The state department wants to make it more difficult to get a US passport...

http://www.consumertraveler.com/today/state-dept-wants-to-make-it-harder-to-get-a-passport/

Some of these questions are ridiculous...the circumstances and those present at my birth? Dates of my mother's pre and post natal care visits? Really? Then, who verifies all of this information? Seems kind of absurd and really intrusive and discriminatory against a whole slew of people for no reason...including adoptees, older people, orphans, those with unstable childhoods. Anyway, you can go and make a public comment about it; the details are in the linnk.

Good grief! And I bet the people they're going to demand this of will be those living overseas -- or am I paranoid?

ouch.  Who comes up with this stuff?!

Good grief! And I bet the people they're going to demand this of will be those living overseas -- or am I paranoid?

It looks like they want to demand it of anyone who wants a US passport, regardless of where they live.

Like the article says, they have to prove to the OMB that 1) this information is necessary and 2) that it will take less than 45 minutes for the applicant to find and put together, and they aren't doing that. Probably worth sending a comment to stir up enough dust for the OMB to notice.

If I'm not mistaken, the 'religious ceremony' they refer to specifically is an attempt to find out if males are circumcised or if you are baptized.

I find this deeply disturbing on many levels.

That's just insanity.  I left my comment. 

FYI - today at midnight is the deadline for leaving a comment.  At least that's what the article stated.

I left my comment too.  My mother's residence the year before my birth?  I don't know and both my parents are dead.  Who was at my birth?  She and the doctor, as far as I know.  Sorry, but I was too young to remember.  My mother's prenatal appointment dates?  Well, I went too, but couldn't see the calendar.  I cant imagine a good reason for the government to need this information. 

Define employment.  Does the afternoon I temped at a chiropractor's office need to be listed?  I can't remember his name, nor the agency that sent me.  I've had numerous temp jobs from half a dozen agencies.  Do I need a printout of all of them? 

This is an excessively burdensome requirement on anyone seeking a US passport. 

State Dept. wants to make it harder to get a passport

I love the comment by "J. C. Christ" on that article

I've read the legal complaints against this, it will never hold up in court.  Aside from the fact that the the doctor's appointments question violates HIPAA laws.

Interesting that it would only take someone '45 minutes' to verify that information.  What database are they keeping that in -it'd be easier to hack into it than try to remember everything - as it would probably take someone 3 months to find everything required!

As an 'army brat' I couldn't begin to list all the addresses I lived...I am lucky to be able to list the states on some days!

If I read it correctly, they want you to provide birth information (5-12) if you were not born in a medical facility or your parents waited over a year to register the birth.  Otherwise you don't have to fill it out.  I assume they are asking about the religious ceremony because many are recorded. 

Listing all your places of residence and work is a bit OTT, though.  Hell I'm not that old and I cannot remember 1/5 of the addresses I've lived since birth! 

I can't imagine my father trying to complete that form. He was not born in a hospital, he was born in a rural community in the 1930s. His mother is now dead, nobody would be able to tell him the info he would need to know about this. And to try and remember jobs he held in the 50s? That's a joke, he couldn't possibly remember everything he's done, or even everywhere he lived - particularly as a boy.

Another way to keep Americans from exploring the world?

Another way to keep Americans from exploring the world?

That's the thing that gets me - not that many USians have passports! You'd think they'd be encouraging people to get them, not trying to cut back.

This, to me, sounds like it's aimed at people with brown skin since they flat out admit they wouldn't require everyone to fill out the expanded form.  But if you look like you might be here illegally we'll make sure you can't get the only documentation to prove that you aren't.