rookie Posted July 8, 2010 Report Share Posted July 8, 2010 I just found this out yesterday, though it was initially announced on June 28th. New USA Consular Fees in Effect on July 13, 2010. So, tomorrow morning, I'm taking the bus to BKK and visit the Embassy to get additional PPort pages, rather than pay $82 for extra pages which were once free! Passport Book Renewal - was $75...now: $110.00 Additional passport visa pages - was _free_...now: $82.00 !!! ...So now it's going to cost more to get extra passport pages than it previously did to get a whole new passport? Go figure!! Read more fee increases here: http://travel.state.gov/news/news_5078.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavanami Posted July 8, 2010 Report Share Posted July 8, 2010 They talked about the increases last March, so I ran down to the Embassy and had pages put in my passport. They only did about 20 pages but will do more if you ask them, I think up to 42 pages. Maybe I get some more pages tomorrow as my passport is good for another six years, so why not Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unit731 Posted July 8, 2010 Report Share Posted July 8, 2010 You can thank GW Bush for this increase. US Passports are contracted out to a private for profit company. To "save" money, of course. "The Government Printing Office outsourced the manufacturing of U.S. passports to foreign firms and charged the U.S. State Department nearly twice what it cost GPO to have them made, the Times reported Wednesday, based on its investigation." LINK One of Dick Chainy buddies - got the contract! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted July 8, 2010 Report Share Posted July 8, 2010 So end the practice. GWB is history - has been for several years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rchapstick Posted July 8, 2010 Report Share Posted July 8, 2010 Depends on the length and term of the contract. Doubt the gov't can just cancel the contract on a whim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shygye Posted July 8, 2010 Report Share Posted July 8, 2010 The government put in all this passport upgrade crap in the name of security. The Islamic terrorists don't use forged passports. Only certain Israelis use forged passports. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dean Posted July 8, 2010 Report Share Posted July 8, 2010 Try paying $80 a piece for biometrics for wife and 3 step children's Permanent Residency visa. My passport expires in August so in April, I paid the $75 for a new one. I think that I mentioned that I had to take 40 pictures of my 2 month old child before one was approved by someone at the C.M. consulate. At just over 2 and a half years old, he looks nothing like his passport picture. My wife's picture for her 2 year conditional P.R. visa was approved by the interviewer at the Bangkok Embassy. Three months after the kids received their P.R. visa, immigration in the U.S. admitted that my wife's card wasn't lost, it was never issued (thanks for notifying me) because someone at the immigration office at Laguna Nigel didn't approve her picture. After sending her cas file from Laguna Nigel to the Kansas City immigration office and then to the immigration office in Austin, I called my congressman's office and they determined, in one call, that Laguna Nigel should handle the case. Two days later, I received a call to have my wife go to the K.C. immigration office to have a new picture taken. My wife finally received her Green Card with about 11 months left before it expires. With all this added cost due to "additional security measures," either incompentancy or "passing the buck" seems the norm in the Immigration and Homland Security departments. Just be glad that the State Department issues passports and not the previously mentioned agencies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted July 9, 2010 Report Share Posted July 9, 2010 The government put in all this passport upgrade crap in the name of security. The Islamic terrorists don't use forged passports. Only certain Israelis use forged passports. Try Khaosarn Road. US and UK passports available cheaply enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shygye Posted July 9, 2010 Report Share Posted July 9, 2010 ... tell the Mossad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rookie Posted July 9, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2010 I just returned from the US Embassy, having obtained 2-sets of 20 _free_ new pages for my Passport. A set is but 5-sheets of paper which folded makes 20 pages, plus each set has an additional sheet (4-pages) which has a notation that Passport #xxx has been amended on date x. So, if it had cost me the new price of $82/set of 20 pages, [color:blue]those 5-sheets of paper which make the 20 pages cost $16.40 each to print!![/color] I guess I just 'saved' myself from contributing $164 to the gov't. Talk about a rip-off! Chaney's buddy must be laughing all the way to the bank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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