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Author Topic: Bloody Passports!  (Read 6173 times)

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Online andrewfi

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Bloody Passports!
« on: June 25, 2010, 01:41:04 AM »
I have a UK passport.
For the first time in over a decade I need to travel to the USA. My passport was issued in Estonia at the embassy and it took about 5 hours to do. Cost was, as I recall, about €50.

Now, I want to go to the US so I either get a US visa or a new UK passport. If I get the visa (which I only need because of my non-machine readable passport) I need interviews, probably weeks of waiting and a chunk of cash.

If I get the new passport it takes a chunk of cash, about $110, the passport is issued from Dusseldorf (NOT THE UK!) and takes at least a month, a month during which my primary means of ID will be absent.

Has any 'terrorist' attack been halted because some dude had a 'biometric' passport? GRRR!
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Offline Olga_Mouse

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Re: Bloody Passports!
« Reply #1 on: June 25, 2010, 01:47:28 AM »
Andrew, I feel your pain  :nod:

I'm slowly starting the process of getting a biometric passport as well - might create a thread about it later, as already the beginning of the quest is quite, erm, exciting  :8)
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Offline WestCoast

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Re: Bloody Passports!
« Reply #2 on: June 25, 2010, 02:19:58 AM »
Canada doesn't start issuing biometric passports until 2011 at the earliest.  The good thing about this is with good old Canadian efficiency that date will probably be moved back even further to 2012 or later.  :laugh:
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That means I'm a subject matter expert on all things Russia, Ukraine and UK.


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Re: Bloody Passports!
« Reply #3 on: June 25, 2010, 09:39:14 AM »
Andrew humbled?

Miracles will never cease!

Your whining is almost pathetic - the rules are clear.
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Offline ECR844

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Re: Bloody Passports!
« Reply #4 on: June 25, 2010, 10:03:59 AM »
Just so we can be clear about your gripe and so the readers can get this all straight...

'Andrew's' upset that he'll be without his passport for a period of time so that he can get a new one which will allow him and guests to be the beneficiaries of a gifted trip to the USA from the HRB CEO. A trip which by the way will probably easily cost over $5,000.00+. Yet you are here 'crowing' about €50 or $110 expenditure?!?!?!?

Why?

On second thought you do talk about being 'cheap' a lot...




Offline ECR844

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Re: Bloody Passports!
« Reply #5 on: June 25, 2010, 10:13:22 AM »
Andrew humbled?

Miracles will never cease!

Your whining is almost pathetic - the rules are clear.

Wait until he finds out he'll and any other traveling companions will also have a full biometric profile, digital pictures and full fingerprinting done at the port of entry. I'd hate for it to be a surprise though... :-X Plus they'll also run them all through Europol and MI-5 as well as other checks done here... :-X :nod:

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Re: Bloody Passports!
« Reply #6 on: June 25, 2010, 10:13:36 AM »
Perhaps my post was a bit to short thru the corner.

The new passports are a reality (for over three years)

I assume that Andrew will not need to travel outside Estonia while he is obtaining his visa. Further that he is legally in Estonia. He than has a document that allows him to travel anywhere in Estonia and often within the Schengen region without problems.

Where is the problem?

As for the expenses a friend of mine needs/has to to compete in the former Soviet Union and his "Olympic sport visa" is over € 100,=  He pays it and we contribute to the campaign.

Hope he kicks ass!

Does Andrew need a campaign?
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Online andrewfi

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Re: Bloody Passports!
« Reply #7 on: June 25, 2010, 04:40:08 PM »
[edited for TOS]

Getting this stuff sorted out is a pain in the arse, simple.

Most of it is likely unnecessary.

Getting a UK passport from Germany is just plain ODD.

Being without one's primary ID is never convenient.

In the UK we do not have ID cards so a passport IS one's primary ID. One does not need an ID card to live elsewhere in Europe, depending upon the circumstances, but no, without a passport I can not legally travel within Europe.

The big issue here is time.

The posts upthread seem more than a tad mean spirited.

Eric, just for you. To note a cost does not infer that one is complaining about the expense, but do we detect a tinge of green in your words?

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Offline dbneeley

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Re: Bloody Passports!
« Reply #8 on: June 25, 2010, 05:08:08 PM »
Andrew,

I, for one, understand your frustration. I daresay I would feel the same way in your position, in fact.

Surely you are not the only person with this problem. Does the UK have a provision for a duplicate passport, or perhaps to make copies of your present one that can be certified by the Embassy in Estonia and that could serve for the creation of your new one, so that you can retain your existing passport to use until you get the new one?

They may have a provision whereby you can actually take delivery of the new one at the Embassy, so if required you could surrender your existing document when you receive the new one.

Of course, you may well have already looked into this sort of alternative--but if not I would certainly make the inquiry.

David

Offline WestCoast

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Re: Bloody Passports!
« Reply #9 on: June 25, 2010, 06:15:49 PM »
I have a UK passport.
For the first time in over a decade I need to travel to the USA. My passport was issued in Estonia at the embassy and it took about 5 hours to do. Cost was, as I recall, about €50.

Now, I want to go to the US so I either get a US visa or a new UK passport. If I get the visa (which I only need because of my non-machine readable passport) I need interviews, probably weeks of waiting and a chunk of cash.

If I get the new passport it takes a chunk of cash, about $110, the passport is issued from Dusseldorf (NOT THE UK!) and takes at least a month, a month during which my primary means of ID will be absent.

Has any 'terrorist' attack been halted because some dude had a 'biometric' passport? GRRR!

Andrew perhaps once you've got your new biometric passport and you're at customs in the US you could have a chat with the customs agent and let the agent know your true feelings on the issue.  Please understand I'm not suggesting that you swear or be abusive just use the same type of language when talking to the US customs agent that you use in your postings here. 

Be firm and stand your ground and make them listen to you don't let them pass you through the gate into the US until you've gotten rid of all this  :GRRRR: that you feel about the issue of biometric passports.  Of course at US Customs US First Amendment rights don't apply to incoming foreigners so you would probably be put on the first available flight back and your name would be on the no fly list. 

If this does indeed happen could you please post a TR with photos.  Thank you for reading.   tiphat 
andrewfi says ''Proximity is almost no guarantee of authority" and "in many cases, distance gives a better picture with less emotional and subjective input."

That means I'm a subject matter expert on all things Russia, Ukraine and UK.

Offline ECR844

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Re: Bloody Passports!
« Reply #10 on: June 25, 2010, 06:20:59 PM »
Eric, just for you. To note a cost does not infer that one is complaining about the expense, but do we detect a tinge of green in your words?

Green, of you??!?! That's rich, hilarious even. I'm sure you find it a point of pride that you were 'hand picked' by yet another seedy internet marketer to be bought and paid for. :ROFL:

Have fun, and keep on whining...


Offline sparky114

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Re: Bloody Passports!
« Reply #11 on: June 26, 2010, 12:20:49 AM »
Andrew,

I am sure you have covered this but just for the sake of trying to help  :innocent:

Could you not come back to the UK and follow the urgent passport route a link of which i will post below.

I followed this route last year and got my new passport within 7 days  :) and it was not that difficult. i do not know all the in and outs and maybe because you are resident else where it might not help.

you never know it might help

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTransport/Passports/howlongittakesandurgentappplications/DG_174149

Mark
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Online andrewfi

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Re: Bloody Passports!
« Reply #12 on: June 26, 2010, 12:33:41 AM »
Thanks, I had considered this but it is not practical. Cost WOULD then be an issue. Flights to the UK, a week or more stay in an hotel while I hang around for a passport, inconvenience for my work and not being with those for whom I care...
Makes no sense.
Overall given the need for other visas for my traveling companion the cost in money and time is not worthwhile. 
...everything ends always well; if it’s still bad, then it’s not the end!

Online andrewfi

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Re: Bloody Passports!
« Reply #13 on: June 26, 2010, 12:53:51 AM »
Eric, just for you. To note a cost does not infer that one is complaining about the expense, but do we detect a tinge of green in your words?

Green, of you??!?! That's rich, hilarious even. I'm sure you find it a point of pride that you were 'hand picked' by yet another seedy internet marketer to be bought and paid for. :ROFL:

Have fun, and keep on whining...



eric, you are funny. Sad but funny. How is it to live a life devoid of generosity of spirit?

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I am not alone. Is THIS the difference?
I hope one day you find the same.
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Offline Voyager

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Re: Bloody Passports!
« Reply #14 on: June 26, 2010, 01:00:14 AM »
Wait until he finds out he'll and any other traveling companions will also have a full biometric profile, digital pictures and full fingerprinting done at the port of entry. I'd hate for it to be a surprise though... :-X Plus they'll also run them all through Europol and MI-5 as well as other checks done here... :-X :nod:

Since when was an ordinary UK passport not accepted?  ???
And UK nationals get fingerprinted & biometrics done?  :-\

Things are getting crazy...

Offline sparky114

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Re: Bloody Passports!
« Reply #15 on: June 26, 2010, 01:15:31 AM »
Thanks, I had considered this but it is not practical. Cost WOULD then be an issue. Flights to the UK, a week or more stay in an hotel while I hang around for a passport, inconvenience for my work and not being with those for whom I care...
Makes no sense.
Overall given the need for other visas for my traveling companion the cost in money and time is not worthwhile. 

I understand, and wish you good luck  :)
Today is only one day in a life of happiness

Mark

Offline Manny

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Re: Bloody Passports!
« Reply #16 on: June 26, 2010, 01:29:25 AM »
Wait until he finds out he'll and any other traveling companions will also have a full biometric profile, digital pictures and full fingerprinting done at the port of entry. I'd hate for it to be a surprise though... :-X Plus they'll also run them all through Europol and MI-5 as well as other checks done here... :-X :nod:

Since when was an ordinary UK passport not accepted?  ???


Since Blair decided half of the occupants of the Tora Bora mountains were welcome in the UK, together with their mad Mullahs and extended families. He then gave them fast track passport applications -- for free, while the rest of us pay.

I guess the US decided that since we cant control our own borders, they should up the security on incomers from here. Richard Reid anyone?
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Online andrewfi

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Re: Bloody Passports!
« Reply #17 on: June 26, 2010, 01:53:03 AM »
Wait until he finds out he'll and any other traveling companions will also have a full biometric profile, digital pictures and full fingerprinting done at the port of entry. I'd hate for it to be a surprise though... :-X Plus they'll also run them all through Europol and MI-5 as well as other checks done here... :-X :nod:

Since when was an ordinary UK passport not accepted?  ???
And UK nationals get fingerprinted & biometrics done?  :-\

Things are getting crazy...

Sadly my passport is not even machine readable so I am not eligible to travel on the Visa Waiver Program. This is an aspect of the madness to which I referred earlier. So I get a new passport that makes not one whit of difference to the world and I wait to get a passport from Germany. And I whine and whine. ;)
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Offline dbneeley

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Re: Bloody Passports!
« Reply #18 on: June 26, 2010, 02:08:32 AM »
Wait until he finds out he'll and any other traveling companions will also have a full biometric profile, digital pictures and full fingerprinting done at the port of entry. I'd hate for it to be a surprise though... :-X Plus they'll also run them all through Europol and MI-5 as well as other checks done here... :-X :nod:

Since when was an ordinary UK passport not accepted?  ???
And UK nationals get fingerprinted & biometrics done?  :-\

Things are getting crazy...

Passports issued after some date in 2006 must be biometric; those before that date must be machine readable to be acceptable under the visa waiver program for entry into the U.S.

Also, as I understand it the regular passports issued by the British government in the U.K. in the normal course of business have been biometric types for some time now. That is what you will get when you renew yours, no doubt.

Note, too, that there are now many passport covers being sold that keep simple RFID readers from sucking the data from your passport chip by those interested in identity theft. I my current passport cover is a nice leather one, but I'll be changing it for one of these more secure types when I am issued the new passport I must get while I'm back in the States.


Offline BCKev

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Re: Bloody Passports!
« Reply #19 on: June 26, 2010, 09:29:21 AM »
Maybe if you ask nicely they will produce your new passport quickly?   :king:
 
It did work for me in completely different circumstances. I needed a new Canadian passport from the Canadian embassy in Mexico. The normal time was 4 weeks. After chatting with the embassy staff, they suggested I attach a note to my application explaining why I need the passport quickly. It worked. My new passport was ready in a week.

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Re: Bloody Passports!
« Reply #20 on: June 26, 2010, 09:54:08 AM »
Maybe if you ask nicely they will produce your new passport quickly?   :king:
 
It did work for me in completely different circumstances. I needed a new Canadian passport from the Canadian embassy in Mexico. The normal time was 4 weeks. After chatting with the embassy staff, they suggested I attach a note to my application explaining why I need the passport quickly. It worked. My new passport was ready in a week.


A good idea, I will do that. Nothing is lost by doing so. ;)
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Online andrewfi

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Re: Bloody Passports!
« Reply #21 on: June 26, 2010, 10:01:17 AM »
I have a UK passport.
For the first time in over a decade I need to travel to the USA. My passport was issued in Estonia at the embassy and it took about 5 hours to do. Cost was, as I recall, about €50.

Now, I want to go to the US so I either get a US visa or a new UK passport. If I get the visa (which I only need because of my non-machine readable passport) I need interviews, probably weeks of waiting and a chunk of cash.

If I get the new passport it takes a chunk of cash, about $110, the passport is issued from Dusseldorf (NOT THE UK!) and takes at least a month, a month during which my primary means of ID will be absent.

Has any 'terrorist' attack been halted because some dude had a 'biometric' passport? GRRR!

Andrew perhaps once you've got your new biometric passport and you're at customs in the US you could have a chat with the customs agent and let the agent know your true feelings on the issue.  Please understand I'm not suggesting that you swear or be abusive just use the same type of language when talking to the US customs agent that you use in your postings here. 

Be firm and stand your ground and make them listen to you don't let them pass you through the gate into the US until you've gotten rid of all this  :GRRRR: that you feel about the issue of biometric passports.  Of course at US Customs US First Amendment rights don't apply to incoming foreigners so you would probably be put on the first available flight back and your name would be on the no fly list. 

If this does indeed happen could you please post a TR with photos.  Thank you for reading.   tiphat 

Hmmm...

Thanks for the sugegstion but, as an experienced traveller who actually gets to places, ;) you probably know that I get a UK passport from the UK Passport Authority. It'd be pointless to rant at an employee of the US government who, to the best of my knowledge have no hand in the issuance of UK passports.

Frankly, I am at a loss as to why you'd make such a silly suggestion.

Can I assume that you were giving humour a trial run?  ;D

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Re: Bloody Passports!
« Reply #22 on: July 12, 2010, 04:35:06 AM »
OKZ, so we got sorted with the British Virgin Islands and an assurance frm their visa dept that no visa is required for my travelling companion. Good news coz it takes at least one month to get one and maybe as long as three months.

We got the US visa this morning. We applied for an appointment on Saturday, filled out the online application yesterday, paid last night, went to the appointment this morning, walked out with an approval for my traveling companion after a brief interview with a 'very nice man' and she should be holding her passport with its visa by Wednesday evening, delivered to our door.

My passport is languishing in the postal system somewhere awaiting delivery for a one day 'hurryup' application and then its return to me.

It turned out that the USAians were more interested in me than in her. 'Is he American?' she was asked. 'What does he do?' they wanted to know. 'No' and 'he sits by his computer all day' were satisfactory replies.
She followed her mother's advice and dressed down a tad for the meeting, I think it was a good suggestion.
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Re: Bloody Passports!
« Reply #23 on: July 12, 2010, 05:07:38 AM »
Andrew

Surely are you are living in Estonia more than the UK ( or anywhere else ) so qualify as a permanent resident of Estonia?   This would mean you should have an Estonian ID card.. ( legal obligation ) so you would still have a means of ID while your new passport is being issued..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estonian_ID_card

Note: it also qualifies as a valid travel document for movement in EU and EEA member states and although a UK Border agency guy might attempt to tell you different - it is even valid for a UK citizen


As a seasoned traveller you would surely know about the US and machine readable passports ?











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Online andrewfi

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Re: Bloody Passports!
« Reply #24 on: July 12, 2010, 05:52:02 AM »
Andrew

Surely are you are living in Estonia more than the UK ( or anywhere else ) so qualify as a permanent resident of Estonia?   This would mean you should have an Estonian ID card.. ( legal obligation ) so you would still have a means of ID while your new passport is being issued..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estonian_ID_card

Note: it also qualifies as a valid travel document for movement in EU and EEA member states and although a UK Border agency guy might attempt to tell you different - it is even valid for a UK citizen


As a seasoned traveller you would surely know about the US and machine readable passports ?

Moby, you have not been reading have you?
If you are going to comment on posts then at least show me the respect to bother to read the earlier posts in the thread that, at least in part, would save your time in posting as you did. ;)

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Have a nice posting day.
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