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Report Calls Fees For Passports Excessive

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By LARRY MARGASAK, The Associated Press

Published: November 3, 2007

WASHINGTON - The U.S. government has overcharged Americans by more than $100 million a year in its fee for new passports, according to cost figures uncovered by congressional investigators and analyzed by two senators and The Associated Press.

The two senators said Americans have been quietly gouged since 2002. The report they initiated showed that the costs incurred by the State Department and the U.S. Postal Service, for accepting passport applications, were considerably less than the fee charged.

The $97 adult fee for new passports is set by the State Department, which denied Friday that it overcharges anyone.

"We are not trying to gouge the American public," deputy department spokesman Tom Casey said.

The costs surfaced only months after thousands of Americans fell victim to passport processing delays, finding their vacations, weddings, honeymoons and business trips ruined - and their nonrefundable deposits gone.

Over the past year, as the government issued nearly 14 million new passports, Americans paid at least $111.4 million more in passport fees than the government's stated costs, according to calculations by AP using information from the State Department and Government Accountability Office.

Sens. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., and Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., who jointly asked for the GAO study, estimated that the government overcharged travelers $112.7 million during 2002, when less than half the number of new passports were issued.

The senators demanded a State Department accounting of where the passport profits have gone, at a time when more Americans than ever are required to have the travel documents as an anti-terrorism measure.

Most Americans apply for their passports at post offices. For handling the applications, the Postal Service gets to keep part of the fee and, according to the GAO figures, make a handsome profit.

"It's the combination of excessive fees plus the long wait that's most galling to passengers," said David Stempler, president of the Air Travelers Association. "It's just another way the federal government has ill-served passengers. Airline passengers are taxed and fee'd more than any other group. To see that we're being gouged on top of that is most irritating."

The $97 passport fee - $82 for children under $16 - dates back to 2005. The GAO studied whether a $30 portion of that fee was justified.

The $30 is intended to cover the cost of clerks examining and accepting passport applications at post offices, State Department passport offices, courthouses, libraries, municipal offices and universities.

The investigators' findings? The government's $30 fee was roughly double the actual cost when imposed in 2002. The Postal Service, which operates 5,382 locations where people can apply for passports, estimated its costs at $13.31 in 2002. The State Department, which operates 14 passport offices, said its costs were $16.20 at that time.

"This is not supposed to be a profit-making venture," Dorgan said. "They charge 30 bucks just for passing something across the counter."

The remaining $67 is spent producing the passport booklet and for related costs, such as rent at passport offices, security guards and background checks. Investigators did not look into that portion of the fee.

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