Passport Requirements May Get Tougher

The Consumerist: Quick — name off every address at which you've resided. Finished? Now let's hear the addresses, phone numbers and names of supervisors at every job you've ever had. And when you're finished with that, cough up your mom's address at wherever she was living a year before you were born.

Such information is included on a questionnaire the State Department is proposing tacking on to passport applications. The department estimates that only 75,000 of the millions of annual passport applicants would be required to fill it out. The 60-day period for public comment on the proposal ended Monday night.

Not to worry, though. According to a State Department estimate, the survey will only take you 45 minutes to complete. That's nice, because a failure to provide all the answers could potentially result in the application's denial.

Saturday is Passport Day

USA Today: If you're traveling internationally and need a new or updated passport, get your documents ready.

This Saturday, U.S. passport offices and participating passport agencies are due to be open for the third annual "Passport Day," which enables those who work Monday-Friday to move forward in getting those blue booklets or passport cards, adding extra pages in a passport, or whatever. "For this day only, no appointment is necessary," the State Department says in a press release.

It says its newest agencies in San Diego, El Paso, Texas, and St. Albans, Vt., will be open on Passport Day. Locations and details are at travel.state.gov. So what if the government shuts down, amid budget wrangling and the expiration of stopgap spending measures Friday? A State Department spokeswoman says it is operating as usual unless told otherwise.

Here's something you need to know if you or your child are applying for a passport for the first time (this doesn't affect renewals). As of April 1, you technically need a birth certificate that states both parents' names. So what to do if you're a single mom who didn't name the father on a birth certificate or an adopted child whose birth parents wish to remain anonymous?

Here's what a State Department spokeswoman e-mailed me: "The Department recognizes that some passport applicants will not have two parents registered on their birth certificates due to circumstances such as an unknown father or a single-parent adoption case. In these cases, a passport applicant may submit a certified copy of a birth certificate listing the complete name of the registering parent. Regarding two parents adopting a child, the parents may amend the birth certificate of their child to reflect both of their complete names. Though requirements differ slightly across the country, states generally make it easy to amend a birth certificate to list adoptive parents. In adoption cases, the Department will also accept the certified copy of the child's original birth certificate as long as it is submitted with the certified copy of the adoption decree indicating the name of the child and his or her adoptive parents.

Another note to travelers: Even if your passport is not close to expiring, remember that some countries won't let you enter if it's due to be renewed within six months.