Passports cost $110? Holy crap

[bella]

My passport just expired and I'd like to cut thru Canada when I move.  After filling out the renewal application, they asked me for $110!

Plus I don't even get to keep my current passport, which I have some nostalgic attachment to as the site of my student visa allowing me to move to Dublin, plus my honeymoon stamps (the marriage didn't last, but the honeymoon was awesome!). 

Since I have a few of my dad's expired passports I know that surrendering the current wasn't always the case.

But more importantly...

$110?  To cut through Canada?  Really?

[MikeM]

You're moving from NYC to Ann Arbor, right? Are you thinking of cutting through Canada just for the fun of it? Because that's not the shortest route by any means. Will you have a moving van with all your stuff? I've heard of people cutting through Canada on such a move without hassle, but I wouldn't want to have to deal with customs/inspections and my life's possessions and a grumpy border official.

(I'm in the Detroit suburbs and I cut through Canada several times a year when traveling east.)

At least for grownups the $110 gets you a 10-year passport. For kids you have to renew every 5 (although for only $80 a pop)!

Current DOS FAQ says you still get your old one back (although it might get mailed to you separately from new one).

[bella]

Nah it's not the most direct route but I do want to stop on my way and see a friend near Toronto.  Either way, in my experience of growing up near AA, I'd be crossing the border relatively frequently anyway. 

It's good to hear I could get my old passport back (I am really one of those sucker nostalgic types). I suppose $110 every ten years isn't SO  bad.  But I'm cheap.

Wondering if I should wear my wig to get my passport photo taken or go as myself sly.  I suppose either (having hair in the passport photo and showing up sly, or being sly in the photo and showing up having any kind of hair at all, which well could happen in the next ten years) will get me flagged.  Oh well.  Canadian customs officers are, in my experience, pretty nice guys. 

[tomcj2]

................Wondering if I should wear my wig to get my passport photo taken or go as myself sly............. 

Have the photo taken "as you are".  They frown upon people wearing disguises.

[jedge01]

You'll get your old one back in the mail with the new one. They just punch a hole rough a corner so you can't accidentally use the wrong one.

I did not know they had gone up to $110, but my employer pays for mine. 

[tomgallagher]

11 bucks a year. Not so bad really.

[Laser Man]

I have my old passports, too and like the nostalgia they bring.  It's also fun to look at stamps from countries that don't exist anymore like East Germany!

As to your picture, have it taken just as you are now and don't worry!