $165.  Japanese passports don’t leave much money over for sushi as they cost $182.  New Zealand passports are even more expensive at just over $211.  Portugal also makes the top ten coming in at a bit over $151 for a 10 year passport.  Brazilian passports round out the list with passport fees of $140.  Malaysian passports rake in $187 per person.  Currently, with the passport price hike the US barely makes the top ten list at $135.

Here are the top 10 most expensive passports in the world:

1. Turkey $642.11
2. New Zealand $211.07
3. Malaysia $187.56
4. Japan $182.33
5. Australia $180.00
6. Belgium $179.36
7. Canada $165.82
8. Portugal $151.57
9. Brazil $140.00
10. USA $135.00

Here are all of the passport fees results listed alphabetically by country:

Australia $180.00
Austria $88.29
Belgium $179.36
Brazil $140.00
Bulgaria $106.60
Canada $165.82
China $47.50
Croatia $38.53
Czech Republic $29.77
Denmark $101.68
Estonia $36.27
Finland $116.21
France $112.42
Georgia $20.21
Germany $74.52
Greece $66.69
Hungary $88.35
Iceland $81.43
India $21.38
Ireland $101.05
Israel $56.68
Italy $107.30
Japan $182.33
Latvia $53.30
Lithuania $21.88
Luxembourg $75.79
Malaysia $187.56
Malta $88.42
Netherlands $125.30
New Zealand $211.07
Norway $70.39
Poland $43.28
Portugal $151.57
Romania $69.72
Singapore $115.67
Slovakia $46.35
Slovenia $45.47
South Africa $21.65
Spain $37.89
Sweden $105.56
Switzerland $132.31
Taiwan $36.00
Thailand $61.60
Trinidad & Tobago $78.74
Turkey $642.11
United Kingdom $109.26
USA $135.00

You can always contact Rush Passport™ for all of your passport needs.  If you are interested in getting a US Passport or US Passport Card, visit us at http://www.rushpassport.com or call us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to speak with a Live Agent.  (877) 937-7277 (All 50 States) or (212) 643-9305 New York Agency.

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Vladimir Mayakovsky

Tuesday, April 6th, 2010

Vladimir Mayakovsky

My favorite poem by the Soviet poet Vladimir Mayakovsky, “My Soviet Passport,” is about his passport and its meaning for him. Of course, his Communist ideology is not particularly appealing to many today, but he wrote the poem in 1929 when it might have been excusable for an artist to believe that he was working toward a great new egalitarian future as a Soviet citizen.

Anyway, that’s not the point of this entry. The poem is easy enough to find online, so I won’t bother to repeat it here. What’s interesting to me about the poem is the way the narrator frames the narrative. He’s apparently on a train and they’re at a border crossing. The border officials come on board the train to check passports and the narrator notices how the officials’ reactions to people change depending on the passport they hold. I’ve noticed this myself when traveling today.

Rightly or wrongly, a passport tells the world something about you. I remember traveling to Russia with an American passport in 2001 and I actually bought one of those protective passport covers for the trip. This cover had the Russian passport cover image printed on it, so I decided that I’d just use it when I was in Russia. Well, the reaction I got was very interesting. I handed the passport to the passport control person at Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow and I could just see the confused look on her face when she opened the passport up and saw my American passport hidden inside the skin of a Russian holder. Was I making fun of her? Was I mocking her? Was I paying homage to the country I was visiting? She ended up staring menacingly at me for what seemed like five full minutes and I began to wonder how good an idea this was. She finally stamped the passport and gave me a warm smile. “Welcome to Russia,” she said as handed me back my passport. I had many similar situations during my trip, some very positive, some not so much, but they were all interesting. They say you can’t judge a book by its cover, and I never found that to be truer than when the book in question was my passport.

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