Thread: "Passport Fair" Offered By Post Office

I received a mailing from from the US Post Office about "Passport Fair". Half is in English and half is in Spanish.

Don't you have to be a US citizen to get a passport here? If so, why is half of this flyer printed in Spanish? Isn't English required for citizenship?

The flyer says that two forums of ID are required which can include certified birth certificate, current driver's license or state ID card OR Naturalization Certificate, current driver's License or State ID card.

It also mentions that Effective Feb 1, 2008 customers now have the option to apply for a Passport Book, a Passport Card, or both on the new application. The Passport Card may only be used for land and sea travel between the US and Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and the Caribbean. The Passport Card will provide a less expensive, smaller, and more convenient alternative for those who travel to these destinations..


Somehow I find all of this rather disturbing. Any comments?

The barest English is required to take the citizenship test. This means being able to say yes,no, washington, lincoln or any answer on citizenship test.

Reading English is NOT a requirement for the citizenship test and many foreign-born find it easier to read in their native language. I am only ok with this if translations were available in ALL languages or English only.

I am offended that the instructions are in English and Spanish only. It tells me that the US government thinks we (anyone from a spanish speaking country) are too stupid to even make the attempt to learn English! Why aren't people who speak languages other than spanish having no problems with English?

Oh yea.Im sure thier up to no good!But also I read in a Story that Passport Procedures have been OUTSOURCED to Thailand.I gets Better.And that China has got or stolen the code for the barometric chips that are inside the passports.Wait it gets even better.That the people at the passport office are recieving huge bonuses.Isn't this great .Im going to find the article

Outsourced passports netting govt. profits, risking national security
Bill Gertz (Contact)
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
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This is the first in a three-part series on the outsourcing of passports.
The United States has outsourced the manufacturing of its electronic passports to overseas companies — including one in Thailand that was victimized by Chinese espionage — raising concerns that cost savings are being put ahead of national security, an investigation by The Washington Times has found.


Bert V. Goulait/The Washington Times Public Printer Robert Tapella, the Government Printing Office's top executive, told a House subcommittee on March 6 that increased demand for U.S. passports produced "accelerated revenue recognition," and "not necessarily excess profits."

The Government Printing Office's decision to export the work has proved lucrative, allowing the agency to book more than $100 million in recent profits by charging the State Department more money for blank passports than it actually costs to make them, according to interviews with federal officials and documents obtained by The Times.

The profits have raised questions both inside the agency and in Congress because the law that created GPO as the federal government's official printer explicitly requires the agency to break even by charging only enough to recover its costs.

Lawmakers said they were alarmed by The Times' findings and plan to investigate why U.S. companies weren't used to produce the state-of-the-art passports, one of the crown jewels of American border security.

"I am not only troubled that there may be serious security concerns with the new passport production system, but also that GPO officials may have been profiting from producing them," said Rep. John D. Dingell, the Michigan Democrat who chairs the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Officials at GPO, the Homeland Security Department and the State Department played down such concerns, saying they are confident that regular audits and other protections already in place will keep terrorists and foreign spies from stealing or copying the sensitive components to make fake passports.

"Aside from the fact that we have fully vetted and qualified vendors, we also note that the materials are moved via a secure transportation means, including armored vehicles," GPO spokesman Gary Somerset said.

But GPO Inspector General J. Anthony Ogden, the agency's internal watchdog, doesn't share that confidence. He warned in an internal Oct. 12 report that there are "significant deficiencies with the manufacturing of blank passports, security of components, and the internal controls for the process."

The inspector general's report said GPO claimed it could not improve its security because of "monetary constraints." But the inspector general recently told congressional investigators he was unaware that the agency had booked tens of millions of dollars in profits through passport sales that could have been used to improve security, congressional aides told The Times.

Decision to outsource

The proofs in da puddin
Here it is this is page 1 of 5

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/200 ... -56284974/

one more thing that really bothers me.Is that if China has the ability to decipher the chips.Just think of the potential for identity theft.I mean everything is on your passport.God they even know what you look like!
Its such an outrage that they can pull this stuff off.without the american public not knowing anything about it.

Its time to grab the torches and have a 300,000,000 million American march to D.C.
Wouln't that be cool!

Originally Posted by miguelina

The barest English is required to take the citizenship test. This means being able to say yes,no, washington, lincoln or any answer on citizenship test.

Reading English is NOT a requirement for the citizenship test and many foreign-born find it easier to read in their native language. I am only ok with this if translations were available in ALL languages or English only.

I am offended that the instructions are in English and Spanish only. It tells me that the US government thinks we (anyone from a spanish speaking country) are too stupid to even make the attempt to learn English! Why aren't people who speak languages other than spanish having no problems with English?

I agree.

Originally Posted by dubsak20

one more thing that really bothers me.Is that if China has the ability to decipher the chips.Just think of the potential for identity theft.I mean everything is on your passport.God they even know what you look like!
Its such an outrage that they can pull this stuff off.without the american public not knowing anything about it.

Its time to grab the torches and have a 300,000,000 million American march to D.C.
Wouln't that be cool!

dubsak20, I don't think I would have been able to get through that article without your smoking baby avatar! That is way too funny! The way things are going I may end up joining him!

Having a WORKING knowledge of English, and NOT just the BARE minumum, is NOT required for AMERICAN citizenship?! That does NOT compute!