Dipnote - Entries By Category http://blogs.state.gov/index.php/site/index/ en U.S. Department of State 2008-08-29T19:16:00-05:00 Security Overseas Seminar Teaches ‘Be Prepared’ About the Author: Kathe Conrad is the Security Overseas Seminar Coordinator at the Foreign Service Institute.

"I am at a gas station filling my car up when I notice out of the corner of my eye a man at the next pump is suddenly on fire. I watch in stunned disbelief as he starts running across the parking lot. My brain finally overrides the disbelief that has me rooted next to my car. I yell and run after him, pushing him to the ground and beating out the flames. Why didn't he stop, drop, and roll like we were all taught in high school? Why didn't he do what he knew he was supposed to do?"

A former Diplomatic Security Special Agent related this anecdote and posed the question in one of my Security Overseas Seminar classes. The answer is that in crisis situations our brains sometimes get scrambled. Even if we know what to do, unless we have actually practiced our actions, the stress of a traumatic situation may trigger the wrong response. During the 1998 East Africa bombings of our embassies, for example, many people heard the sound of a small explosion and ran to the windows to see what was happening. Many were cut by the flying glass from the windows in subsequent explosions.

The subject of why we react the way we do in crisis situations is the subject of a new book, The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes and Why, by senior Time Magazine staffer Amanda Ripley. In the book, Ripley interviews survivors from 9/11, floods, hostage situations and other traumatic events as well as experts on psychological and emotional responses to these kinds of situations. The big message of her book coincides with that of the Security Seminars –- be prepared! Participate in drills!

Ripley will be one the speakers at the upcoming Private Sector Security Overseas Seminar (PSOS) at the Foreign Service Institute on September 11-12th. The Foreign Service Institute's Transition Center, in collaboration with the Overseas Security Advisory Council, reaches out twice a year to the private sector on a limited basis to share its security strategies and information on topics such as current threat trends, surveillance and bomb recognition, environmental threats, and the human side of crisis management. Those wishing to register for PSOS must be Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC) constituents. However, there is no fee for becoming a constituent. Information on becoming an OSAC constituent along with the registration form and information can be found on OSAC's website.]]> http://blogs.state.gov/index.php/entires/overseas_security_seminar/ 2008-08-29T16:18:00-05:00 The New U.S. Passport Card Is Now Available About the Author: Brenda Sprague serves as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Passport Services.

It was a dark and stormy night… no, actually, Monday was a dark and stormy day, and as Tropical Storm Fay roared toward southern Florida, I was preparing for a press conference. As the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Passport Services, I was in Miami to launch the Department of State's new passport product, the U.S. Passport Card. The press conference was held at the Port of Miami on August 18. With a cruise ships in the background, I addressed, in Spanish and English, print reporters about the newly-minted passport and its advantages for the traveler's wallet: its convenient size and affordable cost.

Below I’ve tried to answers a few of the questions you may have about this new passport product.

What is the U.S. Passport Card?

It is a wallet-sized travel document issued to U.S. citizens. When American citizens return to the United States by land or by sea from Mexico, Canada, the Caribbean, or Bermuda, the U.S. Passport Card documents your citizenship and identity in one convenient-to-carry-and-use card.

What Is The Difference Between The Book And Card?

The two main differences deal with your wallet: One is size and the other is cost. The convenient pocket-sized format that will allow you to travel conveniently with a secure form of identification and proof of U.S. citizenship.

For adults, if this is your first U.S. passport, the Card will cost $45 and you must apply in person. Minors under the age of 16 must pay $35 for a U.S. passport card, even if they have previously been issued a U.S. passport. If you currently have a valid U.S. passport, you may be able to apply for a U.S. passport card by mail for only $20. By way of comparison, the passport book costs $100 for first-time adult applicants and $85 for children. Adults can renew their passport books for $75.

When you’re deciding which document you want, consider another important distinction: the passport book can be used for all international travel – land, sea or air anywhere in the world. The new U.S. Passport Card can be used only for land and sea travel returning to the United States from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda. The one you choose will depend on your travel plans for the future.

I bet you want to now how can you get One?

Information on how to apply for a U.S. Passport Card or the traditional U.S. passport book can be found at the U.S. Department of State’s website, Travel.State.Gov.

Why Am I So Excited About this Card?

With the deadline for these new document requirements less than one year away, we urge U.S. citizens to apply today for their U.S. Passport Cards.

Don’t delay – be sure you have the document you need so you can continue traveling anywhere in the world you need to go. Apply for your U.S. Passport Card today!
]]> http://blogs.state.gov/index.php/entires/new_passport_card/ 2008-08-20T15:01:00-05:00 Looked at a Passport Lately? About the Author: Priscilla Linn is the Curator at the U.S. Diplomacy Center.

Forget your walking shoes when you travel abroad and you might get blisters, but forget your passport and you’ll be walking back the way you came. Passports are the most widely accepted travel document in the world today. Everyone flying in or out of the United States must have a passport or other acceptable document. In less than a year, on June 1, 2009, most Americans will need a passport, passport card, or other document for international travel by land and sea, as well.

The United States Diplomacy Center, as befitting a collection of diplomatica (artifacts related to the practice of diplomacy), counts a number of passports in its holdings. Our collection shows how the U.S. passport has changed to reflect government size and organization, population growth, new technologies and concerns with security, among other influences. Two styles reflect the passport’s evolution into single-sheet and booklet formats in the early 20th Century.

Up to the end of World War I in 1917, American travel abroad was relatively light. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing then produced passports on single sheets of heavy paper about 12 by 18 inches in size. Identifying details concerning the owner accompanied diplomatic language requesting safe passage. In 1918, passports became internationally mandatory.

As the volume of American travelers abroad increased, the Passport Office began pasting a large sheet of paper inside a small protective book cover, but this hybrid attempt to improve handling met with little success. Even the U.S. government’s definitive history of the passport states of this first experiment, “…it was still bulky and inconvenient to carry.” The passport on the left in the figure above is a copy of this hybrid format. The photo is of Italian-born Emma Cavicchioli and her two children, Mafalda and Dino.

Only in 1926 did passports become the small booklet we know today, printed on safety paper that resisted water, light and most liquid chemicals. Further security measures over the years incorporated gluing pages to the cover as well as resizing, printing and marking pages to deter fraudulent transfer to other documents.

An all over background design on the pages increased security, as did special knotting in the binding, designed to deter disassembly. In contrast to the earlier folded passport, the passport on the right in the figure above includes the stamped words “CANCELLED,” and the cut-off corners make it clear that the passport had been used and was altered to make it impossible to mistake it for a valid document.

This passport on the right belonged to Lucy Barnard, who married Ellis O. Briggs in 1928. Her diplomatic passport took her to Lima, Peru, where her husband was a diplomat. He spent the next nine years in Peru and went on to serve eight ambassadorships. Her passports would identify her as “the wife of” the ambassador on assignment.

Technological advances have improved the design and construction of today’s passports, but passports themselves still serve the same purpose that they did in the days of Emma Cavicchioli and Lucy Barnard. They verify one’s identify and nationality and allow one to enter or leave countries around the globe. They keep you on the go!

Though passports and international travel rules may change, America’s consular officers remain committed to the safety and security of U.S. citizens traveling abroad. We encourage U.S. citizens who will be traveling abroad to apply for or renew their passports well before the June 1, 2009, deadline! American citizens may apply for a passport at one of over 9,400 passport acceptance facilities located throughout the United States.
]]> http://blogs.state.gov/index.php/entires/passport_lately/ 2008-06-04T21:24:00-05:00 New Website Addresses Student Travel Safety About the Author: Ryan Palsrok serves as an Overseas Citizens Services Officer.

Every year more than 200,000 students from American universities travel abroad to pursue international experience in an academic setting. This constitutes a nearly 150 percent increase in the past 10 years, despite post-9/11 apprehensions. Many young people also go abroad on their own dime and outside structured University programs to volunteer, work, intern, and simply to take vacation. According to U.S. Department of State figures, more than 100,000 students spend their Spring Break in resorts across Mexico annually.

The increase of students traveling abroad can be attributed to many factors, but regardless of the "why" or "how" students go abroad, the number one concern among university officials, parents, and even students, is safety.
Responding to this concern, the Bureau of Consular Affairs has launched a new “Students Abroad” public affairs campaign targeting American youth who plan to travel internationally. The campaign centers around a new State Department website,"Students Abroad." The central goal of the campaign is to educate students about everything they should know before they go abroad.

The look and tone of the website is what distinguishes this new campaign from information already provided by the State Department. The Bureau of Consular Affairs aimed to build a website that would use a more informal language and be attractive to young people.

Check out the site. Did the State Department accomplish this? Will the site be useful to students, their parents, and study abroad programs? What else could the State Department do to spread the message?]]> http://blogs.state.gov/index.php/entires/new_website_addresses_student_travel_safety/ 2008-05-13T19:19:01-05:00 Policy Podcast: Making a Passport http://blogs.state.gov/index.php/entires/making_a_passport/ 2008-03-28T21:40:00-05:00 The Passport’s in the Mail Heath Kern, Director of Digital Media, provides additional information in the video above.



Steven Royster, Spokesman for the Bureau of Consular Affairs, comments on the latest developments regarding passport applications.



We are back on top of our passport game. Over the summer, the Consular Affairs Bureau, with the support of the whole Department, worked hard and now we're back to processing routine passport applications in no more than six weeks. This is great news, and provides for a smooth transition as we return to passport rules that went into effect in January. Once again, all Americans must have passports when returning to the United States on international flights (with one exception, see "If you traveled under... below).



One of the many things we did this summer was work with our partners at the Department of Homeland Security to minimize inconveniences to the American public as we worked through the record demand for passports (we issued 18 million passports in the year ending in September - compared to 12 million the year before). Under this "accommodation," as we've come to call it in-house, Americans who were waiting for their passport could fly back home after trips to Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean or Bermuda with proof that they had applied for the passport. This accommodation was scheduled to end on September 30, and as the date approaches we find ourselves turning around passports as promptly as we did before those travel rules went into effect.



But over the past few days, reporters have been calling me about the "change in passport rules." They're actually disappointed when I explain that this "change" is just a return to the way it was before. But it's just that simple - we're going back to the rules in January: if you're flying out of the United States, you'll be just fine if you have passport in hand when you return. If you traveled under our "accommodation" before September 30, you can return to the U.S. with the same proof of passport application you used when you left.



This means that, despite the changes in rules and proposals over the past few months, that if you're planning to travel internationally, the best advice is the simplest: Apply now for your passport. With new hires and plans for meeting even greater increases in demand in the months ahead, we're ready. We're handling record numbers of passport applications, but we're turning them around as fast as we did last year.



By the way, this gives me a chance to share my personal passport story. In the height of our summer passport crunch, I dropped my application in the mail to renew it. My new passport showed up in the mail about seven weeks later, even as stories ran across the countries about Americans whose applications took longer. While service was disrupted for some customers, many of us got our passports back with time to spare. Still, it's great to be able to share news today that we expect that all travelers who apply today should have their passports within six weeks.

]]> http://blogs.state.gov/index.php/entires/the_passports_in_the_mail/ 2007-10-02T00:15:00-05:00