Have you applied for a US passport card recently? If so, your card may be defective. The US Department of State has announced that 658 passport cards were found to be defective.
The cards in question are invalid, which means that if you try to use them to cross into Mexico or Canada, you could find yourself in a bit of a pickle as border officers will have to use other means to verify that you are a US citizen.
How do you know if your US passport card is defective? According to the Department of State, the defective cards were all issued on March 29th. If you got a passport card on that day, check the number. If it’s between C03612551 and C03613550, you may have a defective card and will need to get it replaced.
Defective cardholders are being notified by the Department of State, so if this is an issue for you, you are probably already aware of it. But just in case, if your passport card number falls in the range above and you have questions, you can call the National Passport Information Center at 1-877-487-2778. That line is open between 8am and 10pm Eastern, weekdays only.
Naturally, the government is issuing “immediate replacements” for the defective cards.
Passport cards are small, wallet-sized cards that can be used as proof of citizenship for land and sea travel to Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. However, the cards are no good for travel to countries other than those listed above, and they are no good for air travel anywhere. For that, you need the full-sized US passport book.
If you need a US passport in a hurry, RushMyPassport can help. We provide you with clear, easy-to-follow instructions to simplify the application process. Then, we hand-deliver your passport application to the Department of State for processing in as little as 24 hours.