Aren’t passports good for 10 years?
Maybe NOW they are, but from a bit I've read, it appears that during the 1940s-1960s, with Cold War tensions growing, the government might have kept a close eye on certain people who wanted to travel abroad, and consequently required the passport applications to be scrutinized closely, and renewed at closer intervals. The playwright Arthur Miller reportedly had problems with passport renewal, and I believe Richard Wright did also. So for that period, a passport that required review and renewal more often would seem to make sense.
http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1999/5/12/miller-tells-of-crucible-origins-parthur/
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/the_tls/article4112123.ece
My last two have been valid for ten years. The ones before that were only valid for five years. The passports my kids got when they were less than 18 years old were also only valid for five years.
ML/NJ
“Aren’t passports good for 10 years?”
Only since 1982. From 1959 through August 1968, original passports were only issued for three years, and they could be renewed for an additional two years.
See 22 USC Sec. 217a
http://uscode.house.gov/download/pls/22C4.txt
Thus, as seen on P1, Ann’s passport was originally issued on July 19, 1965, was renewed three years later in 1968, and the renewal extended the passport through July 18, 1970.
Then yes. Now no.
NOT 40 years ago, max 5!!!