All U.S. passports now have chip to help stave off fraud

Question: It’s been a while since I got a new passport, and now they are putting some sort of chip or something. Is it possible to get just a regular old-style passport?

Answer: No, according to the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs.

Since August 2007 the United States has issued only electronic passports, also known as e-passports, which have a small integrated circuit (“chip”) embedded in the back cover. Passport applicants may not request that the chip be left out, according to the bureau’s website.

The bureau describes the chip as a security and antifraud feature that stores:

>> A digital version of the information displayed on the passport’s photo page.

>> A biometric identifier, which is a characteristic that can be used to verify an individual’s identity or be compared with other entries in a database. Examples of biometrics include facial recognition, fingerprints and iris scans. The biometric in the passport chip is a digital image of the passport photo, which can be read by facial-recognition technology at airports and other ports of entry to verify the passport bearer’s identity.

>> A unique chip identification number and a digital signature.

Q: Next year I will be renewing my driver’s license. Unfortunately, I can’t find my Social Security card. I have my current Hawaii license, a U.S. passport and my Medicare card, which has my name and Social Security number on it. Would any of those be suitable?

A: Yes, your Medicare ID card should suffice, as long as it is the original card with the suffix A, M, T or TA only, according to the city.

Neither your old license nor your passport is acceptable to verify your Social Security number, which is one of five identifying categories you’ll need to confirm when you renew your license. The other categories are legal U.S. presence, legal name and date of birth (your valid U.S. passport will verify all three), and Hawaii principal residency (your unexpired Hawaii driver’s license and one other document, such as a current vehicle registration, will fulfill this requirement).

Your full name must be the same on all the documents.

Since you asked specifically about verifying your Social Security number, we’ll list several of the ways the city says you can do this. Whatever acceptable document you provide must be “a valid original or certified copy, unexpired, and the entire SSN must be printed” on it, according to the city. Only one of the following documents is required:

>> Social Security card (paper card only; plastic or metal cards are not accepted)

>> A pay stub with your name and SSN printed on it

>> Wage and Tax Statement Form W-2 or 1099R

>> Medicare ID card (original card with suffix A, M, T and TA only)

>> SSA-1099 form

>> Non-SSA-1099 form

>> Military ID card or DD 1173 with photo, name and date or birth, or DD-214 (original document)

We’ll also mention that you may replace your missing Social Security card. For details about that, visit the Social Security Administration’s website at ssa.gov/ssnumber.

E kala mai

I am so, so sorry to the bicyclist I almost hit in the King Street bike lane. … The collision was avoided, so you kept riding and I kept driving. I avoid King Street now. — Regretful motorist

Mahalo

I would like to express a big mahalo to the construction worker who assisted me when my black Toyota Tacoma stalled on Ala Moana Boulevard near the Koko Head entrance to Ala Moana Regional Park on Sept. 29. He noticed that my truck was blocking traffic, so he volunteered (with the assistance of his co-worker) to help me push my truck to the park entrance so that I was no longer blocking the right-hand lane. He identified himself as “Lucky.” Thank you, Lucky! — Nat

Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.