TWIC and passport questions

That is not correct, at least not any longer. I have to obtain my CDL before I can apply for the HazMat clearance/cert/ID whateverthehell it is, else I would have done it yesterday as well.

 

Once you get your CDL permit, you have to go to the fingerprint office -- or in my case, the DMV, which took my fingerprints on the spot -- and get that done. You pay 80 bucks or so and they take your prints on an electronic scanner. Then they send the fingerprints out to get checked. Once you pass the fingerprint/background check, you are cleared to take the HAZMAT test.

The clerk at my DMV said that they know within a few days if a person passes the fingerprint check and is approved, but that it can take up to four weeks for the TSA to generate a letter telling you that you have passed and can come take the test. She said check back in a few days. I checked back in three days and was approved and took the HAZMAT test that day. A week later, I got the letters, one from TSA and another from the DMV, telling me I was cleared to take the test.

 

When I got my new passport, I also got a passport card, which is the nearly the same as a passport except that it's driver's-license-sized and fits in your wallet and is only to be used for surface entry (by land and water) into neighboring countries, which is what a commercial driver would need for entry into Canada.

The actual passport is good for air travel across the globe.
You can apply for a passport card when you apply for a passport and pay the appropriate additional fee.

 

Exactly, I did the same thing and just carried the card with me to the TWIC application office.

 

I just remembered, if you apply for the HazMat and the TWIC at the same time, you will receive a discount, $67 vs. $86.50 for the HazMat.

 

It will be interesting to know if you get the same answer I did. What I know to be true and fact, is that you cannot pre-enroll online for the HazMat without a CDL, if you do not have a CDL number to provide, you cannot progress in the process, you cannot enroll.

 

Yes, I do have a TWIC and yes the expiration dates differ. I was offered the option to have the expiration dates the same but I opted not to.