BritInParis

Indeed. The common refrain is 'If you have nothing to hide then you have nothing to fear' to which my reply is 'If I have nothing to hide then what are you looking for?'

TimFountain

My regular US passport is pretty much full, after 5 years. I didn't get the larger one as at the time you could add pages to your passport. That is no longer an option and I'll likely have to renew in the next year or so. It'll be the big boy next time. I find the passport card useful, as it proves US citizenship and is accepted a form of federal ID everywhere. More useful than a non real-id compliant Oregon DL....

mrken30

Which reminds me of a time before I had moved here. I was with my wife to be getting on a boat in Portland and they accepted my cinema pass as a form of photo ID.

Pulaski

But they are looking, and there's nothing much I can do about it. Life is too short to stress about such things, so I don't and I won't. Hence my attitude.

octopus1980

Would you mind sharing what is taking up the most space. Visas or stamps? Do you also have UK passport?

Since I started this thread I have done more research on passport cards and turns out to be pretty useless document unless you go a lot to Mexico or Canada by land. I am afraid nobody outside the U.S. would take it, and some people even mention folks in the U.S. are hesitant to accept passport card as in ID.

There was one valid point somebody brought up. The passport card can serve as proof of citizenship. Should you lose your passport and birth or naturalization certificate then you still have another form of ID.

One question. Can expired US passport be used as a valid proof of citizenship?


I think you are totally correct. Life is too short to worry about stuff we have no control over.

MidAtlantic

Steve_

Passports already are becoming obsolete because of the trusted traveller programs. I'm on my second Canadian passport and I've never gotten a stamp in it because I use my NEXUS card. The only time I ever need it is at check-in and I never bother to take it when going by land to the US.

On the subject of passport quality, the old 5-year Canadian passports were a joke, they seemed to be made out of toilet paper and papier-maché as far as I could tell. Get one wet and it would dissolve I'm sure. Since they went to 10-year passports in 2013 they are much better.

Can't honestly see the point to 52-page passports, you'd have to be one hell of a traveller to out of the way places, you've already got a UK passport so that doesn't get stamped when going to the UK. Haven't gotten a stamp in my UK passport either since I renewed it, thinking about it. Compared to my old one which is covered in visas and stamps.

Steve_

Arizona has been issuing REAL ID compliant ID for awhile now.

I suggested to the UKPO that they issue a passport card for travel around Europe as they don't stamp the passport and they told me they had been considering the idea for some time. Something tells me that isn't going to happen.

I made the same suggestion to Passport Canada (given that most Canadians go to the US and they also don't stamp Canadian passports) and got back the snottiest response I think I've ever gotten from a civil servant.

FlyingDutchman6666

Isn't an enhanced driving licence the Canadian equivalent of a passport card?

BritInParis

Brexit is likely to put pay to that idea in the short term at least.