FlyingHoustonian

I use a US Official Passport often and never really have problems. I have had questions asked by CBP and USCIS about what agency it is from but that is all.

Now that I have global entry I prefer the US tourist passport so I can use the machine (You cannot link more than one passport to a GE account according to my interviewer)

Ciao,
FH

Boggie Dog

Totally off topic but thought you might be able to answer a question without having to start a new thread.

I have an old expired "Official" Passport.

If applying for a tourist passport would I need to surrender the old one?

GoingAway

Wirelessly posted (goingaway's phone: BlackBerry8900/4.6.1.231 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/100)

I got the old one back when I renewed the last time

polonius

Yes, they give you the old one back. Used to be they just stamped it "cancelled", but now they stamp it and punch holes in all the pages. Apparently that's international passport inspector secret code for "expired"

polonius

I'm sure I've posted this before, but I believe it bears posting again -- as most visitors here know, I am no friend of the TSA, nor have ever been impressed with their competence, but with numerous experiences of travelling around the US with a passport as my only ID, and one that contains 75+ pages of visas and entry stamps in "arabic writin'", I've never had a TSO or CBP agent ever appear to give me extra scutiny on their account. In fact, I breezed through customs in Miami recently because the agent saw a "Qatar" stamp and said, "oh are you 'posted' over there?" (apparently believing I was part of the substantial U.S. military presence here in the emirate). I just nodded affirmatively (it was technically true, I am 'posted' here, it's just not the U.S. military that did the posting) and he just gave me a "thank you for service" kind of smile and said "welcome back" and waved me through.

Another time I had some CBP bimbo look through the stamps and ask, "so are you living over there?" ("yes"); "Wow, so you can read all this?" God, of course I can't read any of it! For all I know it says: "dear fellow arabic speaking customs agent -- the bearer of this passport is a total moron, but he's good for a generous bribe, so be sure to squeeze all you can out of him!" Where do they find these people? But in any event, she just waved me through after that.

Given that I criticise the TSA enough, I figure I should defend them on the few occaisions they are criticised unfairly.

FlyingHoustonian

In my dealings with State, you can use the Official to get a Tourist and vice-versa, and also in my experiances they send them all back. Official passports are just processed through different channels. Technically the agency that sponsors the official passport can recall/revoke it if you don't have a need for it.

Ciao,
FH

GUWonder

Yes, and the green US passports issued to only US citizens have come, gone, come back and gone but the green US passports haven't been issued again since sometime in the first half of 1994; and so any issue some TSAers might currently have with an inability to deal with US passports with green front and back covers would likely be one of making a stink over the expiration date (if any).

mjcewl1284

I've used my DL as ID for the TSA for almost forever, no problems at all.

I'm not sure but this kind of treatment seems to be the same as me presenting my DL to a GA when boarding a plane, only to have her ask for my passport instead, and then her flipping through it after seeing my name and photo. You would be surprised how many times this happens, even on domestic flights within the United States. What's the difference between a TSO and a GA? One thing that is similar is that they are both strangers. I'm just sayin...

bdschobel

Your interactions with the airline employee result from a voluntary relationship; you chose the airline and agreed to interact with its employees as they transport you from one place to another. Your interaction with the TSA employee is entirely involuntary; you have no choice, except to stay home.

Bruce

eyecue

This is rediculous. IF you are paranoid about TSA looking through your documents because you believe that you will be labeled at the TDC point of entry, you are mistaken. TDC has too many things in the form of people nad papers to deal with in order to take notes about where you live and or where you have traveled to. Besides that you dont own your passport. IF you think that TSA should know every possible form of ID that can come through you are mistaken. I for one tell passengers to use only the passport if they have it because it has no information on where you live. IF you drop your drivers license on an outbound trip and the wrong person finds it, you could come home to nothing. If you drop your passport, the person that finds it wont even know what state you are from.

STBCypriot

Personally, I am not paranoid about TSA looking thorugh my documents. It is the principle of invasion of privacy that is at issue here. TSA is supposed to verify my ID against my boarding pass and that is all. They do not need to be flipping through my passport looking to see where I have been - it's none of their business. Immigration offericers are entitle to do this and I have no objection to that.

Some people may not be concerned about issues of privacy, but I am as I am watching as my personal privacy is slowly being invaded by the US government (or agents on their behalf). That is my issue.

jkhuggins

As others have pointed out ... there's a difference between being paranoid about TSA (the agency) and being paranoid about TSOs (the individuals working for the agency). Identity theft happens more often when individuals misuse access to private data.

Except for that page on the inside which "asks" passengers to supply their current home address. And all you need is one of those "respect mah authoritah" types who (erroneously) tells you that the information is required, and suddenly that document isn't nearly as anonymous as it might seem ...

Random_Flyer

I once had a cab driver in LA tell me that my passport "wasn't a valid government ID" when I paid with a credit card and he demanded to see my DL.

The discussion ended when I informed him that my flight was leaving and I was using my passport to get on the plane. If it was good enough for the US govt it should damn well be good enough for him.

eyecue

The other day I was supervising the TDC and noticed that one of the officers was doing the "thumb through the pages." I then realized that he was doing something legit to a passport that requires this and it appears to the untrained eye that it is being nosey and it is not.

GoingAway

Can you expand on the "legit" part? What's the purpose/what was/is he looking for/at?