On Thursday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke about some changes to U.S. passports at a Reception for the Consular Affairs Patriot Passport Launch.
While discussing the commemorative passports for the nation’s 250th anniversary, Rubio decried how passports are currently mailed to citizens in an envelope that he said, “could be anything. It could be a demand letter, or it could be a passport. You have no idea what it is.”
Fancier Passport Arrival
Rubio explained that moving forward, the passports will be mailed out in what he called a “fancy box” that was more indicative of how important the document is.
“When you open this passport box, you will find that there is a certificate attached to it, which is like a certificate of authenticity like we do with watches and stuff like that and jewelry,” Rubio told the crowd. “But again, it’s something that we think a lot of people will tremendously value.”
“We think it’s something people will cherish and hold onto for a very long time because of what it signifies,” Rubio said. “Like all passports it will expire one day, but the meaning of it you’ll always remember, and we think it’s one that people will keep for a long time.”
QR Codes and New Ways to Take Passport Photos
Other future changes he highlighted include a QR code that would take people to videos of pivotal moments in American history, and the ability to complete passport applications entirely online, including using facial recognition via a camera on your phone or laptop to capture the passport photos.
"But the one thing that’s not a feature on this yet but will be a feature in the future – again, I’m giving away a lot of great secrets," Rubio told the crowd. "But there’ll actually be like a QR code attached to it. So each one of these images that are on here – and they’ll be different for the permanent passports – will have a QR code. And when you go on that QR code, it will prompt you to like a video presentation of that moment in American history."
He said the thinking here is that people are "bored out of their minds" when flights get delayed, so they will be able to scan the QR code to learn more about important moments in American history.
He also teased additional upcoming changes, saying they are looking into having more of the passport process be online.
"We are also looking at some technological changes, which we’ll be more fully able to announce over the coming months, where it’s going to be a lot easier to get a passport in terms of the dynamics of it." Rubio said. "You’ll actually be able to go online. You’ll be able to do almost all of it entirely online. One of the questions we had was most of the devices that people are using, be it a laptop or a standing computer or what have you, where you would fill out this application, they have cameras on them. I know, it’s shocking. But they have cameras. They have videos that people use."
"You should be able to take that picture on that device as opposed to going somewhere. Now, the CVS people, of course, hate this, and the Walgreens and all those other places," Rubio said as the crowd laughed. "But you’ll be able to take your picture from that device and be able to have it in real time, through our security system, verify the facial ID. And it just saves you a lot of – you don’t have to go down somewhere now and get a head shot and get the little pictures that you have to cut and then submit three passport pictures. You’ll be able to do that. You’ll be able to do it online entirely, for the most part, with all the right numbers. They’ll be able to verify it for you, and you should be able to get it much sooner."
The goal is cutting down the long wait times and making it easier for Americans, Rubio said.
"So we’re going to make it a much more customer-friendly – we’re not ready to do that yet, but that’s really what we want to be able to do.And it should cut down on the long waits, the long lines, the appointments, the making – some people may still decide to do it that way, but this way will be available to people. And we look forward to, like, really rolling that out in a few months when it’s ready."
For the latest travel news, updates and deals, subscribe to the daily TravelPulse newsletter.
Topics From This Article to Explore
