I must preclude my story with an it-could-have-been-much-worse disclaimer. Because I've heard worse. The kicker today was that I was on the cusp of a super smooth process that fell apart on a technicality.
So I have the potential for some international travel, which I'll go into another time. Considering two factors -- first, that all air and sea entries to Canada, the Caribbean, and Mexico will require a passport by December 31st of this year, I've heard there is some possibility of a rush and some delays later in the year; second, electronic passports will be rolled out soon -- I decided to get that part out of the way so that if I end up traveling, the passport process would be the least of my issues. Also, I read some security forums that claim an electronic password similar to those that will be used by the U.S. was cracked in two hours by researchers. So as much of a techno-geek as I am, I was actually not terribly eager to pick up a vulnerable passport. I figure if I can get a traditional paper-only passport that won't expire for ten years, maybe they can work out the kinks before my next renewal.
Anyway, I decided not to get my photo done somewhere else over the weekend, because the downtown post office has a passport center that includes on-site picture taking. So when I showed up downtown at lunch time today, there was almost no line, and so a very short wait before I was at the counter working with the one clerk that does passports.
He went over all of my paperwork and everything checked out, but then he asked where my photos were. I said I planned to have them taken there, to which he replied, sorry, our camera is broken. Ugh. He advised that I go to the Walgreens on 23rd and Classen (I was at 5th and Harvey).
So I get myself over to the Walgreens and end up in a lengthy line at the photo processing center, only to be told by the clerk once I finally got my turn that she didn't do passport photos very well and that she'd have to get someone else. That someone else showed up to take my photo with a digital camera, after which he put the memory card into the self-serve kiosk, cropped the photo to the right size, and said it would be just a few minutes. Right away it seemed like a rip of a process, as I could have done all of that for much less. But after a few minutes I got my (very terrible) pictures back and paid my nine (freaking) dollars.
I made my way back to the downtown post office, only to find a massive line waiting for me when I got back. I waited in the line for quite some time, but was told by the clerk once I got to one that I needed to wait in the passport line, which was the two other guys standing off to the side that had been standing there not moving for the entire time I was in the much longer line. Apparently, the passport clerk was tied-up doing something else right then, so us folks waiting for those services had some waiting to do. And wait we did.
When I was finally called by the passport clerk, my paperwork checked out, I had to turn in my old passport (from when I was four years old... he said they'll send it back to me), write out two checks for different fees, and then he placed my pictures down in front of me. Of course, that drew a WTF look from me.
He said he wasn't sure the photos would work. I asked why, of course, since he was the one that sent me away to get them, to which he responded that my face was too big. He put a transparent guide of some sort over my photo and said my face was supposed to be inside the oval dotted line, but that my face touched the line a little bit. I gave him a please-don't-make-drive-back-across-town look. Twice. So he said, well, I can go ahead and send these photos in, but if they don't like them, they'll send them back to you and ask for new ones to be sent in which will delay the process. I told him that was fine as I was doing this early on anyway, and that if I did travel at all, it wouldn't be for a bit, so no hurry or anything. He said fine, but advised that I keep my photo receipt handy so I could get a refund from the Walgreens if passport services sends my photo back.
Finally, after a few more minutes of getting things in order, he said I was done, good to go, and that I'd have my passport in 6-8 weeks of they don't send the photo back.
So the moral of the story is to get your photo done ahead of time no matter what, ensuring that your face is small enough. Had I done that, I would have been done with the entire process in less than thirty minutes, since I had good line timing initially, and would have been back to work inside my lunch hour. Instead, the process was thrown for a loop, took two hours, and cost much more in frustration. Though I know it could have been much worse.
Update, 16 August
I've received my passport... early even!
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