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I Can't Believe It -- U.S. Government Misspells My Last Name On My New Passport

I Can't Believe It -- U.S. Government Misspells My Last Name On My New Passport

Old Dec 7, 2006, 5:04 pm
  #31  
 
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Originally Posted by PresRDC
My boss, however, thinks the Legal Department needs to adopt a higher standard and doesn't want me to go if I don't have the visa. Hopefully the Koreans will play ball. If they do, I should have the Passport and visa back on Saturday morning.
Good for him. ^

Sorry to hear about your bad couple of days, though.
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Old Dec 7, 2006, 5:15 pm
  #32  
 
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Originally Posted by jpdx
I'm kinda surprised, given all the talk about government databases, that there isn't a database that is used in printing renewal passports. I mean, they clearly have all your passport data stored somewhere; why can't they just input your old passport number, and some machine somewhere spits out a new passport?
You'd think! But no, that'd be far too logical of a task for the U.S. government to handle.
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Old Dec 8, 2006, 8:38 am
  #33  
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Good news. The Korean consulate in Manhattan is going to issue the visa today. I am back in business!!!
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Old Dec 8, 2006, 10:40 am
  #34  
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Originally Posted by jpdx
I'm kinda surprised, given all the talk about government databases, that there isn't a database that is used in printing renewal passports. I mean, they clearly have all your passport data stored somewhere; why can't they just input your old passport number, and some machine somewhere spits out a new passport?
I was thinking the samething when I was waiting to be called to submit my application for renewal of my passport the daybefore yesterday. I was asked to comeback in the afternoon to pick it up. It should take about 30 minutes to prepare the renewed passport. None of my information had changed. The same name, address, etc. It should all be in a database.
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Old Dec 8, 2006, 10:42 am
  #35  
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Originally Posted by PresRDC
Good news. The Korean consulate in Manhattan is going to issue the visa today. I am back in business!!!
Great. Glad you were able to get it all worked out. I would not have done what some had sugegsted, i.e. buying another ticket with my name misspelled. That would only compund the problem.
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Old Dec 8, 2006, 12:46 pm
  #36  
 
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Originally Posted by SAT Lawyer
PresRDC: If not, I would call your Congressman immediately to see if he can intervene and provided an expedited resolution. You're obviously going to need to cut through the government bureaucracy with extreme haste if the aforementioned strategy won't work for some reason.
This is probably a pretty good idea for situations like this. A few years ago when I first first got a passport, my girlfriend was working in a Senator's office. She set me up on a special list so I could just show up at the passport office where they did everything from take my picture to issue my passport in under an hour.
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Old Dec 8, 2006, 9:31 pm
  #37  
 
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I have to say PresRDC - that was a rivetting thriller of a thread! Glad it worked out.^
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Old Dec 8, 2006, 9:33 pm
  #38  
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Originally Posted by alect
I have to say PresRDC - that was a rivetting thriller of a thread! Glad it worked out.^
FedEx still has to deliver the Passport tomorrow. There is still some suspense!
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Old Dec 9, 2006, 5:58 am
  #39  
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All's well that ends well.
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Old Dec 11, 2006, 12:02 am
  #40  
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Originally Posted by SPN Lifer
All's well that ends well.
Indeed. Passport and visa arrived via FedEx on schedule.

Am now in NRT on my way to ICN.
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Old Dec 11, 2006, 12:40 am
  #41  
 
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Originally Posted by skAAtinsteph
While you are saying "I Can't Believe It -- U.S. Government Misspells My Last Name On My New Passport" the person being paid like $10 an hour or something to process your application may have been saying "I can't believe people write so messy on their passport applications and expect me to be able to read it".

It's so easy to point the finger ......
Or the person processing the application may have been saying "I can't believe I got this job after lying about having a high school diploma and failing the typing test."

I had a legal name change (a 1-letter spelling modification/correction) a few years back and since then had applied for passports using my original birth certificate in conjunction with the legal name change certificate. The last time I went in I used a newly-issued birth certificate which reflected the name change. The first thing the person at the passport office said was "It shows here that your name on your birth certificate was different last time. Can you explain why?" I guess a few of them aren't asleep at the switch.
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Old Dec 11, 2006, 12:51 am
  #42  
 
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Its a crap world.

Can I change my birth certificate to show that I wasn't born at all?

(waits for mods to lock the thread ...)
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Old Dec 11, 2006, 10:05 pm
  #43  
 
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Something to ponder

Lets see I'm sure we have all misspelled words when we are processing many documents at work. No problem just a typo and we move on.

But the damn government cares about one letter and the photo is the same. Come on we all make mistakes and to blame the passenger is beyond belief. I am so livid that the airlines charge a fee if you have misspelled a name on an itinerary. Lets see all it would take is 5 seconds to fix a T from a D. You don't need a new ticket just because the name was misspelled.

Even if the name was misspelled on the passport cant the Passport agency update the system so when the passport is scanned it reflects this.

God almighty you can't SSSS a person just because the name is misspelled. Yea with the threats on this country my--- this is totally different. The screener must be blind if he cannot see the photo. And besides the screener can ask for a drivers license to verify it was a mistake. We all make mistakes the government included.

Ok so what if I spelled Gerogre Bush's name as Georg Bus ? what would happen? Even I could infer there is supposed to be an e and an h. Even a first grader would know that. Why do we employ such ignorant Passport Officers?

Just my two cents. Sorry if anyone is offended. Any ideas to this posting?
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Old Dec 11, 2006, 10:59 pm
  #44  
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Originally Posted by danielonn
Ok so what if I spelled Gerogre Bush's name as Georg Bus ? what would happen? Even I could infer there is supposed to be an e and an h. Even a first grader would know that. Why do we employ such ignorant Passport Officers?

Just my two cents. Sorry if anyone is offended. Any ideas to this posting?
Not exactly Passport Officers but the same mentality at work...

About twelve years ago at a u.s. Diplomatic Mission, I witnessed some extremely rude behaviour by an american consular official when someone picking up a passport with visa pointed out a spelling error. When I elped translate for the person, who had difficulty explaining why it was a problem to the officer, things rapidly went south. At the end of our conversation, I told him that I was embarrassed for americans because they had the rudest, most incompetent, slowest, meanest, most uneducated officials representing their country (or something like this anyway). His reply was classic head up his ar$e official talk...

Consular Official: "I'll have you know this diplomatic post is run to the highest standards - the same standards that u.s. Post Office's in the united states must adhere to".
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