I’m so glad I finally pushed through the bureaucracy and got my U.S. Passport. The State Department is about to make it a real challenge for new applicants:
The U.S. Department of State is proposing a new Biographical Questionnaire for some passport applicants: The proposed new Form DS-5513 (PDF) asks for all addresses since birth; lifetime employment history including employers’ and supervisors names, addresses, and telephone numbers; personal details of all siblings; mother’s address one year prior to your birth; any “religious ceremony” around the time of birth; and a variety of other information. According to the proposed form, “failure to provide the information requested may result in … the denial of your U.S. passport application.”
The State Department estimated that the average respondent would be able to compile all this information in just 45 minutes, which is obviously absurd given the amount of research that is likely to be required to even attempt to complete the form.
It seems likely that only some, not all, applicants will be required to fill out the new questionnaire, but no criteria have been made public for determining who will be subjected to these additional new written interrogatories. So if the passport examiner wants to deny your application, all they will have to do is give you the impossible new form to complete.
(click here to continue reading State Dept. wants to make it harder to get a passport.)
I’ve lived in a lot of places, especially in my twenties, so providing this information would be an exercise is guess-timation, and even the thought of providing phone numbers for various supervisors at places of employment is a joke. But then, who is checking to see if it is accurate? Does the federal government already have this information somewhere, so that if you misspell your bosses name at that pizza place you worked at one summer in high school, they’ll reject your passport application? Or is this all an exercise in expanding government overreach because The Castle was such a innovative model to emulate?
Hope your passport is current! Or else you’ll have to answer questions like:
What type of document, if any, did your mother use to enter into the United States before your birth?
or:
Please describe the circumstances of your birth including the names (as well as address and phone number, if available) of persons present or in attendance at your birth
or:
List your mother’s residence one year before your birth:
(Street Address) (City, State, Country)
7. List your mother’s residence one year after your birth:
Dates of employment:
Name of employer:
Address of employer:
Fun!