I hope you've been saving your pennies. If the U.S. State Department has its way, it'll cost you a little more to get a new passport.
The State Department is proposing a 35 percent fee increase for a new passport, to $135 from $100, and $100 for a renewal book, up from the current $75. If you want to add more visa pages to your passport, you'll have to drop $82 for a service that is now free. That's just ridiculousness at its finest.
Rep. Chris Lee, a Republican lawmaker from New York, is peeved about the proposal, saying fee increases "have exacted a heavy toll on trade and tourism at U.S.-Canada border regions." There is also concern from Canada, which fears a slump in tourism up north, if fees rise in April.
This certainly isn't good news for U.S. citizens, who aren't necessarily running toward the borders these days. I wasn't too thrilled when I first heard about the proposal. I'm not so sure what the increase is for.
But I've reconsidered. I've gotten a whole lot of mileage out of my passport in the last 10 years—although I'm not a family of four. I calculate the cost at just $13.50 a year over 10 years. Not too bad.
What are your thoughts? Let the U.S. government know here or by emailing fees@state.gov with the subject line RIM (1400-AC58) by March 11.
My passport expires at the end of this year. Perhaps I'll renew earlier to save on fees.
1 comments:
I had no idea. Thanks for this post. Now I want to tell everyone I know about this (especially all the slackers who haven't quite gotten around to adding pages).
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