Originally Posted by
agpt
The difference is that now, if you enter 000-00-0000, they require a signed statement, under penalty of perjury, that the applicant does not have a SSN. So while the SSN is not required, and in fact requiring cannot be legal as it violates the Privacy Act of 1974, they can prosecute on the catch-all "perjury" if you sign that form. So effectively, if you have a SSN, you must use it, or you will be denied a passport. This is what I was told by multiple people at the information number. So the only people that can get a passport without a SSN are people that do not have an SSN. This is a major change from previous policy.
This is quite unfortunate, especially since we live ~700 miles away from the Seattle Passport Agency. It looks like we will need to go in person this week.
Yes, it's a major change from previous policy, but the change in policy is due to a law passed by the still current majority in Congress and signed by the prior POTUS since the POTUS couldn't control Congress and had to deal what Congress sent him.