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PrintHelp Me Hank: Help Me Hank! Passport predicament
Wouldn't you like to be on this Jamaican beach? Darleen could not wait.
Darleen Foster, traveler
"I was ready to get out of town."
Of course to get, there she needs a passport.
Darleen Foster, traveler
"I thought no big deal."
She checked at her local post office. They told her it would take 10 weeks. Uh-oh! Her trip was only five weeks away. They told her to call the National Passport Information Center for expedited service. The automated message there told her to call back two weeks before her trip.
So, two weeks later she called, and called and called again. She was on hold so long that she even fell asleep on the phone. Fosterwas more than worried.
Darleen Foster, traveler
"Now, I'm in the two-week mark, and this is my full-time job."
Finally, the automated line told her to show up at the Boston Passport Agency in the Tip O'Neill building two days before her trip. That seemed cutting it close.
Darleen Foster, traveler
"I can't even explain the anxiety."
Was she going to make it to Jamaica or be stuck in red tape?
Darleen Foster, traveler
"That's when I contacted ‘Help Me Hank!’"
We found Foster and many others were caught in a passport predicament. A new homeland security law requires U.S. citizens to have passports for all international travel. So, the passport offices were deluged with applications and vacationers like Foster were approaching their travel deadlines. The office of Congressman Tierney is flooded with complaints.
Representative John Tierney, (D-Mass.)
"When they changed the rules, they should have anticipated that this situation would happen."
But here's the scoop. Here at the Boston Passport Agency, passports are actually processed and printed. So if you have an appointment and all the right paperwork, harried travelers can get a passport in no time.
Hank Phillippi Ryan, 7NEWS Investigative Reporter
"If there's an emergency, can these people be helped?"
Representative John Tierney, (D-Mass.)
"Yes. If there is an emergency, they can be helped."
And sure enough, on the day of her appointment, Foster had all the right documents and photos. She made it to Jamaica no problem, and she has the passport stamp to prove it!
Darleen Foster, traveler
"My trip was great. Jamaica was very relaxing."
(Copyright 2007 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)