Best Results Organizing

Outside of the organizing world, shredding has a few different meanings. To the Beautiful People, it’s Jillian Michaels’ (agonizing) 30 Day Shred,  creating abs to die for (a process which might kill some of us). Snowboarding and skateboarding stars revel in their ability to shred when displaying extreme sports prowess. To the Guitar Hero set, shredding means kicking butt (musically) with super-speedy electric guitar, as displayed during Stephen Colbert’s Shred-Off  , preceded by the famed Countdown to Guitarmageddon. (Haven’t you always wondered how this blog would sound if narrated by Henry Kissinger?)

But to professional organizers, shredding has the magical properties of alchemy. Instead of turning base metals into gold, shredding turns the fodder for identity theft into Kryptonite, keeping our privacy safe and our data secure.

Last week, we talked about why I feel stampers are inferior to shredders in almost every practical regard, and we’ve discussed time and again how protecting your identity by shredding sensitive documents is key to organizing your financial life.

Yet many people still aren’t shredding. There are two main reasons why those who know they should shred, don’t shred:

• They don’t know what to shred.
• They don’t have a way to shred.

To conquer the first, consult a strong records retention schedule and shred whatever documents no longer need to be retained and which contain personally identifying information. Today’s post addresses the second conundrum.

DO IT YOURSELF

In most cases, consistent use of a medium-sized shredder for your home office or small business should suffice to keep the backlog at bay and keep your papers from piling up. If you don’t yet have a shredder, or are in the market for a new one, some of the basic things to consider are:

Shred Size — You want a cross-cut or micro-cut shredder. The older style strip-cut shredders offer less protection against prying eyes. Cross-cut shredders reduce your paper to hanging chads. Micro-cut shredders pulverize papers even more finely, but may be overkill (in terms of both function and cost) for personal use.

Capacity — There are three key criteria:

1) How many sheets of paper can you feed at one time? While shredders are generally rated by number of sheets shredded contemporaneously, Paper Doll believes many manufacturers are a bit too optimistic in self-reporting. Aim for the highest capacity shredder in your budget range.

2) How much paper can you load in any session without the motor pooping out on you? This won’t generally be listed on the box, so take some time to read user reviews at Amazon and elsewhere online.

3) What else can you shred besides paper? While not everyone will have a need to destroy CDs/DVDs, the shredder you select should, at the very least, be able to handle stapled paper and credit cards.

Ease of Use — The main concerns are an adequate-width feeder and an easy-to-empty receptacle or bin. The nicest shredders have a removable bin that slides out like a drawer or tips out like a laundry chute, but these tend to be more expensive than the budget versions, where the shredding mechanism lifts off to reveal a metal or rubber receptacle. Avoid the low-rent shredders that only provide a mechanism to set atop a trash can — these are usually ill-fitting, poorly balanced and lead to a flurry of shreds on your carpet.

Aesthetics — While the design of a shredder shouldn’t be your main concern, an overly noisy or ugly shredder may be a deal breaker. Whenever possible, test a friend’s shredder or ask a sales associate help you test a floor model. The noise a shredder makes isn’t exactly pleasant, but some have more vibration or grinding than others.

Features — Any decent shredder should have an auto-start function, such that as long as your shredder is turned on, you should be able to insert documents to shred. A “forward” function keeps the motor running whether you are shredding or not. The “reverse” function is important for helping you clear paper jams quickly, especially when you feel immediate friction and realize you’re trying to shred too much paper at once.

Size Matters

Clients purchase desktop mini-shredders in hopes that the small size and convenience of easier access will make them more inclined to routinely shred junk mail. However, I find most desktop shredders lack the gravitas needed to handle daily work.

One inconvenient aspect is that the feeders tend to be too small for ease of usability. Typical mail is 8 1/2″ wide, but even smaller paper generally has to be folded in order to fit into desktop feeders. Perhaps Paper Doll is spoiled, but the ability to shred a short stack of 5 or 8 pieces of paper without having to fold or spindle in order to mutilate is essential.

Mini-shredders are not designed for power-shredding, but even applying relaxed standards, they still tend to overheat quickly, either from lumpy paper gumming up the works or over-exhaustion. One major desktop shredder notes, as a feature, that the shredder “runs for 8 minutes on before needing 80 min off for down time”. Eight minutes of service, followed by an hour and twenty minutes of rest? Nice work if you can get it!

One client aptly described the desktop shredder that she returned it to the store: “It’s cute, but compared to a regular shredder, it’s kinda like an Easy-Bake Oven vs. a regular stove.”

Size REALLY Matters

For anyone with some extra cash lying around and a quirky decorating sense, Pigeontail Design’s Papervore Coffee Table offers an intriguing, outsized shredding solution.

Measuring 31 inches wide by 16 inches deep by 15 1/2 inches high, the hand-cranked Papervore is made of bent powdercoated aluminum with a mahogany and oak shelf. The fully-removable shredding receptacle is acrylic. (Watch the Papervore video.)

The Papervore has a big personality, and an even bigger footprint. It might be for you if you’d be delighted to have an ever-changing kaleidoscope of colors (depending on what you shred) as part of your dcor.

Of course, the main appeal of a shredder is that it does all the work for you, so if you’re the type of person who eschews using a pepper mill, stick with traditional, electric-powered shredders. (If mini-shredders are Easy-Bake Ovens, the Papervore is a stylish hand-cranked Model T Ford.)

CALL THE PROFESSIONALS

No matter how great a shredder you have, there may be times when your device is not up to an enormous job. In those instances, you might want to turn to a professional document destruction company.

When one of my clients and I processed her elderly mother’s home, we ended up with dozens of cardboard boxes filled with thirty years’ worth of documents containing personally identifying information. Even with the best of personal shredders, it would have taken eons to shred. Instead, we consulted the National Association for Information Destruction and searched their database for certified member companies in our locale that could shred efficiently and cost-effectively.

Document destruction companies generally offer services via two methods. Customers can have their confidential documents shredded on-site at their homes or offices via mobile shredding trucks. The company will shred documents in front of you, in the truck, at your location, and provide you with a certificate of destruction. Most companies also offer an office drop-off service, wherein customers bring their boxes of paper to be shredded; this option often costs somewhat less.

SHOW SOME COMMUNITY SPIRIT

Some people have too much paper for a home shredder, but not enough to rationalize using a professional document destruction company. Luckily, widespread support of anti-identity theft efforts has led to the popularity of free shredathons.

These community events tend to be sponsored by credit unions and hometown banks, legal service companies, law enforcement agencies and shredding companies. Some government agencies do a great job in spreading the word about events. For example, the Washington State Office of the Attorney General keeps citizens apprised with calendars and maps of statewide shredding events. Similarly, some document destruction companies promote community shred event participation on their web sites. For example, national document destruction company Pro-Shed posts their community shredding events, while Shred-It lists Canadian and U.S. community shred events and offers a toll-free number (1-877-60 SHRED) to find local events.

Unfortunately, there’s no central clearinghouse for shredathons, so you’ll have to be creative and diligent in your searches. Try calling some of the better known document destruction companies in your community to ask if they are participating in any upcoming community shreds events. Also, consider setting a Google Alert with the name of your community and the word “shred” or “shredathon” in the search parameters, and have appropriate searches emailed to you.

SPARE SOME CHANGE

If there are no upcoming community shredding events in your area, but you don’t have oodles of paper to shred, there’s finally a convenient and relatively inexpensive consumer option available. Office Depot has developed their Document Shredding While You Wait program.

For 99 cents per pound, you can bring in a container of papers to any participating retail location, and your papers will be shredded while you wait, after which you will receive a certificate of destruction. They are also able to shred stapled documents, credit cards and CDs/DVDs. For an additional price, they can scan your documents to CD prior to shredding, if you’d prefer to go digital.

If you don’t live in an area served by Office Depot or an affordable document destruction company, ShredNations’ Express Paper Destruction Service also offers the option of shipping your shred-able paper to them at limited cost or effort. You fill out an online form, print a Fed-Ex label and affix it to a box of papers, either up to thirty pounds for one price, or up to 65 pounds for a second pricing level.

ShredNations arranges for the pick-up, shreds the papers and forwards you a certificate of destruction. Costs vary slightly by distance from service locations. For example, Paper Doll can send up to 30 pounds of papers for $31.96 (including shipping from Chattanooga). Up to 65 pounds would cost $47.27, distinctly less per pound than even Office Depot would charge!

Finally, Paper Doll should note that it is almost impossible to write about shredding without hearing the John Hiatt song Shredding the Documents on an endless loop in my head. Feel free to hum along.

Some of the best ideas come from readers. Not long ago, E. emailed to say:

I recently found out there are stampers available that are supposed to obliterate your address and allow you to recycle paper that would ordinarily be shredded.

E. asked if I might review the various stampers for quality, and even provided links to multiple products like Plus ID Guard Stamp, XStamper’s Secure Stamp and ExcelMark’s Theft Protection Stamp) in case I might have an opinion on features or brands.

As I drafted my reply, I apologized in advance, because I knew my answer was probably not the one E. wanted to hear. More than anything, these stampers reminded me of the Unitasker Wednesday feature on Erin Doland’s excellent Unclutterer blog. They do one thing only, and not as well as an obvious alternative.

STAMPER VS. SHREDDER

First, I generally wondered under what conditions might one want to use a stamper to make a piece of paper recyclable, when shredding a piece of paper would accomplish the same thing with no fear of a reversal of the process (as happens with check washing). A good cross-cut shredder makes it impossible to recreate the original document’s information (and therefore, renders the paper useless to identity thieves, corporate espionage workers or the spies on Chuck), whereas inks can often be removed by an industrious thief.

Next, putting aside the question of recycling, I wondered under what circumstances I’d advise using a black-out stamper rather than a shredder to maintain the integrity of some of the written material, while making the rest opaque. This is done well by various governments, for example, when portions of documents are redacted to protect an individual’s privacy or to maintain classified information:

  

Nowadays, the government redacts documents electronically. Just as Paper Doll might use the highlighting function with a yellow background, one can redact the digital text with a black background like so:  I bet you’re wondering what this says. 

However, I’m dubious that this is a product that those of us not involved in government service or responsible for top secret information would find useful or help us be more productive. It’s far more likely that if we want to keep a document, we’ll want to see all of it, and if we no longer need it, we’ll be willing to destroy it in full.

I noted to E. that an address is a matter of public record, so obliterating it, alone (when there’s no Social Security or account number to hide), does little for protection against identity theft. Anyone can generally access that data as a matter of course via Google, SpokeO or any of a variety of search engines.

Finally, the idea of hand-stamping each convenience check sent by banks and credit card companies is exhausting. Feeding a short stack into the shredder and letting it nibble up 12 checks (and the accompanying hard-sell tactics) at one time seems eminently more appealing.

DO STAMPERS WORK?

Beyond the relative merits of shredders vs. stampers, there are practical considerations raised. I have three initial concerns:

1) Washability — A common type of fraud is check washing, where ink is removed from checks with the application of simple solvents like isopropanol or acetone, such as is found in nail polish remover. There are relatively few commercial inks that are not “washable”, which is why there is so much concern about check washing for identity theft purposes.

If a typical dye-based ink is used in the stamp ink, a determined thief can access the information below. Check washing, itself, can be averted by using gel-based inks that are not washable, but the makers of identity protection stampers don’t generally make known the contents of their inks, so it’s difficult to judge the merits of their formulas.

2) Adherence — At least one of the major brands even admits that their ink will not adhere to glossy paper, which eliminates the ability to obscure names and addresses from magazines covers, which are generally labeled electronically directly on the magazines, rather than on adhesive labels.

One of the major stamp manufacturer’s web sites states:

*May not adhere to all surfaces.
Not recommended for use on the following surfaces: Sealed postcards, coated paper, glossy paper and photo paper.

3) Security of Obscurity — The purpose of the ink is to obscure the text beneath. Even if the ink cannot be washed or wiped off, stamper ink is not exactly akin to blocking Superman’s X-ray vision with lead. Application of different wavelengths of light can render the obscured text visible. Sometimes, even a flashlight or light table (such as is used for viewing negatives or slides) will work.

One of the better-selling brands of privacy stamps promotes the product by saying, “Specially formulated ink ensures that addresses will not bleed through.” However, in an online review, a user states that she:

Another review of the same product stated that that ink could be wiped off glossy pages within 24 hours.

Treated paper (i.e., anything that is not fibrous, allowing the ink to soak into the paper), in general, can’t be easily sullied by stampers. So, the inking won’t obliterate information on glossy paper, and though it may do so on things like contracts or other legal or financial paperwork, a diligent identity thief might be able to wash the ink and get at the desired information. And again, if the written information were of a sensitive enough nature to keep private, you’d likely want to keep it intact in a safe deposit box or shred it completely once you no longer needed to maintain the complete document.

So, we’ve generally come full circle. Except…

A CAVEAT: PAPER DOLL‘S SHORTSIGHTEDNESS

When I originally replied to E.’s letter, I was thinking inside the (paper) box. Although E. did not state it, further research indicates to me that she might have been concerned about the wisdom of recycling shredded paper. According to Ecocycle.org, there are some lesser-known drawbacks to shredding:

• The length of a paper fiber determines its value, because longer fibers can be used to manufacture higher-grade papers and can be recycled more times. Thus, the tiny confetti-esque bits of cross-cut paper that do so much to protect our privacy aren’t necessarily stellar with regard to protecting the environment.
• The paper mills that purchase paper for the recycling process must do a “quality sort” before sending paper on to the giant paper-munching machines. Because it’s difficult to judge the quality of the smallest bits, they are often discarded and sent to landfills rather than processed for recycling.
• Recycling facilities often use filters to remove non-fibrous contaminants (like chunks of dirt, metal or plastic). Although this improves the end-quality of the recycled paper, due to the small size of shredded paper, the tiniest bits may be grabbed by the filters and discarded rather than recycled.

Because of these issues, it’s true that some communities will not recycle shredded paper, and some environmentally-minded consumers prefer not to shred if the paper can’t be recycled. However, other communities are happy to accept shredded paper to mix with other low-quality paper supplies. And, of course, Corporate America must, by virtue of operational security and various types of legislation, shred paper, such that document destruction companies like Shred Nations report recycling 10,000 tons of shredded paper each month.

Given the above, Paper Doll believes that if we did have to choose between ensuring high-quality protection against identity theft (via shredding) which might make recycling more difficult, and a lower-quality protection (via stamping) with what seems to be a negligible benefit in the enormity of the recycling process, shredding beats stamping. No contest.

However, as with most things, there is a middle ground to consider. First, check to see if your community is able to recycle the shredded paper you discard — you may be pleasantly surprised. Second, residential shredding refuse is minimal compared to that used by businesses, meaning that the impact of shredding your household’s documents is a drop in the ocean compared to the impact of big business.

If you are concerned enough about the environment to be considering stampers in lieu of shredding for environmental reasons, why not contact local business-oriented document destruction companies in your area to see whether they currently recycle the paper they collect and shred?

SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES

Let’s say you were thinking about donating a magazine to a medical office, hospice or homeless shelter, or somewhere else where a number of persons unknown to you would have the opportunity to view your name and address. While the likelihood of opportunistic identity theft is always greater than zero, it’s easily avoided. Before donating magazines, simply cut out the address label portion. It prevents people from knowing your name and address if all they have is the magazine, and always works, unlike the stampers, which will not work on glossy or film-based paper. The reverse of the cover page is almost always an advertisement, eliminating any chance you’ll reduce the next reader’s enjoyment.

Sometimes, you might wish to obscure personal data in order to post scans or photos of mail or documents to a blog or website. If you’re involved in these types of creative endeavors, I’d encourage you to scan the item first, then use photo software or applications (like MS Paint or iPhoto) to “spray-paint” and blur or cover the data you want hidden.

SUMMARY

Going back to E.’s original inquiry then, I maintain that there’s relatively little reason to obscure information like a name and address, anyway, but no matter how remotely sensitive the information you hope to conceal might be, identity protection stampers seem like a particularly weak and non-permanent solution. In essence, then, Paper Doll feels that a simple, portable and less expensive option, a black Sharpie, will succeed in doing all that these stampers can (if you’re merely trying to hide information from a casually curious observer), while a decent shredder will provide so much more protection against any intentional ne’er-do-well.

It’s a rarity that Paper Doll speaks ill of a product; I usually keep silent if I don’t have anything positive to say. But, because I was asked, I have to say that I found little to endear me to privacy stamps. However, I invite readers to comment and let me know if you think I might be off-base. Please feel free to stamp out my opinion, and share your own.

 

Click on a state or province for detailed information regarding the EDL registration process. The fees indicated are for the cost of the EDL only, unrelated to other license-related charges:

Vermont     $25
New York    $30
Michigan     $45
Washington $15

Quebec (where it’s known as Driver’s License Plus) $0
Ontario             $40
Manitoba           $30
British Columbia $35

What Documents Will You Need To Apply?

For American citizens:

1) Proof of Social Security Number — Bring any one of the following: your Social Security card, a W-2 or 1099, or a pay stub containing both your name and Social Security number.

In New York State, a first-time applicant will need to show an actual Social Security card.

In Michigan, a military ID with photo (DD2, DD1173, or CAC card) will also serve as proof of Social Security number.

2) Proof of U.S. Citizenship — Have your original or certified birth certificate (the kind with the raised, bumpy seal), OR an unexpired passport, OR a U.S. Certificate of Citizenship (Forms N-560 or N-561), OR a Certificate of Naturalization (Forms N-550 or N-570 or N578) OR a Consular Report of Birth Abroad issued by the U.S. Department of State (FS-240, DS-1350 or FS-545).

If the name on your certificate of birth, citizenship or naturalization doesn’t match the name on your Social Security card or other supporting documents, you’ll also have to bring proof of a legalized name change — for example, a marriage certificate, a divorce decree or a court order of name change.

3) Proof of Identity — You’ll need either a driver’s license (current or expired within the past three years), an out of state driver’s license, an unexpired passport or passport card, a federal, state or municipal government-issued photo ID card, or a valid military photo ID card.

In Michigan, a tribal photo ID from a federally recognized Native American tribe will also serve as proof of identity.

New York has a complicated system of points to prove identity, with different forms of documentation, from jury notices to pistol permits, each providing one to six points of proof toward the required total of six.

4) Proof of Residency — Each state has different requirements:

Vermont: Bring two pieces of mail addressed to you by name (Resident/Occupant won’t cut it) at your current street address. If you only use a post office box, you can alternatively show a utility or property tax bill showing your name and the street address, a lease or landlord statement, a Vermont EBT or AIM ID card, or a proof of a claim or coverage statement from your renter’s or homeowner’s insurance company.

New York: Show any two of the following:
–New York State license, learner’s permit, or a non-driver photo ID
–Original credit card statement on letterhead issued within the last 120 days
–Bank statement issued within the last 120 days
–Utility bill with name and address issued within the last 120 days
–Proof of current mortgage
–Federal or New York State Income Tax W-2 (with SSN) issued within the last year
–Current proof of homeowner’s/renter’s insurance policy or claim
–A New York State Professional License (medical, nursing, accounting, etc.)
–Federal or New York State Income Tax or Earning Statement (1099, 1098)

Michigan: Bring two of the following:
–Utility bill or credit card bill issued within the last 90 days*
–Account statement from a bank or financial institution issued within the last 90 days*
*Unlike in New York, where original letterhead is required, Michigan allows printouts of electronic copies for both of the above options.
–Michigan high school, college or university report cards or transcripts
–Mortgage, lease or rental agreement (Leases must include landlord’s phone number)
–Pay stub or earnings statement with the name and address of the employer
–Life, health, auto or home insurance policy
–Federal, state or local government documents (e.g., receipts, licenses or assessments) identifying the name and address)
–Michigan property or asset title or registration

Washington — Show any one of the following documents:
–Concealed weapons permit
–Homeowner’s insurance policy or invoice with address of the insured property or residence
–Home utility bill or hook-up work order dated within the past 60 days
–Mortgage documents
–Property tax bill or statement dated within the past 12 months
–Your name and address in a current phone book made by a telephone book publisher
–Moorage bill or contract showing that you live on a boat in a marina
–Federal or state government agency-issued check
–Tribal ID that contains your current resident address
–A filed property deed or title for your current residence

If you don’t have any of the above documents, the state of Washington will also allow you to provide two of the items from a lengthy list provided here, including a report card or transcript from an educational institution in Washington, making the process easier for older teens who still may live at home but not pay bills or even have jobs.

Canadian citizens will generally need a provincial birth certificate or Canadian citizenship document, a Canadian or U.S. driver’s license, and one other form of identification (though not proof of provincial residency), a well as, in some cases, a completed provincial questionnaire.

What’s So Enhanced About an Enhanced Driver’s License?

U.S. Customs and Border Protection worked work in tandem with individual states and provinces to develop a secure, tamper-resistant card that, like the passport and Trusted Traveler cards we discussed last week, have vicinity radio frequency identification (RFID) capability. The same RFID technology that lets you pay tolls electronically enables a machine to read data from a wireless “tag” without making any physical contact or even requiring a direct line of sight. (Vicinity just means that the machines that read the data can be up to 20-30 feet from the card.)

If it all works properly, travelers should be able to get into the right customs lane, point their card towards the RFID reader, and quickly advance with minimal fuss. The machines read the RFID chip, and wirelessly-accessed information from the chip signals the database. Then, biographical information, a photo, and the results of terrorist/criminal checks are displayed to the Customs and Border Patrol officer as your vehicle pulls up to the inspection booth. In theory, he or she can see the results quickly, focus on the people in the car, and assess the situation for (hopefully) faster processing.

Does an Enhanced Driver’s License Make Sense for You?

Obviously, unless you live in a state or province that currently allows for an EDL, the point is moot. If an enhanced driver’s license is available where you live, then the question is one of economics and convenience. Some things to ask (and remember, if you travel by air, you must use a passport book.):

Do you travel frequently enough to Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean or Bermuda (by land or sea) to make it worth paying the fee for an enhanced driver’s license?

If not, would a passport card suffice for occasional travel needs? (Or, do you already have a passport which you don’t find inconvenient to carry when traveling?)

If so, do you travel so frequently that it’s worth the upfront financial and time investment (including the interview process) to get a NEXUS or SENTRI card?

Bon voyage!

Growing up in Buffalo, Paper Doll cheerfully recalls taking jaunts across the U.S.-Canadian border on a whim. When visitors wanted to see Niagara Falls, or if we had a craving for Chinese food in Fort Erie, Ontario, or we just had a hankering for the best candy bar ever invented 

we needed only to gas up the car and head over the Peace Bridge.

Traveling is more complicated these days. As a result of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (IRTPA), the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) began requiring that all American and Canadian travelers present passports or other citizenship/identification documents when entering the United States. In theory, the WHTI is supposed to strengthen border security by allowing the Department of Homeland Security to reliably identify all travelers while facilitating entry for U.S. citizens and legitimate foreign visitors.

However, once the WHTI went into effect on June 1, 2009 (for land and sea travel — for air travel, it had already been active in 2007), life changed dramatically for those living along the borders. While it had often been a slow and complex task to cross back into the United States from Mexico, Americans recall fondly their ability to spend summer afternoons in Canada and cross home without effort.

In the past, we’ve discussed how to get, renew and replace a passport, one of the truly vital VIPs (Very Important Papers) at our disposal. But there are actually some other incredibly useful documents that work as alternatives to, or in addition to, the U.S. passport.

PASSPORT CARDS

Passport cards, which have been in existence since July 2008, are similar in many ways to traditional passport books, but are less expensive and smaller (and therefore, more convenient); however, their use for travel purposes is more limited.

Passport books are valid for all international travel — by air, sea or land — and are good for 10 years (for adults, or five years for minors under 16). They measure 5″ x 3 1/3″ when closed, and currently cost $100 ($75 plus a $25 application fee) — new — or $75 to replace.

By comparison, the new passport cards are valid only when entering the United States
from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda, and are valid only at land border crossings or sea ports-of-entry. You cannot use a passport card for international travel by air. The cards are wallet-sized, similar to credit or library cards. New cards cost only $45 ($20 plus the $25 application fee) and cost $20 to renew.

Adults who already have a passport book that’s been renewed within the last 15 years can get a passport card for a teeny $20 (and no application fee). If you jointly apply for a first-time passport book and passport card, you’ll save $25 and pay a single application fee.

Like the new passport books, passport cards have vicinity-read radio frequency identification (RFID) chips embedded within them to prevent forgeries, and application times run the same as for passport books.

Wouldn’t it would be nice if you were visiting friends in Washington State or Michigan or New York State and someone suggested a quick day trip to Vancouver or Windsor or Niagara Falls, if you could jump into the car and go? After all, few of us travel domestically with our passports. If you live anywhere close to the Canadian or Mexican borders, or are far more likely to visit border communities than travel abroad, a passport card makes spontaneous wanderlust a little more convenient.

If you don’t already have a passport book or card, you can apply for just the passport card at any of the 9400 passport acceptance facilities. (It’s likely that your nearest post office is on the list.) You’ll need all the same documentation you’d provide if applying for a passport, and will have to fill out a DS-11 form.

If you already have a passport book and just need a passport card, or wish to renew your passport while acquiring a passport card, you’ll want form DS-82 — fill out the online version or print out the application to mail with your documentation.

TRUSTED TRAVELER PROGRAMS

The Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) has created special cards, separate from the passport card, as part of the new Trusted Traveler Programs. These card programs include NEXUS and SENTRI.

Applicants have to submit to a thorough background check, fingerprinting (inky!) and an in-person interview, but the cards help you access dedicated commuter lanes and skip past the long customs lines. So, a little inconvenience and cost up front will free up hours of standing in line over the course the coming years. This is great for frequent business travelers, people who live on one side of the border but work on the other side, and divorced parents attempting to make cross-border weekend custody hand-offs no more stressful than the ubiquitous McDonald’s playground exchanges.

NEXUS

NEXUS is a joint U.S.-Canadian program that was designed to enable “low-risk”, pre-approved travelers to cross the border quickly–via air, sea or land. Whether you travel for business or pleasure, as a member of the NEXUS program, you’re allowed to skip long border entry points by using self-serve computerized airport kiosks (similar to the kiosks you’ve probably already used for checking in). There are also special NEXUS reserved lanes at land (drive-across) border crossings. For members crossing by boat, there’s a special phone system to make contact with border officials.

If you frequently cross the U.S.-Canadian border, you’ll still need to have a passport (book or card), but a NEXUS card, available for just $50 (once you apply and are approved) will speed your travels and make it much easier for you to get back to business (or fun) without waiting in long lines or idling in traffic lanes. (The $50 fee is waived for applicants under 18.)

To qualify for NEXUS, you must be an American citizen or a permanent resident of either Canada or the United States, and you must have lived continuously in either the U.S. or Canada for at least the past three years. For applicants under 18, both parents must grant written consent.

Obviously, to be approved, you must be legally admissible to both the U.S. and Canada (having complied with all the immigration and customs rules during prior travel), and you can’t have a single conviction on your record. (So, if you were convicted for trespass for protesting Apartheid in the 1980’s or were caught streaking in the 1970’s, there will be no speedy U.S.-Canadian travel for you!) After passing the initial investigation, applicants are interviewed in person and documents proving identity and admissibility are physically verified. Finally, if approved, applicants submit to being photographed, fingerprinted and, if they wish to use the NEXUS card for air travel, have their irises scanned. Whew.

Once approved, NEXUS member cards are valid for five years from the birthday following issuance. You have to start the renewal process about six months prior to expiration, which requires another interview to ascertain that you still qualify. (Yep, your streaking days are over!)

Submit applications (in English or French) online via the Global Online Enrollment System (GOES) or begin your enrollment in person at any of 24 enrollment centers in the U.S. or Canada, mainly at airports, sea ports and bridges. Although online applications are preferable, you may also print out the application.
 
Once you set up an account, GOES allows registered users to apply for any of the Trusted Traveler Programs. The CBP processes payment and certifies the application, and if membership is conditionally approved, the GOES account gets updated with instructions for scheduling an appointment for a NEXUS interview. (Note: every member of a household, children included, must have his or her own GOES account.) If everything goes according to plan, your NEXUS card will be mailed to you. To activate the card, you’ll go back to the GOES page to enter data from the card and verify receipt.

SENTRI

Like the NEXUS card, a Secure Electronic Network for Travelers Rapid Inspection, or SENTRI, card will speed your travels, and may be the right choice for you if you’re a frequent traveler between the U.S. and Mexico. SENTRI is pricier then NEXUS — the SENTRI card costs about $122.25, but generally operates in the same manner.

However, unlike NEXUS, SENTRI can only be used for arriving in the U.S. via land and sea; it can’t be used for speeding access to air travel. That’s because, unlike NEXUS, which is jointly operated by the CBP and the Canada Border Services Agency, only the CBP oversees SENTRI–Mexican authorities do not participate in oversight.

To apply for the SENTRI program, set up an account (as described in the NEXUS section) with GOES and apply in English or Spanish. You can also fill out a Form 823S and submit it at any of the SENTRI enrollment centers in Arizona, California, and Texas.

Remember, you still have to carry your actual passport when traveling internationally; the NEXUS and SENTRI cards merely speed the process.

Organized travel begins with organized paperwork. It makes sense to apply for passports and passport cards even before you have travel destinations in mind, so that if you ever win an all-expense paid trip to Montreal or Vancouver, Guadalajara or Puerto Vallarta, you’ll be ready. And, if your life makes you a frequent traveler to our nearest neighbors, consider whether your time is worth a little investment and investigation. 

Happy traveling!

Nobody knows in America…
Puerto Rico’s in America!

~”America”, West Side Story, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

Anyone who has sat through fourth grade Social Studies, or who has ever paid attention to the lyrics of West Side Story, knows that people born in Puerto Rico (or, indeed, any of America’s territories, including Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Northern Mariana Islands) are American citizens.

What you may not know is that effective July 1, 2010, just one month from now, per Puerto Rico’s Law 191 of 2009, the birth certificates of everyone born in Puerto Rico will become null and void…and they will all have to get new ones. That means you, Rita Moreno, Jos Feliciano, Ricky Martin and Benicio del Toro!

        

Here at Paper Doll, we’ve often discussed the importance of VIPs (Very Important Papers) and how to find replacement documents. But why new birth certificates? Is everyone on La Isla del Incanto (The Island of Enchantment) having a collective New Age-y rebirth?

Actually, according to a March story on NPR that explains the issue in some detail, the current system for use of birth certificates has been rife with problems, leaving Puerto Rico-born citizens vulnerable to identity theft of grand proportions, including destroyed credit histories and stolen Social Security benefits. It has also been the basis of 40% of passport application fraud cases investigated by the U.S. Department of State.

Here, if we are asked for proof of birth for official reasons, we need to provide an official birth certificate, for which we must pay a fee to some governing entity in the county or municipality where we were born, as we’ve discussed previously. However, to prove our child is old enough to play PeeWee soccer, a non-official photocopy is usually fine and dandy.

In Puerto Rico, various agencies and organizations have generally required submission of actual official birth certificates, causing parents to plunk down $5 each for multiple copies of their children’s birth certificates. Whereas we might have merely had to present copies of official birth certificates for examination, residents of Puerto Rico have been expected to actually leave their originals with the requesting parties. Kenneth McClintock Hernandez, Puerto Rico’s Secretary of State, says Puerto Ricans acquire an average of twenty official birth certificates over the course of a lifetime, and according to the text of the explanatory section of the new law, most of these certificates are usually for entirely non-governmental, unofficial purposes.

As media coverage has noted, this means that in addition to official government agencies, everyone from schools to athletic coaches to music teachers to summer camps have possession of multitudes of unguarded birth certificates. In fact, the new legislation is, in part, resulting from March 2009 arrests related to a crime ring stealing thousands of birth certificates from elementary and secondary school files throughout Puerto Rico. The purloined certificates would have been sold on the black market, at a rate currently valued at upwards of $10,000 per document!

The new Law Prohibiting Public and Private Entities from Retaining, Storing, or Holding Certified Copies of Birth Certificates, enacted this past December, amends the Law on Vital Statistics, such that, as of July 1, 2010:

–Every birth certificate registered in Puerto Rico prior to 7/1/2010 will be invalidated and (upon request) will be replaced by a new one; and
–No individual will be allowed to receive or stockpile official birth certificates other than their own (or those of family members for whom they are legal guardians)

To apply for a new birth certificate online, go to http://www.pr.gov/gprportal/inicio and then click on the Certificado de Nacimiento link. You’ll be able to securely upload a scan of any valid government-issued photo identification document (in .jpeg, .jpg or .pdf format), such as a passport or driver’s license, pay by credit card (Visa or MasterCard only) and receive an electronic receipt.

To apply by mail from outside of Puerto Rico:

• Print out and fill in the form at this link
• Enclose a $5.00 Money Order payable to Secretary of the Treasury
• Enclose a photocopy of a valid government-issued photo ID document, such as a passport or driver’s license
• Enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope
• Mail the form and money order to:

• If you want to use a premium delivery service, such as FedEx or UPS, send the same paperwork to:

The new birth certificates will start being mailed as of July 1, 2010. They will have no expiration date, and residents of Puerto Rico will no longer be required to submit multiple original “official” copies of birth certificates for common transactions.

Although new birth certificates will cost $5, the fee will be waived for anyone over the age of 60 and for veterans (who will have to present their Department of Defense Form 214 – Discharge Papers and Separation Documents – which we’ve discussed previously).

If you were born in Puerto Rico for any reason, whether because your family was living there or temporarily visiting (on vacation, residing on a military base, etc.), you’ll need to get a new birth certificate eventually, to apply for a passport or to register for Social Security benefits. Also, although not all states require birth certificates to apply for a new driver’s license, many states, including Florida, Oregon, Maryland, Utah and Indiana, as a result of the REAL ID Act of 2005, have recently changed their regulations to require birth certificates as part of the application process.

But don’t worry, there’s no rush. If you’re not traveling or applying for anything official in the near term, consider making a note on your calendar to apply at the end of the summer, after the big rush has subsided.

Finally, Puerto Rican authorities have been concerned that this new law has not received ample media coverage. If you know someone who was born in Puerto Rico, please chat about this, and if you encounter anyone not familiar with the new law, please pass this post or any of the appropriate links along to them. Oh, and if you know Rita or Jos, Ricky or Benicio, please tell them hello from Paper Doll.

~~~

Speaking of vital documents, including passports, did you know there is an alternative to the traditional passport book that is less expensive, less cumbersome, and still enables you to return to the U.S. from land and sea trips in Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean?  And might you be interested in cards that are somewhat more expensive, but let you skip long customs checkpoints at airports?

Next week, we’ll be discussing some important alternative travel documents that will help you save time and money. Until then, happy June!