Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Passport fees

This is topic Passport fees in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
https://ft-forum.com/ft/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=8;t=004682

Posted by Richard Hamilton (Member # 321) on 06-16-2006, 05:01 PM:

Has anyone had pages added their passports before? I just had some added and got a Visa at the same time. It was $365.00 bucks!!! The Visa was $170.00, I dont have as much of a problem with that part, but $195.00 for ten pieces of paper? I am paying for a little book that allows me to travel, but where does the money go? It just seems very high to me!

Rick

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 06-16-2006, 05:14 PM:

I just renewed mine at a cost of £51 ($89). 'Where does the money go?' occurred to me, too. I was renewing an existing passport - which means that if you send in your old one, that bypasses all the ID checks and whatnot, thereby making the administration costs virtually zero, I'd have thought. So the only cost to them is printing the document and shipping it. My guess is that the research and development costs of the new biometric passports, which the UK is supposed to be rolling out over the next year (though, as with anything the UK government does which involves any new technology, don't hold your breath!) account for a lot of that money. But it still struck me as a ripoff.

Thankfully I've never had to get any visas - citizens of a European Union country don't need them to visit any other EU country, and the only non-EU country I visit regularly is the United States, which British citizens are eligible to enter under the Visa Waiver Scheme. From what I've heard from friends and relatives about visas (both the hassle of getting one and what it costs), I'd be reluctant to visit any country which required me to get one.

Posted by Richard Hamilton (Member # 321) on 06-16-2006, 05:42 PM:

Another thought! The Visa was $170.00 dollars, does that go to the States or the country I am going to? I guess maybe I should research it on the net! There can't be a processing fee that high!!

Rick

Posted by Stephen Furley (Member # 1277) on 06-16-2006, 06:29 PM:

Richard, the visa would be nothing to do with your own country; It would be issued by the country you are visiting, and they would set the charge for it. Where are you going, by the way?

I've only had to get a Visa once; that was for Russia, in 1974. We, my mother and I, had to get them very quickly, but they were posted to us just a couple of days after we handed the forms in, in person. I don't rmember how much they cost, but I don't think it was very much.

Posted by Richard Hamilton (Member # 321) on 06-16-2006, 06:39 PM:

Stephen,
I am going to China. The other times I have been there, I wasn't involved with the Visas, so I have no Idea what the cost is. This was just surprising. The whole price was a shock to see when I picked up my passport from the travel agency. An unexpected cost, but now I know for the next trip [Roll Eyes]

Rick

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 06-16-2006, 06:48 PM:

Like Stephen said, the country you're going to. Their embassy or consulate within the US will actually issue the visa, though if you're getting it through a travel agent, the agent might charge an extra fee to cover the cost of doing the admin for you. I guess the Chinese feel that enough visitors are willing to pay their visa fee for them to be able to get away with charging it. Given that the US is China's biggest customer of exported goods, that isn't a very friendly gesture, though (assuming that the bulk of that $170 is going to the Chinese and not your travel agent).

Posted by Tim Rectanus (Member # 3282) on 06-16-2006, 07:30 PM:

I don't know anything about Working VISAs that you can't use at a register but I got a new passport today, as a matter of fact, and that $195 seems really high. I got a replacement for one that I lost and even with the Expedited 5-7 day fee included, it cost $127. Plus $30 for the post office to process.

I just had a quick look and came across this page. Additional Visa Pages

quote:
Application for Additional Visa Pages: DS-4085

This form should only be used to add visa pages to a previously issued, currently valid U.S. passport.

There is no charge for routine mail service, which is receipt of your passport with added pages within 6 weeks from the date you mail it. For Expedited Service via mail, there is a $60 fee per application, plus two-way overnight delivery for receipt within 2 weeks. For Expedited Service at a Regional Passport Agency, there is a $60.00 fee per application.

Posted by Ian Price (Member # 14) on 06-16-2006, 07:51 PM:

Richard, most of the visa charges are a direct result of the U.S. raising their rates for our visas for other countries. In China's case it is just because they can. Plus they need revenue for their missions in L.A., S.F. and N.Y.C.

But thank your lucky stars you didn't tell them you wanted to go to Tibet, like I did. They don't issue individual visas for Tibet to Americans, but if you are with a tour, they will issue you a visa for $500 [Eek!]

If you want to visit Tibet and enter from the China side your $170 visa will suffice. They are loath to tell you that Tibet is different in China.

Most countries where the U.S. has dropped their visa requirement also grant American's reciprocal visa rights like the E.U. Canada, Mexico.

Then there are countries like Butan who are trying to limit American Tourist impact and charge a blanket $200 per day to the right to visit. About 3,000 Americans pony it up every year.

My Indian visa cost $60 and was good for 90-days from the date of issue. So I had to make sure to get it late enough to cover the trip.

For Nepal it was just show up at the border with a photograph and $5 for a "transit" visa good for 5-days. If I wanted to stay longer I would have had to visit their offices in the U.S. or India.

That reminds me, I need to renew my passport before they get all biometric next year. Not that I mind, but it's the principal of the thing. They'll be asking you to pee in a cup to pass the boarder next. [Roll Eyes]

Belive it or not, it was all a lot simpler 100 years ago, just show up at the border and welcome to the new country.

1985 Berlin: Regan asks "General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"

20-years later George Bush is trying to build a triple wall between the U.S. and Mexico. [Roll Eyes]

Posted by Mike Heenan (Member # 392) on 06-17-2006, 01:05 AM:

I've read some books written by Richard Halliburton and Mark Twain, and it's fascinating to read about travel in the old days. Places like Iran and Iraq, Saudi Arabia in Halliburtons case. He got an audience with the King of Saudi Arabia pretty much just by showing up and asking.

As for visas, like everyone else said, they probably charge that much because they can.

Posted by Richard Fowler (Member # 893) on 06-17-2006, 11:45 AM:

China requires that your visa is filled in person at one of their three locations in the USA or appoint a recognized represenative to handle. I assume your are using a multi-entry visa so the charges are typical.

Posted by Matt Fields (Member # 3211) on 06-17-2006, 11:52 AM:

quote: Ian Price
1985 Berlin: Regan asks "General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"

20-years later George Bush is trying to build a triple wall between the U.S. and Mexico.

There is big differnce between keeping people out (the U.S.) and keeping people in in (the Soviet Union).

Posted by Bruce Hansen (Member # 281) on 06-17-2006, 06:52 PM:

Well, if a Visa is too expensive, then get a Master Card. (Sorry I couldn't help it). [Big Grin]

Posted by Carl Martin (Member # 1146) on 06-18-2006, 02:38 AM:

quote: Matt Fields
There is big differnce between keeping people out (the U.S.) and keeping people in in (the Soviet Union).

the berlin wall was not in the soviet union. it kept people out (of west berlin).

Posted by Matt Fields (Member # 3211) on 06-18-2006, 09:03 AM:

The Soviets were the occupying force at the time, who built the wall to keep people in who did not want to be there under communist rule. The East Germans were simply prisoners in there own country. West Germany did not build the wall.

There is a huge differnce between the US border situation and the Berlin Wall.

Posted by Jim Bedford (Member # 4) on 06-18-2006, 10:44 AM:

quote: Matt Fields
There is a huge differnce between the US border situation and the Berlin Wall.

I see very little difference as it is simply the concept of building a wall that is odious (we ain't talking about Robert Frost's "Mending Wall" here). Reverse osmosis is still osmosis.

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 06-18-2006, 11:23 AM:

quote: Matt Fields
The Soviets were the occupying force at the time, who built the wall to keep people in who did not want to be there under communist rule.

It's not difficult to see why. During my last-but-one visit to Berlin, I stayed in Charlottenburg (west), but visited a friend at the university where he works, in Blankenburg (east) on one of the days. Even though the wall doesn't exist any more, you can instantly see where it was. On one side there are nice, tree-lined streets with 3 or 4-storey buildings. The eastern part is full of grim, 1960s and '70s Soviet era tower blocks, with vast concreted over expanses, and you can walk for a long time without seeing anything green. Opposite the university I visited was an abandoned former agricultural college: a sprawling, rotting complex that looked like something out of 1984 or A Clockwork Orange. 30 minutes on the S-Bahn later, it felt like being in a different world. I imagine the difference would be plain to see from the air, too, but it was dark when I flew in and out.

Posted by Louis Bornwasser (Member # 3063) on 06-18-2006, 07:07 PM:

Take the bus #100 from East to West Berlin and back again. The border differences are quite striking, just as you indicate, Leo. Louis

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 06-19-2006, 11:41 AM:

Another unexpected expense are those visas that require the applicant to show up IN PERSON at the consulate issuing the visa. My daughter Anne had to travel to NYC twice and wait hours in line at the Italian consulate to get her student visa.

Likely a "security measure" put into place after 9-11, as before then, you could visit a "honorary vice consulate", which are located in many more cities, including Rochester and Buffalo.