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As I mentioned in a prior post, I was having problems getting a State of
Washington Identification card, due to the fact that I "didn't have
enough I.D. to get an I.D." to more or less quote the person at the
Department of Motor Vehicles. This person also got very huffy with me,
as if it was somehow my fault that I didn't have enough I.D. and not the
fact that the requirements here in Washington are pretty close to being
insane. Even with my birth certificate, social security card, Medicare
card, and copies of mail sent to my address by both the Federal
government and the State itself, even that was not enough. As for my old
I.D. which had expired, they said it had been expired too long and that
I was "no longer in the system."
All of which — especially the attitude of the person at the DMV — made
me rather testy to say the least. Not to mention nervous, as in this day
and age it is not good to go walking around town without an I.D. And
then of course there are just certain things that I couldn't do without
one such as go into a bar (if they happened to be checking), open a bank
account or use it to confirm my identity at my existing bank, or take an
air flight or even to get on a Greyhound bus.
So I came up with a plan. One form of I.D. that you could use to get a
State I.D. was a U.S. Passport. So I looked at the requirements to get a
Passport, and while I didn't have the actual photo I.D. they were
optimally wanting there was another way to get one using my birth
certificate, Social Security card or Medicare card, and filing for the
Passport with an identifying witness who had known me at least two
years.
A Passport isn't cheap. It cost $110 for the Passport, $30 for the
filing fee, and $10 for the photos — a total of $150. Well it took me a
few months, but I finally came up with the money. Then I arranged an
interview time at the only Post Office here in Spokane that still does
the identifying witness thing, and got my mom's friend Sister Sharon,
a Catholic nun, to be my witness and also to drive us all the way out to
the Post Office in Airway Heights.
It must have taken a good 3/4 hour to get through all the paperwork.
I had my photo taken — miracle of miracles it didn't turn out too badly.
I left the Post Office tired but greatly relieved. All I had to do was
sit back and wait the 4 to 6 weeks until the Passport came in.
But of course it could not possibly be that easy. Two weeks after filing
for the Passport I get a letter from the Department of State. They
wanted me to provide some sort of current photo I.D.
My heart sank. I was back to square one: No proper I.D. card.
I wasn't going to lay down and die. I quickly fired off a letter to
State telling them about my problems getting an I.D. here in Washington
State, and also quoting their own web site as to the alternate
identifying witness route. I also photocopied off anything that I had
close to an I.D. card, all the typical government Social Security type
stuff, an old school I.D., and even my Medtronic medical device implant
card (which at least had my current address on it). And I have to admit,
I wasn't above begging at that point. I told them that without an I.D.
card or the Passport, that it would be as if steel bars would fall
around me and that I would never be able to travel outside of Spokane
again. Letter completed, I took it to the mailbox and dropped it in.
I was not optimistic. I figured that their demand for the current I.D.
card indicated that they had already made up their minds. And so the
dreadful wait began. I would look in the mailbox every day, dreading the
letter saying that my Passport had been denied. Every day too I prayed
that I would not find anything from State in the box — I figured that
the longer it took to hear from them the more likely that I would
receive good news instead of the expected bad news. Hope against hope
I would look in the box, and give a sigh of relief if nothing was to be
found.
This went on for weeks of course, and was pure torture. It dominated my
thoughts. I tried to resign myself to a kind of stoicism, but couldn't.
If I was to ever have any hope of getting my State I.D., of ever being
able to take a bus to Seattle to visit my friend Charlie who has Alzheimer's,
of ever going to hear Valentina Lisitsa perform in another city, or of ever
taking my dream trip to Paris, it all rested on getting that Passport.
And then, on September 18, I woke up in the morning and, groggy,
grabbed my phone and checked my email. One was from the Department of
State. It said simply: "We have finished processing your passport and it
has been mailed to you."
Two days later, I got the Passport in the mailbox.
I won't even try to express, in fact even though I'm pretty good working
with words I don't even think I could express, how I am feeling having
gone through all of this. But one thing I do know: In November I am going
to go into my local DMV office, fill out the appropriate form, and slam
that damn Passport down on the counter and say "I want my State I.D. card."
And I am not going to be nice about it.
Talk about a rigmarole! :insane:Here in South Africa we have the Department of Home Affairs which process all I.D. passport, births, death, marriages, citizenship etc.They're notorious for bungling things, but the reports of their bungling are really an exception rather than a rule.These days they have computer based fingerprint readers which make identification a lot less complicated than it used to be. Since all South African citizens must have an I.D. once they turn 18, it's rare that anyone is not in the system. :up:
I really don't see why a person can't be fingerprinted to get their first Social Security card, and then they would be in a national system like yours for any other thing that may be needed. But Americans tend to be kind of sensitive about that kind of thing, they start talking about Big Brother and all of that.The ironic thing is that Big Brother is already halfway here, but people accept it because it is being done in the name of "fighting terrorism."I am sure the crazy requirements here in Washington for the I.D. came about due to 9/11. Because when I got my prior I.D. card here it was a simple process. In a lot of ways, I wonder if Osama Bin Laden didn't win after all. We have surrendered a lot of our freedoms in the past 12 years.
I'm out of a passport too. However, it's quite simple sround here. I can actually go down to the library with my photos, birth certificate and Social Security Card, and the librarian will send it on to the City Hall where they process stuff like that in the department called Citizen Service. The Citizen Service Department has a nation wide partnership with the state libraries, as a service to people who live out in the country. There's a small state library unit in every village and small town (mostly unmanned, we walk in and out using our Social Security Cards – they have chips – and make loans with the same card). However, one or two days a week there will be librarians present, and they will accept your photo and scan your Social security Card and birth certificate, and a few weeks later your passport will arrive. Still expensive, though. Around 80 Euros for the passport alone. Kafka has gone digital in Denmark, and it actually works.
Well I was thinking of getting a passport when I move to Michigan but don't think so now. Even though I'll be within spitting distance of Canada, methinks I'll just stay home.
And I thought Serbia is the worse in that department :doh:I needed to obtain a lot of documents too but once I went to police station (they are responsible for issuing IDs, driving licences and passports) and managed to get in line for documents (it was crowded few years ago because of new biometric passports and IDs) I got everything sorted out in a day. Two weeks later they called me to come again and take my passport. It is due to 2016 but by then, hopefully I will have another passport, with red leaf on it ;)Originally posted by edwardpiercy:
It is already here. It is just that we don't see some obvious things. However, the best way to hide from lions is within a herd of zebras, I think 😛 I don't want to be the only zebra in vicinity 😛
Originally posted by gdare:
Good point! :lol:But I think this says it the best!
:up: good, you finally got your passport.I still can't imagine "the land of the free" is treating their own citizens in the name of whatsoever like this.in Germany the process is quite similar to what Martin wrote about Denmark, quite similar and quite easy.there's much more ado and a higher learning curve to deal with, when it comes to live in Germany as a foreigner (but that'S a different story).I always thought about Kafka as the little brother of "Big Brother" … "Big Brother" is imho already here, there and everywhere, no doubt … the little brother Kafka … I guess everywhere where there's bureaucracy he's feeling very well.
Hard to believe they gave you so much grief.It is somewhat similar here (Canada) though (and about just as expensive).The biggest issue I run into is that "for Privacy reasons…" the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing. So even if you have valid ID cards for Department Y, Department G's clerk looks at you with glazed eyes and gives it back saying "Well that's Department Y, we're Department G. We have nothing to do with them and can't accept that here."(I can go into an entire 13,263 page rant on that issue alone.)Makes it rather difficult if, for instance you are like my bride, and have never gotten a driver's license or other photo ID. (Her last photo id was a Student Card.)Another issue is that some places won't give you photo id unless you provide photo id! 😮 Wee bit of "Catch-22".Any way, I am happy to hear you've had that much resolved.Cheers
Congrats on the passport, Edward! Don't think I'd be very patient with the state's ID people, either, after all the runaround.Give 'em hell!:D:heart:
If I cross the border to Germany, my car's GPS will ask if I want to download the 'updated map' for Northern Germany and accept the cost of 50 Euro…
You cannot travel by greyhound buy without an ID? Well, tovarish, if they get you without an ID-card will you be deported to a gulag in Alaska? :)If an American wants to travel to Mexico he has to spend hours in a queu waiting to be checked by an armed border patrol officer. If I cross the border to France I get a text message with my provider's new special offer for travellers.
That`s Europe as we like it
That`s Europe as we like it
Originally posted by Aqualion:
Originally posted by Pineas2:
:lol:The only photo I.D. you need to cross borders in Africa are a few Ben Franklins! :p(well, most borders anyway!)
You know I don't even think I can respond to all of these comments — the topic is a huge one! I called the lisence brach yesterday and talked with them, I guess just to set my mind at ease. I told the person my problems about my expired I.D., almost hoping I'd get the same shitty attitude as last year. But when we got to talking about alternate forms if I.D. she kinda glossed over the passport one at which point I stopped her and said that I DID have a valid U.S. Passport, at which point you could almost hear her eyes widen over the phone as she said "Oh, a passport is like gold here!"Ha! Well, I guess I won't give them too much shit about it. It's over. Done. I will get the I.D. and go against the Scot in me and forget this whole thing ever happened.
Originally posted by edwardpiercy:
:lol:Well, as long as you have a valid U.S.A. Passport, you are always able to prove your citizenship. :yes:
Yeah but the ironic thing is that the passport has nothing whatsoever to indicate that I live in Washington State. And with the passport I don't have to show them anything that does indicate it. Go figure the logic of that one. :ko:
Originally posted by edwardpiercy:
In a word, Bureaucracy! :p