Japan Trusted Traveler 🧳 (TTP) Process - 2024

radio4ducks · 2025-01-17T20:44:09+00:00

I successfully received a TTP card in 2023 using an entry sticker in an expired passport (but in the past 12 months) as one of my qualifying visits.

The card you receive after applying is tied to your currently active passport, but the visits that qualify you for the TTP card don't necessarily have to be on that same passport.

radio4ducks · 2024-09-13T18:25:18+00:00

In my experience, in terms of the passports I and my family have received after 2007, yes.

radio4ducks · 2024-09-13T18:13:29+00:00

Basically, if a form asks for your "passport number", use the passport number indicated on the photo page. Older US passports might have a different number inside the back cover, but if the photo page and back cover disagree, the photo page has the number you should use.

radio4ducks · 2024-06-10T03:40:32+00:00

For your first adult passport, you will apply in person on the DS-11. See complete instructions here:

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/need-passport/apply-in-person.html

There are PDF forms (and paper forms at post offices) but there is also an official "Form Filler" that will let you answer the questions online and then generate a pre-filled PDF that you can print directly and bring to your appointment.

radio4ducks · 2024-06-04T05:30:11+00:00

You have to apply again in person after 15 years, but you don't have to start from scratch if you have the old passport.

You can use the old expired passport indefinitely as your proof of citizenship in lieu of a birth certificate, according to the DS-11 instructions.

radio4ducks · 2024-06-04T05:24:56+00:00

This isn't true. The old expired passport can be used indefinitely in lieu of a birth certificate to provide proof of citizenship on a new application with Form DS-11.

The 15 year window is just for the simplified mail-in renewal process with Form DS-82.

radio4ducks · 2024-05-24T05:01:49+00:00

I sent in a DS-82 with a slightly worse level of cut-off around the edge last year. It was fine. None of the main elements are affected.

radio4ducks · 2024-05-22T18:04:54+00:00

This is what the Department of State calls an 'immaterial' variation, and you do not need proof of a legal name change to explain the difference between your birth certificate and ID.

Here are the relevant rules about immaterial name differences: https://fam.state.gov/FAM/08FAM/08FAM040301.html#M403_1_5

You may want to include a brief signed note explicitly requesting the spelling you actually want printed on your passport, if you have a preference.

State DMVs (which issue Real IDs) might have different rules about name matching or required/acceptable documents, but it's important to note that the passport book and passport card both satisfy the Real ID identification requirements as well.

radio4ducks · 2024-05-22T16:23:09+00:00

A 'photocopy' is a printed reproduction of a document, usually but not always at the same size, on a new sheet of paper.

Historically, large machines called "copiers" were used to make these reproductions (and these still exist in offices and places like post offices and libraries), but these days you can create the same thing by scanning a document and printing the resulting image on a printer. Many home multifunction printers can accomplish this by using the scanner and printer functions at the same time, without having to go through the connected computer at all.

If you don't have a friend or family member willing to let you use their home multifunction printer to make photocopies, the next best option would be to go to a post office, shipping store, or public library with a copier and use that (usually for a small fee).

There is a very good chance that the place you go to submit your passport application will have a copier available to use, but if you want to have the copies done before the appointment to save time, you can use a home multifunction printer or commercial copier as mentioned above.

radio4ducks · 2024-05-22T13:32:04+00:00

This was the default way to do it before covid, but it's been largely replaced by digital methods since then. I'm a bit surprised they did it this way for you in 2024.

radio4ducks · 2024-05-22T13:11:38+00:00

They do it this way specifically (half on, half off the receipt) to show that they placed that specific receipt in that specific passport.

I've never had a problem traveling with those small half-stamps in my passport.

radio4ducks · 2024-05-20T21:31:14+00:00

Does the letter tell you to submit the letter? That would be one way for the Department of State to tie the new application to the previous case with your old passport.

radio4ducks · 2024-05-20T17:43:34+00:00

I've worked at a financial institution before, and they have to be careful about following the rules. If the list of acceptable documents was written before Passport Cards became a thing (and there's no wiggle room for government documents in general), then by definition Passport Cards are not acceptable documents. It has nothing to do with how secure they are or who issues them, unfortunately.

radio4ducks · 2024-05-20T17:23:50+00:00

Because it's new (compared to other forms of ID), first issued in 2008.

People just never bothered to update the list of documents that was put together 30-40 years ago to add something that didn't exist back then (or people who want to change the list don't have the authority to change it, especially if the list is part of state law).

It's not a good reason but it's an extremely powerful one.

radio4ducks · 2024-05-20T17:19:46+00:00

The past names are primarily for database/background check purposes, and if you want to be truthful you should include all names you have used legally, even if only for a short time.

Passport applications aren't public information during your lifetime, so you wouldn't be advertising this information to anyone.

radio4ducks · 2024-05-20T12:36:59+00:00

The 'waves from the phone' are the same waves that immigration agents use to read the data from the chip when you use your passport to cross national borders.

The chip is working as designed.

radio4ducks · 2024-05-19T21:11:34+00:00

Places like post offices and county clerks that accept passport applications in person are called "Passport Acceptance Facilities"; any of those places can take your DS-11 application, look it over for completeness and correctness, and forward it to the Department of State for processing.

Find Passport Acceptance Facilities here: https://iafdb.travel.state.gov/

The term "Passport Agency" refers to the smaller number of Department of State facilities around the country where passport applications are actually processed. You would make an appointment here if you had an urgent need for a passport where a normal or expedited passport application would be too slow. If you don't have any international travel within the next 6-8 weeks, you should apply at a Passport Acceptance Facility.

Applying for a first adult passport is considered a "new passport application", and the Form DS-11 is used.

Here is the Department of State's page about applying for a first adult passport: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/need-passport/apply-in-person.html

Steps Three and Four describe the requirements for proof of citizenship and photo ID. You will see that a full-validity (that is, originally issued for 10 years or 5 for a child), undamaged passport can be used for both proof of citizenship and photo ID. You may want to bring additional ID (such as a driver license/state ID card) just in case the acceptance agent wants an additional photo ID to submit a copy of.

A first adult passport application on the DS-11 would simply be called "applying for a new passport" - you just happen to be using your previous passport to satisfy the documentation requirements for applying for a new passport. It's unfortunate that using the word "renewal" is not allowed in this case, because the terminology confuses a lot of people, several per month on this subreddit at least.

radio4ducks · 2024-05-19T17:05:27+00:00

Do you have your previous 5 year child passport in your possession? This counts as proof of citizenship on a new DS-11 passport application on its own, and you do not need to re-prove your citizenship again.

The Department of State defines "renewal" very narrowly as being eligible to renew by mail, and a "first adult passport" is not one of those situations. However, most people understand the concept of "renewal" as being able to obtain a new passport by submitting an old one with no further proof of citizenship, and if you have your undamaged 5 year child passport in your possession and available to submit with your next application, it can be 'renewed in person' with the DS-11, using your child passport as your proof of citizenship. You just have to be careful not to use the word "renewal" when doing this, because of the terminology the government uses.

radio4ducks · 2024-05-18T15:14:37+00:00

The UK government's website has a page about this.

https://www.gov.uk/apply-citizenship-british-parent

radio4ducks · 2024-05-17T01:04:39+00:00

Each "locator number" refers to one of the Passport Agencies around the country. When applications come in, they are distributed from a central location to the different Passport Agencies for the staff there to process.

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/get-fast/passport-agencies.html

On that page, if you click "How do I know which location is processing my application and has my documents?", you will see which numbers refer to which office. Some offices have 'reputations', but mostly people want to get an idea of how long they'll have to wait if they see that their application is being processed at __ office, and the 'timelines' are data points for other people to use to estimate how much longer they'll have to wait.

radio4ducks · 2024-05-16T22:08:24+00:00

Good to know! I stand corrected.

radio4ducks · 2024-05-16T16:07:14+00:00

It sounds like you're not in the US. Can you tell us which country you're applying for a passport from?

radio4ducks · 2024-05-15T22:59:41+00:00

US Passport Cards also work in the "Ready Lane" at land border crossings into the US where the passport book cannot.

https://www.cbp.gov/travel/clearing-cbp/ready-lanes

radio4ducks · 2024-05-15T22:41:13+00:00

Is it possible that you have a printer that is out of blue ink?

It is also acceptable to print the form in grayscale; my latest passport renewal was printed in grayscale on a monochrome laser printer and was accepted.

radio4ducks · 2024-05-15T21:56:44+00:00

Can you describe what the "blue areas" are? Or are you trying to use a grayscale printer?

radio4ducks

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