State Department Considers New Passport Questionnaire - Expedited Passports

The Department of State is considering creating a new passport form, and the public comment period on the proposal ends Tuesday, April 26th.

According to San Antonio’s Ken5.com, the new form, which would be called DS-5513, is a biographical questionnaire that the Department of State would send out whenever a passport applicant “submits citizenship or identity evidence that is insufficient or of questionable authenticity.”

In other words, if you have a delayed birth certificate filed more than one year after you were born, or you were born at home with a midwife instead of in a hospital, you would probably need to fill out DS-5513. Take a look at a copy of the proposed form here (PDF). As you can see, it’s very detailed.

Sample questions for people born at home or with delayed birth certificates include:

• Whether there was a circumcision or other religious ceremony to mark your birth, and if so, who participated.
• Your mother’s addresses from year before through one year after you were born.
• When and where she received pre- or post-natal care.

Even if you were born in a hospital and your birth certificate was filed in a timely manner, the government may ask you to complete this form to provide biographical information for all the relatives in your immediate family, as well as the address of every single place you’ve ever lived and worked. The Department of State expects the new form to apply to about 74,000 applicants each year.

Of course, many people simply won’t have all of this information. I doubt my mother even remembers the dates of her prenatal appointments, and I surely don’t remember every single address I’ve ever lived at since birth. What’s not clear is whether or not all of this information will be required in order for the State Department to issue a passport to you if they have questions about your birth certificate, or whether they just want you to get as much information as you can and submit it along with the secondary evidence of US citizenship that they already ask for under those circumstances.

The public comment period on the new form ends Tuesday the 26th. If you’d like to submit a comment, go to the Federal Register website for instructions. After the 26th, the State Department will consider the comments it has received and make a decision. We’ll keep you informed as we learn more about this potential new procedure.

This questionnaire is a good example of the kinds of unexpected occurrences that can hold up an application for a new passport. At RushMyPassport, we can’t stop the Department of State from requesting additional information before they’ll give you a passport, but we can help walk you through the process so that any roadblocks get taken care of as soon as possible.

Need a new passport? Contact us today!

Divorce is almost always a stressful and time-consuming process.  It’s all too easy to overlook little things that don’t seem important now, like changing your name on your passport. However, if you are changing your name as a result of a divorce, it’s best to apply for passport services immediately so that you have an updated passport when you need it.

Since May 15, the TSA has required that the name you book your tickets under match the name on your passport (or whatever other form of ID you use for traveling.) You can view the details of the new requirements here, on the TSA blog. So, it’s important to make sure that your passport has the right name on it.

The procedure for changing the name on your passport after a divorce varies depending on how long you’ve had your passport.  Here’s how to do it if your current passport is less than a year old:

• Fill out Form DS-5504
• Send it in with the court order documenting your name change and your current passport.
• If you’ve had your passport for more than 3 months, you also need to send in new passport photos.
• Unless you need expedited passport services, a name change on a passport less than a year old is free. To expedite your name change, enclose a check or money order for $60.00.

If your passport is more than a year old, the procedure is somewhat different:

• Fill out passport renewal application Form DS-82.
• Mail it in with your current passport and a court order documenting your name change.
• Send a check or money order for the $75 application fee.
• Enclose 2 new passport photos. (more…)