Proposed forms for passport application

[asterroc]

q10 and seekingferret, you'll want to read this.

The US State Department is proposing a new Biographical Questionaire for everyone applying for a passport. The form would require all citizens to provide the name and contact info of all previous employers, the address of all previous residences, and addresses of all immediate family members (parents, step parents, siblings) and their citizenship status. In addition, naturalized citizens will need to provide the address of their place of birth, and anyone not born in a medical facility will also need to provide their mother's residence a year before and after your birth (presumably so the government can track those citizen children of fence-hoppers who wish to travel abroad), and contact info for witnesses (presumably so the government can strip your citizenship if you don't provide the info or if they're illegal immigrants who the government can bully into recanting the story of your birth in the US).

A lot more info is available here, including the full form and links to submit comments:
http://papersplease.org/wp/2011/03/18/state-dept-proposes-biographical-questionnaire-for-passport-applicants/

The comment I submitted:
The information requested by this document is ridiculous, and the gathering of the information is prohibitively difficult to obtain.  I am only 33 years old, but I have had six employers in five different states and it would take me around an hour to track down all their contact information. In addition I have lived at somewhere between 10 and 20 different residences and it is not possible for me to find all those addresses.  This high number of jobs and residences is primarily a result of my being in academia, and this form is systematically biased against academics and will stifle international cooperation and research as a result.  In addition, it will seriously hurt naturalized citizens and US-born citizens with foreign parents.  There is no need for this level of detail unless the government is deliberately attempting to prevent the movement of it's citizens, in violation of the UN charter of basic human rights.  

Edit: There is some question about whether this policy might only apply to people unable to provide traditional forms of proof of US citizenship, or whether it would really be all US citizens looking for a passport. There is also some question about the validity of the supposed form hosted at the above link. Unfortunately the .gov website doesn't actually contain any information about what it is we're supposed to be commenting on - what is the form, who would it apply to, etc.

Comments

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

In my experience it was easier for me to get a birth certificate when I first got my passport than I think it would be for me to get the information in this form (if it were approved and required for all passport applicants). I recall filling out a form that I mailed to some office in Albany with a check. The form was quick (though the turnaround was not).

It would be time consuming for me to find the addresses and contact info for my 6 or so past employers. Not difficult, but the time would take more than an hour I'm guessing, and certainly more than the 45 minutes listed to fill out the entire form.

It would be very difficult for me to get the addresses of the 10-20 different places I have lived. I have lived in at least 11 different residences because when I have had summer jobs out of state where I filed taxes as a part-year resident and sometimes registered to vote in the new location, and when I lived at college I filled out the census and filed NYC taxes as a part-year resident or a non-resident. I may have lived in as many as 20 different places if you count each dorm in college as a different residence. One of the places I lived I just checked, I have no email record of the address so I would have to use a Google streetview to find the address.

And I'm a privileged individual. What about people who grow up to low-income parents who moved frequently during their childhood or crashed on relatives' couches for years? What if said parents have passed away? What about people who were fostered as children? What about people who were not born in a medical facility and have to find their mother's place of residence a year before and after their birth?

[sildra.livejournal.com]

Ok, I just looked up what I would need to get a birth certificate. I would need to mail to a third party company my name, parents' names, the hospital I was born and the date, why I want a birth certificate, state-issued photo ID (How would I have a state-issued photo ID without a birth certificate? I don't know, other than that, again, my parents maintained passports for me practically since birth. It's also pretty ambiguous on the form whether by "state" they mean any state or just the state where I was born--where I certainly don't have, and never have had, any photo ID. They also don't say that a photocopy of my photo ID would be acceptable, which means I would have to relinquish my driver's license), and my credit card info or a check.

They also list things I could send instead of a state-issued photo ID, almost none of which are things someone too young to have a driver's license would have. Which creates a catch-22, where it's basically impossible for someone to get a driver's license in the first place unless they happen to have their birth certificate. (Once again, in my case I was lucky enough to already have a passport, which most people don't.)

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

How would I have a state-issued photo ID without a birth certificate? ... it's basically impossible for someone to get a driver's license in the first place unless they happen to have their birth certificate

NY state (among others) does not require proof of legal residency in the US to obtain a driver's license or state photo ID. NY requires only proof of identity/birth date (which can be something like a foreign passport, or a statement from a parent/guardian who already has a photo ID) and proof of name (such as bank statement, ATM card, union card, HS diploma, GED). (List of forms of proof, statement from parent/guardian form.)

(IMO this is part of what makes Arizona's law about proving residency on demand so horrible, that many state licenses don't actually prove residency. I know I know they claim that a license will be accepted, but that's not in the law as written.)

[sildra.livejournal.com]

In Michigan you need a) something with your SSN (SSN card, W2, or pay stub), b) proof of legal presence (birth certificate, passport, naturalization card, or whatever documentation you have if you're foreign), c) proof of identity, and depending on how convincing you may need more than one (I remember using my passport, old California driver's license, and a school ID for that, although it turned out any two of those would have sufficed), and d) proof of state residency (utility bills, lease, mortgage, etc.). In my case I didn't have my SSN card, either, so I brought a pay stub, a passport, a California driver's license, as many school IDs from various schools as I could find, and the title deed to my condo. Oh, and the only allowance they make for minors here is that the proof-of-state-residency can be in their parents' name as long as they can prove that their supposed parents are actually their parents.

In California, where I originally got my license when I was 16, you need a) your SSN card (which my mother actually does have, I just don't have it) or various military stuff, b) proof of name and legal presence, c) proof of name. The only difference is in California you apparently don't need to prove state residence.

So, yeah, the two states I've gotten driver's licenses in do require proof of legal residency in the US.