Comments on the stupid form
Apr. 26th, 2011 11:51 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kengrMy comments on the form from the previous post.
DS form number [DS-5513], information collection title [Biographical Questionnaire for U.S. Passport], and OMB control number [none yet assigned; 1405-XXXX requested by Dept. of State]
I read this form and can't believe that anyone could seriously propose this as *possible* to fill out, much less require it.
Let's examine these questions...
I haven't seen my brother in 40 years, except once to settle out late mother's estate. *contacting* him would likely take more than the 45 minutes listed. And I'd have to do that to get his date of birth, since all I recall is that it was in August of 1960.
Likewise, I can only recall that my deceased mother was born in April of 1909. Where? I haven't a clue.
"Fortunately" I don't have any other relatives that you want info on.
The questioner about my birth? I'm adopted. All I have is the info on my birth certificate. It doesn't say anything about where I was born other than the city. So the medical facility question *can't* be answered. It does at least have a date the birth was registered, so I can answer yes to the question about being registered within a year of birth.
So, assuming that counts as answering no to one of the questions, that'd mean I'd have to fill out the rest of the questions on page 2.
Only thing is, it's utterly impossible to answer *any* of them. Mom's been dead for a decade. Her husband has been dead for almost 60 years. My brother is 6 years younger than me, so he'd be no help, even if I had contact info for him.
The residence info you want is ludicrous. Who keeps that sort of info?
Place of employment? Ditto.
Pre or post-natal care? I'm *adopted*.
What type of document did my mother use to Enter the US? She was *born* here. Not that I can prove it.
Please describe the circumstances of my birth ? Again, I'm *adopted*. And even if I wasn't the info *required* is insanely unreasonable. Names (and addresses and phone numbers "if available") of persons present? Even if that info is available (the names, etc) for anybody over age 10, it's apt to be completely useless.
Question 12, about religious ceremonies or rituals? Yet again, I'm adopted. And it's not like I have any records of that sort of thing. I can't be the only adult who has had minimal contact with family after leaving home, and thus no access to any such records or info, even if they still exist.
Page 3.
You want me to list every address I've ever lived at since I was born? Again, that's an insane requirement. I've *tried* putting such a list together for nostalgic reasons, and there are several (from 30-50 years back where I don't recall the address, and short of visiting the general area again, couldn't get more than street and nearest intersection.
Heck, there's one where I can't even do street and intersection because I only lived there for 3 months, and only had to deal with the address once, when I registered for high school.
By the way, Zip codes *change* over the decades. And for folks who were alive before they were introduced, they don't really map well to old addresses.
Page 4. You want all my employers. Ever. Several of them no longer exist. In 4 cases, the *buildings* don't exist anymore. Lots of luck trying to get an address I don't remember for those. Supervisors, phone numbers? You people really haven't a clue about real life do you?
The only way I'd have *any* of that info is if I stumble across an old pay stub. And most folks don't retain that sort of thing any longer than it is needed for tax records. Many don't retain it past the time they file their taxes.
Again, not merely unreasonable, but insanely so.
School info. That I could mostly track down. But I attended 6 schools not counting college. And it took me most of your 45 minutes to *find* one of them using the Internet. I'm still not sure if it still exists.
People who moved more as kids often will have an even harder time, especially if they don't have family accessible anymore.
In summary, this form is obviously based on a "wish list" of things to catch illegal immigrants and the like. But in doing so, it is setting the bar so high that native citizens can't clear it.
As such, it's bound to wind up in court and waste huge amounts of money before being thrown out. Save everyone a lot of trouble and don't implement this disaster.
At the very least run some tests with a cross section of the US population to find out what it would *really* be like for average people (and not so average people) to have to fill this out.
DS form number [DS-5513], information collection title [Biographical Questionnaire for U.S. Passport], and OMB control number [none yet assigned; 1405-XXXX requested by Dept. of State]
I read this form and can't believe that anyone could seriously propose this as *possible* to fill out, much less require it.
Let's examine these questions...
I haven't seen my brother in 40 years, except once to settle out late mother's estate. *contacting* him would likely take more than the 45 minutes listed. And I'd have to do that to get his date of birth, since all I recall is that it was in August of 1960.
Likewise, I can only recall that my deceased mother was born in April of 1909. Where? I haven't a clue.
"Fortunately" I don't have any other relatives that you want info on.
The questioner about my birth? I'm adopted. All I have is the info on my birth certificate. It doesn't say anything about where I was born other than the city. So the medical facility question *can't* be answered. It does at least have a date the birth was registered, so I can answer yes to the question about being registered within a year of birth.
So, assuming that counts as answering no to one of the questions, that'd mean I'd have to fill out the rest of the questions on page 2.
Only thing is, it's utterly impossible to answer *any* of them. Mom's been dead for a decade. Her husband has been dead for almost 60 years. My brother is 6 years younger than me, so he'd be no help, even if I had contact info for him.
The residence info you want is ludicrous. Who keeps that sort of info?
Place of employment? Ditto.
Pre or post-natal care? I'm *adopted*.
What type of document did my mother use to Enter the US? She was *born* here. Not that I can prove it.
Please describe the circumstances of my birth ? Again, I'm *adopted*. And even if I wasn't the info *required* is insanely unreasonable. Names (and addresses and phone numbers "if available") of persons present? Even if that info is available (the names, etc) for anybody over age 10, it's apt to be completely useless.
Question 12, about religious ceremonies or rituals? Yet again, I'm adopted. And it's not like I have any records of that sort of thing. I can't be the only adult who has had minimal contact with family after leaving home, and thus no access to any such records or info, even if they still exist.
Page 3.
You want me to list every address I've ever lived at since I was born? Again, that's an insane requirement. I've *tried* putting such a list together for nostalgic reasons, and there are several (from 30-50 years back where I don't recall the address, and short of visiting the general area again, couldn't get more than street and nearest intersection.
Heck, there's one where I can't even do street and intersection because I only lived there for 3 months, and only had to deal with the address once, when I registered for high school.
By the way, Zip codes *change* over the decades. And for folks who were alive before they were introduced, they don't really map well to old addresses.
Page 4. You want all my employers. Ever. Several of them no longer exist. In 4 cases, the *buildings* don't exist anymore. Lots of luck trying to get an address I don't remember for those. Supervisors, phone numbers? You people really haven't a clue about real life do you?
The only way I'd have *any* of that info is if I stumble across an old pay stub. And most folks don't retain that sort of thing any longer than it is needed for tax records. Many don't retain it past the time they file their taxes.
Again, not merely unreasonable, but insanely so.
School info. That I could mostly track down. But I attended 6 schools not counting college. And it took me most of your 45 minutes to *find* one of them using the Internet. I'm still not sure if it still exists.
People who moved more as kids often will have an even harder time, especially if they don't have family accessible anymore.
In summary, this form is obviously based on a "wish list" of things to catch illegal immigrants and the like. But in doing so, it is setting the bar so high that native citizens can't clear it.
As such, it's bound to wind up in court and waste huge amounts of money before being thrown out. Save everyone a lot of trouble and don't implement this disaster.
At the very least run some tests with a cross section of the US population to find out what it would *really* be like for average people (and not so average people) to have to fill this out.
