The Command Yeoman finally gets around to giving Dan the letter I need. It's a form letter. It would take 5 minutes, if even to create it. It took about 4 weeks to get it. The address is incorrect.
Dan finally gets the DCOM to fill in and sign DD Form 1056. He sends me a color scan, because they're deployed and mail isn't reliable at all.
I print out a copy as well as a copy of the corrected letter. Did I mention our printer broke at this point and all I had access to were black and white printers at work? This isn't going to be a problem is it.....?
June 20th
Manned with my armfuls of paperwork I go off to the passport office. The civilian employee informs me of the following problems with my paperwork:
My name and birthday are not in the orders. Apparently starting October 1, 2013 all military orders are required to include all dependents and their birthdays. Clearly only the passport office knows this considering Dan's orders go through several individuals before they get to him and no one noticed. Anyone else I asked about this had also never heard of it being done.
They will not accept copies of DD Form 1056. It MUST be an original and signed in blue ink. The following conversation occurs:
"I have the scan on my phone. I can show you it's got blue ink."
Can't do it. Has to be an original.
"But my Command is deployed. How am I supposed to get an original?"
Do you know where they are?
"Off the coast of Iraq."
They can mail you the original, but you really should have started this sooner. The passport process takes time and there's a visa you'll have to apply for once it comes in. You're going to be tight on time given your leave date.
EXASPERATED SIGH.
Really you should have asked the Command to have given you this paperwork before they deployed.
"Why would they have done that? We didn't have orders then. Why would I have asked for paperwork I had no idea I would need months before we had orders?"
I MIGHT be able to help get around DD Form 1056, but you REALLY have to have an ordermod and have you name on the orders.
SIGH. "Okay. Thank you."
I'm pretty sure there was a third thing that was wrong or that I was missing. Oh, and that letter? That the Yeoman took 4 weeks to do incorrectly? The passport office doesn't need it and wasn't interested in it. SIGH.
I gather up my paperwork and I leave the passport office. I feel Defeated. Frustrated. Confused. Everything is Stupid. Why is this so hard? You'd think they'd have figured this out by now, considering they do it all the time. I can't possibly be the first Navy spouse to do an overseas move on their own.
I sit in my car. Silly me wants to cry. Rational me wants to punch a window. I do a bit of both.
Passport Attempt FAILED!
I sit in my car. Silly me wants to cry. Rational me wants to punch a window. I do a bit of both.
Passport Attempt FAILED!
The move has been going like this so far:
Unfortunately for me, I did not have a clever solution like Asterix did. It's kind of amusing to me that this part of the movie takes place in Italy. If you aren't familiar with Asterix the Gaul, or this film - Asterix and the 12 Tasks, you should really check them out. They are quite entertaining and full of puns.
