Passport Woes

Ah, the pleasures of obtaining a US Passport. Lucky for me, my daughter's application and passport were processed quickly and without a problem. When mine said it was still processing, despite my daily checking in the system-I had that feeling in the pit of my stomach that something was indeed wrong.

Well, turns out I was right. Apparently, this country loves me so much they have decided to keep me here. Or at least throw a wrench in the process of applying for my passport. I got a nice thick envelope in the mail today. No return address, so I was debating whether to open it or toss it. The curious part of me was thinking that it might have been something from Publisher's Clearing House or some other agency telling me that I had won a car, cash or something definitely good :) So I opened it.

And lo and behold, found a nice letter from Passport Services asking me to prove my identity. Apparently my birth certificate was not enough. I got paperwork to fill out with every address I have ever lived at, every job I have ever done (with supervisor's name to boot!) when I left the country, when I returned to the country and the blood type of my firstborn child...no just kidding on the last part, but Good Lord, I have no idea why they want all this info!

I called them, and they really couldn't give me a reason. Just to send in proofs of my identity using items older than 5 years. I cannot believe they expected me to come up with stuff from years ago...guess I am sort of lucky I don't throw much out. But for the average person, this really is a daunting task since I know SO many people who toss stuff once it gets old. (and for them, that might be stuff that they got last week!)

I have to admit, I am a little freaked out about why the extra scrutiny for a 44 year old white woman who doesn't have a criminal record and has never gotten a traffic ticket in her whole life. It's got me wondering if maybe someone, somewhere, is using my SSN or other ID in a case of identity theft. So for that reason, I am going to pull my credit reports. And see if I can find anything suspicious. If I do, I will end up finding that person, knocking on their door, or showing up at their place of employment and having their ass arrested.

My 8 year old is upset, since she thinks I can't go to her party now-and my hubby is totally bummed as well. But I told them not to cancel their trip, if this doesn't get resolved in time. I've got until June, so I hope I can get it taken care of by then. Hopefully all the information I will be sending them on Monday will get this resolved and my passport will be on its merry way soon enough. I'm sure glad I didn't wait until the last minute, though. I will keep you all updated! Have a great weekend!