I didn't need that money or vacation anyway

Mexico's another country?

Actually, the point I was trying to make is that it's not like he's trying to take a vacation to Baghdad or Beirut so you might assume there would be a fast-track but I guess with millions trying to get one at the same time such a thing wouldn't exist.

 

God that would suck having to get a passport to Windsor. Just think millions of 18-year-olds from the Detroit suburbs would have to find somewhere else to get their beer until their passports are delivered.

 

Starting this summer you'll need a passport to cross into Mexico or Canada for stays of 1 second to indefinitely.

 

If all else fails call the consumer reporter for the local TV station. Those people love to be able to say "a Congressman couldn't help, but your local action news team could"

 

But they don't know where you're going. Getting a visa might be another story, but just getting a new passport could mean you're going to Mexico, Canada, Japan, France, India or nowhere at all.

 

They know we're going to Mexico and when, because at some point they ask you that info. It's voluntary, so you don't have to give it to them, but we did, so they know.

 

Won't matter. Stories about the passport backlog have been running for a month. Nothing's changed.

 

that sucks. looks like there is some good advice here.

i agree with the poster that suggested the possibility of a lawsuit. it won't help you get moving on vacation but it might get your money back. at a base level it appears that they breached an implied contract and you reasonably relied on their statement that you'd have the passport in time so you should be able to get reimbursed for what you spent. you just have to find the right person to sue.

one more suggestion: this might constitute abuse of your position as a journalist but what about writing a news side column about it if your paper will let you? hopefully you can find other people similarly affected so it doesn't just look like you're whining (which you're not...i'm just saying it could be read the wrong way). or maybe it's affecting athletes, too, and you could fit it in the sports page?

 

Likewise, for day-trippers to the Falls (or the Fort Erie Ballet ). Western NY congressmen are fighting this hard.

 

Would lying help or get you into deeper trouble?
Say that you applied for the passport back in March and you haven't received it yet, that means it was lost or stolen in the mail. You need a replacement expedited ASAP because of the upcoming trip.

 

This passport crap is exactly why I didn't bother looking at overseas vacations for this summer.

 

Damn, that sucks Rusty. I walked down to town hall and applied for a passport on April 19 (already had the certified birth certificate and AAA passport photos in had). They said it would take eight to 10 weeks for it to come, so I'm still waiting on it. Fortunately, I don't have $1,500 tied up in a trip next week, I can't even imagine how nerve-racking that must be.

Here's hoping for a government miracle.