# How old is your passport? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 11, 2008, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-passport/472203 "2008-11-11T16:48:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-passport/472203/1 "2008-11-11T16:48:17Z")
OK, I admit it. I’m 33 years old, and just last week, I _finally_ got my passport. It’s one of those things that I’ve said that I always _should_ do, and even when my wife left me behind to go to London for a month last summer, I didn’t make more of an effort to do anything about it. The only thing that pushed me over the edge was the fact that we’re going on a cruise next year where I am required to have one. So now I have it, with a not-horrific picture inside and an RFID chip which I’m still debating about breaking. I feel like I’m finally part of the club! So what about you? How long have you had a passport? If you don’t have one, what’s stopping you? ---
**Author:** ![Jayn\_Newell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jayn\_Newell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayn_Newell)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-passport/472203/2 "2008-11-11T16:54:18Z")
My current one is a year and a half old. I was going on a three week vacation to see my boyfriend, and needed one to cross into the US. I had another when I was 14, though I didn’t actually need it as I was travelling with my parents–they got me one anyways so that if I needed one in the next few years (either because I was going somewhere alone or because I was old enough to need it anyways). Never did use it aside from that one trip though. ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-passport/472203/3 "2008-11-11T17:01:32Z")
Current one is 2 years old, first one would be 30. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-passport/472203/4 "2008-11-11T17:03:25Z")
I got mine in '06, it expires in '11, and it does not have an RFID chip. You can get metal-impregnated covers which will block the RFID transmissions. The kind of RFID you’d find in a passport (or as anti-theft on a product or a library book, or in a ‘chipped’ pet) is passive. The RFID reader (which may be handheld, or built into a doorway) sends out a pulse of radio waves. The RFID chip (which is mostly antenna, by the way), receives the radio waves and uses their power to beam back information, such as a string of letters or digits. So the passport is probably echoing back its ID number, exactly as if it had been swiped through the immigration officials’ optical reader. The officials then do the same database lookup they’d do anyways. The thing about RFID is, it allows ‘driveby scans’. Who else may be recording the ID numbers of the people in the airport? ---
**Author:** ![WormTheRed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bbe5ce/32.png) [@WormTheRed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WormTheRed)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-passport/472203/5 "2008-11-11T17:04:52Z")
I’ve had a valid passport since I was one (first time I moved countries). That one has a very cute picture if I may say so myself 🙂 And until July this year, I for some peculiar reason, managed to have three valid (non-stamped, non expired) ones at the same time. I never did get around to selling them to some terrorist or refugee. ---
**Author:** ![3acresandatruck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/e79b87/32.png) [@3acresandatruck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3acresandatruck)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-passport/472203/6 "2008-11-11T17:05:21Z")
Mine’s 39 years old. I had to use it last year to renew my driver’s license, in order to prove I’m a real American and make the midwest safe from terrorists. It was greeted with great hilarity by the fine ladies down at the license bureau. They concurred it was the oldest passport which had been used to prove anyone’s identity under the new, improved federal rules, at least in their office. Yes, they accepted it without argument, as they all agreed it met the requirements demanded by law, and they did their solemn duty to compare my current visage with the photograph of my 12-year-old self. And that’s why I’m laughing in my current driver’s license photo. I don’t have a current one, as I’m not planning to go anywhere. ETA: does it violate any laws if you break the RFID chip in your passport? (not mine - it doesn’t have one; just curious) ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-passport/472203/7 "2008-11-11T17:09:05Z")
Do you guys have that rule where you have to maintain a neutral unsmiling expression when they take your passport picture? My theory is, it lets the computer identify you more easily. ---
**Author:** ![Karyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/fbc32d/32.png) [@Karyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Karyn)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-passport/472203/8 "2008-11-11T17:09:44Z")
I got mine during the 90s and this reminded me that I had no idea where I put it. After much digging I found it and it expired 5 years ago. I doubt that I’ll do anything about it unless I plan to leave the country again. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f07891/32.png) [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Plastic_Ninja)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-passport/472203/9 "2008-11-11T17:12:53Z")
I found it in an old purse when I was cleaning my room. It’s about a year old. It has maybe my worst picture ever. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-passport/472203/10 "2008-11-11T17:16:29Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Do you guys have that rule where you have to maintain a neutral unsmiling expression when they take your passport picture? My theory is, it lets the computer identify you more easily. No idea. The guy taking my picture wasn’t the most personable guy in the world, so there wasn’t much danger of me smiling anyway. But the subject didn’t come up. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-passport/472203/11 "2008-11-11T17:16:54Z")
I first travelled internationally (from Australia to the UK) at age 2, but I would have been on one of my parents’ passports then. I first got my own passport at the age of 15. My current passport is about 3 years old, and was issued at the Australian embassy in Washington DC – after a little delay, so that for a while I was living in a foreign country without a current passport. ---
**Author:** ![Driver8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5a626/32.png) [@Driver8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Driver8)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-passport/472203/12 "2008-11-11T17:18:44Z")
I got my new one in 2004, expires in 2014. I got my old one in 1997, expired in 2007. I only got the first one when there was a potential overseas trip on the horizon. I should be eligible to apply for American citizenship in under three years, so perhaps my next one will different. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-passport/472203/13 "2008-11-11T17:21:00Z")
I’ve had one since I was ~13, for a couple of Europe trips. I just renewed it this year for trip, and saw it had expired last fall! ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-passport/472203/14 "2008-11-11T17:26:43Z")
Got my first password around 1972. Never used it and eventually lost it. Got a new one last December. The lost one didn’t matter since it had long expired. I even managed to use it for a trip to Canada last June. ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-passport/472203/15 "2008-11-11T17:33:31Z")
First one is 28 years old, second one is 10 years old, and I just got a brand new one that is about 3 weeks old. My last passport photo was atrocious, so I spent a bunch of time trying to take a decent self portrait. I finally gave up and ran with one. I guess I’m just not very attractive. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-passport/472203/16 "2008-11-11T17:35:29Z")
Mine’s about 15 years old, went to Switzerland/Austria/Germany in the 90’s. ---
**Author:** ![sciguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@sciguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciguy)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-passport/472203/17 "2008-11-11T17:38:58Z")
I got my first (currently only) passport about 8 years ago at age 24. It was for work: there was a talk that they’d be sending me to our London office to do some training of some new support guys there, so I got one just in case. That trip fell through, and I first used it this past May passing through Vancouver for my honeymoon. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-passport/472203/18 "2008-11-11T17:40:35Z")
My oldest one is about 32 years old; I’m 33 (My parents prioritized international travel over most all other luxuries). I have pretty much always had a passport as I have never let it lapse. Furthermore, I have never had a passport expire unstamped. FYI, my present passport is brand new; I renewed it last April. I’m going to Costa Rica in December! ---
**Author:** ![footballisplayedwithyourfeet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9f8e36/32.png) [@footballisplayedwithyourfeet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/footballisplayedwithyourfeet)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-passport/472203/19 "2008-11-11T18:07:28Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Do you guys have that rule where you have to maintain a neutral unsmiling expression when they take your passport picture? My theory is, it lets the computer identify you more easily. Yes we have (in holland), the last time I had pictures taken I took 4 tries, thankfully it’s all digital now, otherwise it would be a great waste of paper and chemicals. I’ve had a pasport since I was 4 months old, by the way, and have had a valid one ever since (so on my 5th now). ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-passport/472203/20 "2008-11-11T18:08:26Z")
I got my first one in 1999, so it expires in about a year. I got it for a HS trip to Italy. I do plan on getting a new one this year or next year sometimes, just so I know I have one that’s valid. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-passport/472203.md?page=2)