BIG Problem...Advise Please!!

[TeriG2]

Hello All ! Need advise...quick!! My family and I are going on a New Years Cruise Dec 29th...We applied for our passports several weeks ago. Mine arrived yesterday but my DH and DS and 90 year old grandfather ...well they have problems:

 

1) My DH and DS (16yr old) had certified copies of their birth certificates (the same ones we have used on 6 other cruises) that they used when we applied for their passports. We got 2 letters yesterday stating that we needed to send CERTIFIED copies in...well the ones we sent ARE certified...when I ordered them years ago, along with mine they all came at the same time..with raised seal! My question is ...what do I do now?

 

2) My 90 year old grandfather's birth certificate does NOT have his name on it..evidently back then it wasn't uncommon to put "Infant" on the certificate. He HAS had a passport in the past that is both expired and lost, so we don't have the old passport number....the letter that the passport place sent states he has to either 1) submit a birth affidavit from a blood relative that is either his generation OR older or 2) submit school records, census records that are close to his birth date and original or certified.....well let me tell you he is 90 years old...he's the last remaining person in his family/generation and as for school records...that was 85 years ago...where would I get those and as for census records that are original or certified...how and where would I get those??

 

All I can say is UGH!!!! I'm now flipping out ...we leave in 40 days...any suggestions my fellow cruisers???

[UTgws]

Teri,

 

There is a passport office in Houston, I'd call and talk to someone there first thing, Reference the letter (is there a reference number on the letter) and go from there. You might have to make a trip into the office and if Granddad can go in person with you might help.

 

Passport problems are the pits, best of luck.

[Coral]

I also agree about going to a passport office. Good luck!

[Pam in CA]

Unfortunately, it's the law that the name must be on the birth certificate, regardless of age. :( You can explain and ask what other reasonable documentation can be used, such as driver's license, voter registration records, etc. in addition to the birth certificate.

[CATGUY7]

Did you receive correspondence from the passport office? It should have a number that you can call tomorrow. Ask them what you can do. That will be your best option. Send return paperwork overnight mail. We had to have our child's adoption paperwork translated by a certified translation agency, which caused a huge delay in getting his passport for his first cruise. The passport office answered my questions and was helpful. Good luck, and don't wait!

[satxdiver]

Contact your congressman now and get their help while continuing with the effort of working with the passport office. Congressmen can put a small fire under the different agencies. They maintain offices in their districts to assist their constituents with problems with the federal government. I have had to contact mine on another issue involving another well know federal agency with good results.

[BoPippy]

I cannot help but wonder why this passport business was not rectified long ago unless it is the first time going on a trip like this?You could go direct to a passport office to expedite issues in person,explain problem and they should hopefully hurry the process along.

[IECalCruiser]

Teri,

 

There is a passport office in Houston, I'd call and talk to someone there first thing, Reference the letter (is there a reference number on the letter) and go from there. You might have to make a trip into the office and if Granddad can go in person with you might help.

 

Passport problems are the pits, best of luck.

The website for the Houston Passport Agency states that you can only make appointments if you need your U.S. passport in less than 2 weeks for international travel.

 

http://travel.state.gov/passport/npic/agencies/agencies_908.html

 

Otherwise they refer you to a local Post Office. Hopefully you have a number you can call and perhaps with the issue you can make an appointment at the Houston location in advance of two weeks. They can issue your passport there.

 

You probably received this information, but secondary records potentially can be used such as.

 

Baptismal certificate

Hospital birth certificate

Census record

Early school record

Family bible record

Doctor's record of post-natal care

 

However, with a 90 year old, all of the above may be difficult, if not impossible to obtain.

 

The following will not be accepted as secondary evidence of U.S. citizenship:

 

Voter registration card

Army discharge paper

Social Security Card

[fleckle]

Contact your congressman now and get their help while continuing with the effort of working with the passport office. Congressmen can put a small fire under the different agencies. They maintain offices in their districts to assist their constituents with problems with the federal government. I have had to contact mine on another issue involving another well know federal agency with good results.

Good advice! One's congress member can often be of great help in expediting such matters.

 

Also, if your grandfather is someone who enjoys personal attention, you may consider contacting a local TV station. This is just the sort of human interest story that local TV reporters love:

 

"Sweet elderly man has hopes for dream cruise of a lifetime crushed.

Stay tuned for details at 10."

 

Many stations regularly run special consumer advocate type segments where they get to play the "hero" who resolves such problems for people in their viewing area.

[room010]

Issues like this can't be fixed by phone, letter, email or even here! I suggest your grandfather goes in person to the local passport office along with any documentation he may have and hopefully they can sort this out in time for your departure. Has he never travelled outside the US before?

[IECalCruiser]

The adds above this thread were the following. Coincidence??

Order Birth Certificates Order A New Copy Of Your Birth Certificate Online Now! www.legalcorner.com

Find Birth Records Online 1) Search Birth Records for Free 2) Find the Records Instantly! Birth.Archives.com

Lost Birth Certificate? Lost Your Birth Certificate? Get An Official Government Issued Copy. forrestastrology.com

[SoBaycruiser]

 

or 2) submit school records, census records that are close to his birth date and original or certified.....well let me tell you he is 90 years old...he's the last remaining person in his family/generation and as for school records...that was 85 years ago...where would I get those and as for census records that are original or certified...how and where would I get those??

 

All I can say is UGH!!!! I'm now flipping out ...we leave in 40 days...any suggestions my fellow cruisers???

 

I have a subscription to census records. Send to me :

Where he was living in 1930 and 1940

His full name and birth day

His parents names and siblings names will help differentiate his family from another with the same surname.

 

Send this to PVMeistrel at aol dot com with your own email address. I'll do a quick search for you and send copies back of the census back. Also, if he was in WWII I can look for a service record.

 

Rita

[OldSeaDog]

The adds above this thread were the following. Coincidence??

Order Birth Certificates Order A New Copy Of Your Birth Certificate Online Now! www.legalcorner.com

Find Birth Records Online 1) Search Birth Records for Free 2) Find the Records Instantly! Birth.Archives.com

Lost Birth Certificate? Lost Your Birth Certificate? Get An Official Government Issued Copy. forrestastrology.com

 

 

Actually, no. Not a coincidence. CC has Google Analytics and Double Click scripts running to target advertisements based on page contents.

 

I wonder if one of the several online commercial passport expeditors might be of any assistance in this situation?

 

-update-

 

It also occurs to me that the State Department rules for issuing a passport include language that they may use "personal knowledge of identity" by a witness to establish identity for passport purposes. It's not invoked very often, but a person must have known the applicant for at least two years, must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident and have valid ID. That person will need to fill out Form DS-71 in front of the passport agent. The passport applicant must have some form of signature ID, such as a Social Security card, credit card, bank card or library card. At least, that's what the rules say...unknown if they will follow them these days.

[Starry Eyes]

well, waiting until two weeks out to fix this would be crazy. i would order extra certified birth certificates now (two each)...nice to have extras anyway. See if you can get the other records listed below for GF...maybe the old family bible is around....maybe there will be school records. call and talk to the agency. Call your congressman. email the kind soul with census access. Once all is gathered or scheduled to arrive, get an appointment. if they told me I could only make an appointment if I want to travel in two weeks, I'd pick a hypothetical trip for GF to take in two weeks and get that appointment.

The website for the Houston Passport Agency states that you can only make appointments if you need your U.S. passport in less than 2 weeks for international travel.

 

http://travel.state.gov/passport/npic/agencies/agencies_908.html

 

Otherwise they refer you to a local Post Office. Hopefully you have a number you can call and perhaps with the issue you can make an appointment at the Houston location in advance of two weeks. They can issue your passport there.

 

You probably received this information, but secondary records potentially can be used such as.

 

Baptismal certificate

Hospital birth certificate

Census record

Early school record

Family bible record

Doctor's record of post-natal care

 

However, with a 90 year old, all of the above may be difficult, if not impossible to obtain.

 

The following will not be accepted as secondary evidence of U.S. citizenship:

 

Voter registration card

Army discharge paper

Social Security Card

[xxoocruiser]

Hello All ! Need advise...quick!! My family and I are going on a New Years Cruise Dec 29th...We applied for our passports several weeks ago. Mine arrived yesterday but my DH and DS and 90 year old grandfather ...well they have problems:

 

1) My DH and DS (16yr old) had certified copies of their birth certificates (the same ones we have used on 6 other cruises) that they used when we applied for their passports. We got 2 letters yesterday stating that we needed to send CERTIFIED copies in...well the ones we sent ARE certified...when I ordered them years ago, along with mine they all came at the same time..with raised seal! My question is ...what do I do now?

 

2) My 90 year old grandfather's birth certificate does NOT have his name on it..evidently back then it wasn't uncommon to put "Infant" on the certificate. He HAS had a passport in the past that is both expired and lost, so we don't have the old passport number....the letter that the passport place sent states he has to either 1) submit a birth affidavit from a blood relative that is either his generation OR older or 2) submit school records, census records that are close to his birth date and original or certified.....well let me tell you he is 90 years old...he's the last remaining person in his family/generation and as for school records...that was 85 years ago...where would I get those and as for census records that are original or certified...how and where would I get those??

 

All I can say is UGH!!!! I'm now flipping out ...we leave in 40 days...any suggestions my fellow cruisers???

 

 

The problem appears to be that you may not have fully checked with the USA Passport Agency as to what the required acceptable forms of proof of citizenship are prior to submitting the applications. This information is clearly posted on the official USA passport website http://travel.state.gov/passport/passport_1738.html

 

RE: DH and DS ....... though the BC's you submitted may be certified they are apparently not in compliance with the new regulations that went into effect as of April 1, 2011 since you state that they're the same ones order years ago. Which implies the BC's are were issued prior to April 1, 2011.. The following is the requirement as posted on the offical US Passport site

Beginning April 1, 2011, all birth certificates must also include the full

names of the applicant's parent(s). For more information, please see

New Requirement for all U.S. Birth Certificates

http://travel.state.gov/passport/passport_5401.html

RE: Grandfather ..... again all the information as to what should have been submitted as proof of citizenship is clearly posted on the official passport site. Since your grandfather's BC does not have his name states it is not considered to be a primary proof of citizenship per the requirements posted on a official passport website . Therefore your grandfather was to have initially submitted secondary proof of citizenship. Here's the link that explains all this. http://travel.state.gov/passport/get/secondary_evidence/secondary_evidence_4315.html

 

Though others have suggested you contact your Congressman for assistance, it really may not help since all requirements where clearly posted on the US. Passport Agency and it's not as though the hold up is a result of anything that the Passport Agency or Government did. It is the responsiblity of the applicants to insure that the proper documents are submitted in accordance with the requirements posted on the US Passport Website.

 

Good Luck . Hope you're able to get all the proper documentation to resubmit and the passports are expedited in time.

[Alaskanb]

I have a subscription to census records. Send to me :

Where he was living in 1930 and 1940

His full name and birth day

His parents names and siblings names will help differentiate his family from another with the same surname.

 

Send this to PVMeistrel at aol dot com with your own email address. I'll do a quick search for you and send copies back of the census back. Also, if he was in WWII I can look for a service record.

 

Rita

I wonder if you would also be able to see his passport application

[SoBaycruiser]

I wonder if you would also be able to see his passport application

 

I checked for that but they only have up to 1925 for individual privacy reasons. I did send OP copies of the 1930 and 1940 census with her grandfather included as well as a military muster roll with his date of enlistment.

[jamessemaj]

DD, apply immediately to the state office for a new certified birth record.

Granddad, contact the school office where he first enrolled in school to see if they have a record. Some records for old county school districts may be maintained in another county or state office, but they are usually available and it is a common source to verify age for SSI. I've done it in the past and it was easier than you would think, because they were used to dealing with these situations.

[surfsidemary]

I checked for that but they only have up to 1925 for individual privacy reasons. I did send OP copies of the 1930 and 1940 census with her grandfather included as well as a military muster roll with his date of enlistment.

 

I am going to love it if Ancestry.com saves the day for a 90 year old!

[The Sunset Glow]

I checked for that but they only have up to 1925 for individual privacy reasons. I did send OP copies of the 1930 and 1940 census with her grandfather included as well as a military muster roll with his date of enlistment.

 

That was a very kind and helpful thing to do pvmeistrel. Kudos to you.:)

[LHT28]

Just a thought

Does he receive a government pension he probably had to submit some form of I.D. to receive it maybe the Passport office will accept information from the pension office

[Alaskanb]

Some early school records are available online. I have a Fold3 subscription that sometimes has records not on Ancestry. If you would like me to look -- e-mail me at Baltic2013j at g mail dot com

[TeriG2]

PV - You seriously ROCK! The info you sent will definitely help per the passport office!

 

As for my DH and DS issue...the problem was that it was a short certified copy...it needed to be a long form...so off to Austin (3hrs) we go tomorrow!! The plus side: as long as we send it certified mail Wednesday, we should be able to get the passports in time! I'm so thankful for everyone's help...I must say I was going to my congressman or the media if I couldn't get this done ...There was no way I was looking my grandfather in his sweet 90 year old face and telling him he wasn't going to be able to go on this cruise! Not to mention he's a WW2 vet, so to me it would have just been WRONG to deny him his vacation! He never got to cruise when my grandmother was alive because she was scared of water (terrified is more like it)...she passed away 2 years ago, so now he can mark a Caribbean Cruise off of his bucket list :)

 

Note to others: I checked with Princess 4 times about passport vs. birth certificate because one of the port of calls is Honduras....the first 3 reps advised birth certificate since closed loop cruise...the 4th ( and I actually asked him to check with his supervisor) advised that because the ship is visiting Honduras and Honduras requires a passport that we have to have passports. I might add that my main concern was that the Honduras entry and exit requirements do NOT state that Honduras is waiving the passport requirement like Belize is, that's why I was so concerned. Now my gut told me we could probably just use birth certificates, but there was NO WAY I was going to be left standing on the dock as the shift sailed away into the sunset! I feel bad for the people that have probably been misinformed by Princess Reps and could have issues on sailing day! The other thing that tipped me off...on Princess's website where you fill out the Immigration information it states "a valid passport is required for this sailing"

 

Just thought I would post that so others sailing to Honduras out of Galveston would know the requirements :)

 

Thanks again my fellow Cruisers!!

[caribill]

RE: DH and DS ....... though the BC's you submitted may be certified they are apparently not in compliance with the new regulations that went into effect as of April 1, 2011 since you state that they're the same ones order years ago. Which implies the BC's are were issued prior to April 1, 2011.. The following is the requirement as posted on the offical US Passport site

Beginning April 1, 2011, all birth certificates must also include the full

names of the applicant's parent(s). For more information, please see

New Requirement for all U.S. Birth Certificates

http://travel.state.gov/passport/passport_5401.html

 

Now all we need is a time machine so that birth certificates issed many yaers ago without this information can have the information added to them.

 

This is a ridiculous requirement. It does not matter what your parents' names are if you were born in the USA.

[jamessemaj]

You might want to check the Texas Dept. of Health Services web site before heading there, just to make sure you're prepared.