Tuesday, April 26, 2011


Quick -- name off every address at which you've resided. Finished? Now let's hear the addresses, phone numbers and names of supervisors at every job you've ever had. And when you're finished with that, cough up your mom's address at wherever she was living a year before you were born.

Such information is included on a questionnaire the State Department is proposing tacking on to passport applications. The department estimates that only 75,000 of the millions of annual passport applicants would be required to fill it out. The 60-day period for public comment on the proposal ended Monday night.

Not to worry, though. According to a State Department estimate, the survey will only take you 45 minutes to complete. That's nice, because a failure to provide all the answers could potentially result in the application's denial.

What do you think of the proposal and the nature of the questions? How long would it take you to fill out the form?

60-Day Notice of Proposed Information Collection: DS-5513, Biographical Questionnaire for U.S. Passport, 1405-XXXX [Federal Register via Consumer Traveler]

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