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U.S. State Dept. Planning to Jack Up Passport Fees Mid-March
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hari seldon



Joined: 05 Dec 2004
Location: Incheon

PostPosted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 9:05 am    Post subject: U.S. State Dept. Planning to Jack Up Passport Fees Mid-March Reply with quote

Passports will cost an extra $35. More importantly (for frequent travelers), the cost of adding pages will jump from free to $82! Sad
http://travel.latimes.com/daily-deal-blog/index.php/state-department-def-6492/
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anynag



Joined: 01 Jan 2009

PostPosted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 9:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Unbelievable. And, they're open to the public (in Seoul), like 20 hours a week. $135 for a passport is insane! $82 for adding pages even more so.
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Wishmaster



Joined: 06 Feb 2003

PostPosted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 9:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Good. Got mine just in time. Good for 10 years. Yee-haw! This is a US passport. You don't like the fees, then don't pay. You just won't be able to travel..haha.
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drewbudd



Joined: 20 Oct 2009
Location: Lincoln, Nebraska

PostPosted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 11:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just got mine a month ago, good news for me I guess. Pretty crazy that the cost has double in the past 8 years. I'm sure by the time 2020 rolls around I will be paying $500 to renew mine. Better be holographic by then.
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Bibbitybop



Joined: 22 Feb 2006
Location: Seoul

PostPosted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 3:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

USA! USA!
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ThingsComeAround



Joined: 07 Nov 2008

PostPosted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 5:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Lame. (82 bucks for stitching paper pages?)

Lucky for me I just got my pages updated. But it really stinks to see they can push the citizen around without backlash.
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conrad2



Joined: 05 Nov 2009

PostPosted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 7:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Get used to this Americans. For the rest of our lives we will be paying more in taxes for less services. This is just the beginning.
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Senior



Joined: 31 Jan 2010

PostPosted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 7:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Wishmaster wrote:
Good. Got mine just in time. Good for 10 years. Yee-haw! This is a US passport. You don't like the fees, then don't pay. You just won't be able to travel..haha.


This is stupid. Being able to travel is a right, not a privilege.
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big_fella1



Joined: 08 Dec 2005

PostPosted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 8:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sorry to hijack but lucky you aren't Australian.

A new passport is available in 32 page form for about USD$186 and 64 page form for about USD$280 (both with 10 year validity).

Adding new pages is not an option, if your passport is full you must purchase another passport.

Should you lose a passport there is an extra fee of USD$61 in the 1st case, and $186 in the second. Should you lose 2 passports you will only be given a 5 year passport for the price of USD$373.

My wifes new Korean passport was w55,000 for 10 years.

I suggest you don't lose your passport and you investigate becoming a Korean citizen.

Smile
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Senior



Joined: 31 Jan 2010

PostPosted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 9:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

big_fella1 wrote:
Sorry to hijack but lucky you aren't Australian.

A new passport is available in 32 page form for about USD$186 and 64 page form for about USD$280 (both with 10 year validity).

Adding new pages is not an option, if your passport is full you must purchase another passport.

Should you lose a passport there is an extra fee of USD$61 in the 1st case, and $186 in the second. Should you lose 2 passports you will only be given a 5 year passport for the price of USD$373.

My wifes new Korean passport was w55,000 for 10 years.

I suggest you don't lose your passport and you investigate becoming a Korean citizen.

Smile


What a joke. Passports should be free or the price of what they cost to produce. They shouldn't be a form of revenue, considering they are basically a necessity of life. If it costs $280 to manufacture a little booklet, then the production should be outsourced to a private firm who can make them at a reasonable cost.

This might seem like a small thing, but it seems like the small things have really started to pile up lately.
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AsiaESLbound



Joined: 07 Jan 2010
Location: Truck Stop Missouri

PostPosted: Mon Mar 01, 2010 2:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

conrad2 wrote:
Get used to this Americans. For the rest of our lives we will be paying more in taxes for less services. This is just the beginning.


I'm sure it is. Now I wouldn't mind paying excessive fees if only the U.S. Dept. of State would forward mail from USPS to the US consulates which would prove very useful to staying in touch with your home country system. I understand they used to forward mail years ago to expats.
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jurassic82



Joined: 21 Jun 2006
Location: Somewhere!!!!

PostPosted: Mon Mar 01, 2010 1:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Are you guys that desperate to complain about something? The price hike was only proposed and hasn't even been decided yet. Stop jumping to conclusions. Very Happy
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CentralCali



Joined: 17 May 2007

PostPosted: Mon Mar 01, 2010 2:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Senior wrote:
Passports should be free or the price of what they cost to produce. They shouldn't be a form of revenue, considering they are basically a necessity of life. If it costs $280 to manufacture a little booklet, then the production should be outsourced to a private firm who can make them at a reasonable cost.


I suggest you calmly re-read the article linked above. There is absolutely nothing in there which indicates that the State Department will be making a profit from the new fees. And you should also be aware--had you read the article--that the new passports aren't just "a little booklet," they're a bit more complicated than that since they now have electronics included.
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TheUrbanMyth



Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Location: Retired

PostPosted: Mon Mar 01, 2010 3:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Senior wrote:
Wishmaster wrote:
Good. Got mine just in time. Good for 10 years. Yee-haw! This is a US passport. You don't like the fees, then don't pay. You just won't be able to travel..haha.


This is stupid. Being able to travel is a right, not a privilege.



No. You have no "right" to travel to another country. It is totally their decision to let you in or not.
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Cerberus



Joined: 29 Oct 2009

PostPosted: Mon Mar 01, 2010 3:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

glad you posted this since I'm down to the last 2 pages of my passport and need to add pages. I'll go and get this done ASAP. I believe one can use a Korean courier service in fact.

this preposterous money grab is a farce, but expect much much more. This is merely one of many to come.

Expect renewed efforts to take away the expat tax exemption (up to first 80K or so of your earnings). If they do that, I'll have to seriously re-examine the benefit of my American citizenship since I don't plan on spending much time there and will refuse to pay taxes for things that don't benefit me.

Furthermore, if the current health care proposal is passed, which is the WORST of all possibilities (would require you to buy private health insurance at ridiculous American prices) it's possible they may force expats into this joke as well.

The day they do that, I'll walk into a consulate, give them my passport, tell them to go [Mod Edit ] themselves, and simply start using my EU one full time.
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