"They know who is on trial today..."

[jadegirl]

I've mentioned that I applied for a passport a couple of weeks ago. I made sure to have everything with me, and the agent at the passport office said everything was quite well in order, and I should get it in a few weeks. Well, over the weekend I got a letter from the passport agency saying they needed further documentation of my identity, so I need to send copies of 3 pieces of ID that are at least five years old. A helpful list was included.

I have 2 items on that list. I have no employee ID, no insurance card, no union card, no student ID. All I have is a social security card, and my IL state ID, and my birth certificate, all of which they already have copies of. So, I called the number on the letter. After being told to try my call again later for two hours, I was put on hold for another half hour, and finally got to speak with a human. She asked if I had bills coming in my name (no), a bank account (no), seemed very surprised that I have no health insurance, and then was silent for a moment. Finally, she said that I should just send anything that had my name on it, old medical bills, my diploma, baptismal certificate, basically anything I could get my hands on. So, I called my father to ask him to go through his records and send my anything he could find. He managed to dig up some old hospital bills, and is sending them to me. I'm pretty sure I know where my diploma is, and Sir's going to our dentist tomorrow, so I can ask him for some paperwork too. Basically, I'm just going to send them everything I can get my hands on, and hope it works. My IL state ID expires in June, and I need a passport to bring me up to the required number of 'points' of ID the NY DMV wants in order to get a NY state ID.

The thing I don't understand is that I had everything in order on my application, everything the forms said I would need, and filled them out with great care. The agent at the office I filled out my application at said I had everything in order, too. When I asked the woman I spoke to today about it, she said she couldn't tell me why they need further documentation. I don't like that.

Comments

[silme.livejournal.com]

In the old days all I remember needing was a birth certificate. But that was back in '75 when I applied for my first passport. Okay, I think my parents had to sign something since I was underage.

This is so weird. Good luck!!

And, btw, please, please send me your requests from England in the next two weeks, ok? :) I will endeavor to please. If you can't come here, we'll try to bring some items to you. :)

[danaewhispering.livejournal.com]

That is odd Jade. You are truly going through a lot to get a NY id.

When I went to get my passport several years ago - I had a time because my birth certificate had one state where I was born and another state as the address of my parents. The city my parents lived in - in North Dakota did not have a hospital and the closest one was actually in Minnesota. The clerk, when I got my passport, gave me the biggest problem about it and I ended up having get another form of id also before they would issue it.

[luis-mw.livejournal.com]

Sounds a bit like the fun we had when silme was applying for the permanent residency. We had to send in bank statements or pay slips, passports, marriage certificate, plus assorted items - official letters etc from utilities, banks etc, addressed to either of us, or preferably both, to prove that we had lived together for the year since we got the "further leave to remain". I had been renting the house for a couple of years before she moved in, so all the bills were in my name. Then we bought the house in the December, and tried to put as many bills in both names. When we sent in the application, we only sent in stuff for the new address, and our application got rejected, because we didn't have any evidence of having lived together for the first 7 months of our marriage.

Of course, having moved house, we had thrown a lot of stuff away, and anyway, most of the bills were in my name and a lot of E's stuff had been addressed to the school address. Fortunately, we managed to scrape together a few old bank statements and things (including a jointly addressed newsletter about a folk festival, which was one of the only things with both our names on we could find for the old address). As it turned out, that was enough. Had E not been white, English speaking, educated and holding a professional job, maybe things would have been different.

[z111.livejournal.com]

It's probably because you look just like a terrorist.

Or maybe it's those peace marches.

Strange days...

[phlyingpig.livejournal.com]

It's probably because you have an IL ID. It's actually a pretty familiar tale, especially for those women who were married for 30 years, didn't work outside the home, didn't have bank accounts or utility bills or anything in joint names. They basically had to re-establish their own identity. Of course, they also had no credit history, so they had trouble buying cars or renting apartments or getting a MasterCard. I remember my mother ragging on my father to get everything in joint names!

Do you have any of your old tax returns? That would have your name, social security number, address on them.