She was born in Illinois and her passport says she was born florida. She has used it, because she didn't see the mistake. Is it a big deal?

I doubt it.

mr_go's previous passport said that he was born in Alaska rather than Arkansas. It was not a problem until it came time to renew...and then, it was simply a matter of faxing in a copy of his birth certificate.

I would call the right department to get it taken care of. The last thing you want is for some delay to occur some day down the road. It may never happen but why take the chance. Plus, it's a government document and should reflect correct information.

Sandi...

how will anyone who runs a passport check KNOW what state the person was born in if the data base which generated the passport is incorrect in the first place?

My previous passport said that I was born in 951, a thousand years off. It was universally overlooked, except for one occasion the details of which escape me.

In today's climate, I'd say your daughter might want to follow up and have it corrected - it always possible that there is a woman with her name, born in Florida, who will one day commit a crime or in some other way land herself on the no-fly list, or worse.

Few years back as I was coming back to US, the immigration officer asked me where I was born in Poland since he was Polish as well. My US passport has Poland as my place of birth. We talked for few minutes as his birthplace was only few kilometers away from mine. It's always a possibility the immigration officer may ask where in Florida was she born if for no other reason just to find out if it's anywhere near where s/he was born.

I was just stating my opinion. I assume it's possible that no one would ever find out. If they have time to correct then why not do it.

The Shadow knows......

I like the birthdate of 951! Thanks for all the responses, PJ

It is best to get it fixed. An overzealous immigration officer may use it as a reason to put her through a more intense interview. The officers use any indication of a possible fake passport to catch illegals entering the country.

How is the Immigration offical going to know where she's born? There's not a national database of birth locations and the passport agency thinks she was born in Florida. (If I were her I would just ansewer Florida if anyone asks..... I mean my Grandfather got a passport without a Birth Certificate. He was born at home before they did such things and was an orphan. NOT a clue where he was really born LOL!)

I look at the potential problem the same way I look at airline problems (delay, cancellation, lost luggage, etc.). It would be very inconvenient when starting a trip, but much less so if I am heading home. U.S. Immigration will not check the passport until the individual returns to the States.

Hi pj,

>Is it a big deal?

No. Nor would I bother to change it.

My Lady wife's drivers license says that she is a "male".

We went to renew the license.

She showed the clerk the error.

The clerk said it couldn't be changed without some form of ID.

My wife said, "You can see that I am not a man".

Clerk said, "Lady, I have to follow the rules. Next time bring your birth certificate".

Your daugter should be able to say where in FL she was born and that the family moved shortly after.

This is not going to be a problem when she uses the passport to travel. No one outside the US is going to question the state in which she was born, and I very much doubt that the subject will come up with a US immigration officer; in 25 years of dealing with US immigration offices my conversations have consistently entirely of "hello" "goodbye" and "thank you" (but I agree that if asked about living in Florida, she should smile and say “I don’t remember, we moved right after I was born”) The only thing this might be a problem for is a situation in which she has to present two forms of ID (like when applying for a driver’s license) and she presents her passport and birth certificate, and her birthplace does not match. That would be a reason to correct it. If she is traveling soon, I would NOT correct it now, but would do so when you have several weeks (or months) to wait for the new passport. I understand that the passport office is taking 11 weeks or more to issue passports.