American Citizens Services Newsletter
ACS Newsletter (November 2008)
U.S. Consulate General Hong Kong and Macau
Welcome to the November Newsletter! Here are this month's topics:
New Topics:
Continuing Topics of Interest:
UPCOMING HOLIDAYS
The Consulate General will be closed on the following holidays:
November 11 Veterans Day
November 27 Thanksgiving
IDENTITY THEFT AND TAX RECORDS
Identity theft is a serious crime. People whose identities have been stolen can spend months or years - and their hard-earned money - cleaning up the mess thieves have made of their good name and credit record. In the meantime, victims may lose job opportunities, have loans refused, or even get arrested for crimes they didn't commit.
Generally, identity thieves use someone's personal data to steal his or her financial accounts and run up charges on the victim's existing credit cards, but the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has identified other potential areas where this type of fraud may occur as they relate directly to your tax records
Please note that the IRS does not initiate taxpayer communications through e-mail. The IRS also does not request detailed personal information through e-mail.
For more information, please see http://travel.state.gov/travel/travel_4362.html.
REGISTER TO VOTE
There are still some states where voter registration deadlines have not passed.
Voters who have not yet registered to vote and requested an absentee ballot should complete a Federal Postcard Application (FPCA) on the Federal Voting Assistance Program's website at http://www.fvap.gov. You may also pick up a hard copy of the FPCA from any U.S. Embassy or Consulate.
You should also complete a new Federal Postcard Application if you have moved or changed your name since the last time you voted. FPCA mailing options are listed below. In addition, most states accept the FPCA by fax. Please see http://www.fvap.gov for more information.
REQUESTING ABSENTEE BALLOTS
Many states' deadlines for requesting absentee ballots for the November 4 have not yet passed. A large majority of states accept such requests by fax. The Federal Postcard Application (FPCA) can also be used to request a ballot. This form is available at http://www.fvap.gov.
EMERGENCY BALLOTS
The Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot (FWAB) serves as an emergency ballot for voters who are registered to vote and requested an absentee ballot but that ballot has not yet arrived. You can access the FWAB at http://www.fvap.gov or pick it up at the Consulate. If you receive your state absentee ballot after submitting the FWAB, you can still vote and return the state ballot, as long as it is received by deadline for your state.
STATE BALLOT RETURN DEADLINES
Below is a list of General Election Deadlines for Overseas Citizens and Military stationed in the U.S. and abroad. States appearing twice on the list are indicated with an asterisk. Please also be aware of states with postmark deadlines.
November 3:
Mississippi*, Overseas Citizens, 5pm
North Carolina, 5pm
November 4:
Alabama, 12pm
American Samoa, 1:30pm
Arizona, 7pm
Colorado, 7pm
Connecticut, COP
Delaware, 8pm
Guam, 8pm
Hawaii, COP
Idaho, 8pm
Indiana, COP
Kentucky, COP
Louisiana
Maine, 8pm
Michigan, 8pm
Minnesota, COP
Mississippi*, Overseas Military, 7pm
Missouri, 7pm
Montana, 8pm
Nebraska, COP
Nevada, 7pm
New Hampshire, 5pm
New Jersey, COP
New Mexico, COP
Oklahoma, 7pm
Puerto Rico, 3pm
Rhode Island, 9pm
South Carolina, COP
South Dakota, COP
Tennessee, COP
Virginia, 7pm
West Virginia
Wisconsin*, Overseas Citizens, COP
Wyoming, COP
November 7:
Georgia, postmarked by Nov. 4
North Dakota
November 10:
Iowa, 12pm, postmarked by Nov. 3
Texas, in delivery by Nov. 4
November 11:
New York*, Overseas Citizens, postmarked by Nov. 3 Pennsylvania, postmarked by Nov. 3
November 14:
Arkansas, 5pm
District of Columbia
Florida, 7pm
Maryland, 10am, postmarked by Nov. 4
Ohio
Virgin Islands
Wisconsin*, Military, 5pm, postmarked by Nov. 4 Massachusetts, postmarked Nov. 4
November 17:
New York*, Military, postmarked by Nov. 3
November 18:
Illinois, postmarked by Nov. 3
Utah, 12pm, postmarked by Nov. 3
November 19:
Alaska
November 25:
Washington, oath sign/dated by Nov. 4
"COP" Stands for Close Of Polls.
E-MAILING AND FAXING BALLOTS
Please note that several jurisdictions accept ballots by fax or e-mail.
Jurisdictions which accept ballots by fax are:
Alaska
Arizona
California
Indiana
Kansas
Louisiana
Mississippi
New Jersey
New Mexico
North Dakota
Rhode Island
Virgin Islands
Jurisdictions which accept ballots by e-mail are:
Colorado
District of Columbia
Indiana
Kansas
Mississippi
Montana
Missouri
New Mexico
North Dakota
South Carolina
Washington
Please see http://www.fvap.gov for more information. In addition, the Consulate is able to assist in faxing or e-mailing ballots. You may come by the Consulate during regular business hours for assistance. No appointment is required.
MAILING OPTIONS FOR VOTING MATERIALS
Voters in Hong Kong have a number of options for mailing Federal Postcard Applications, voted state ballots, and Federal Write-in Absentee Ballots to their local election officials in the United States. Mailing addresses for local election officials and state mailing deadlines can be found in the Voting Assistance Guide, available on-line at http://www.fvap.gov.
- First Class Mail: You may mail your Federal Postcard Application or voted ballot to the United States through the Hong Kong Post or Macau Post system, with appropriate international postage. Mail to the U.S. takes approximately 7-10 days.
- FPO Military Mail: FPO mail to the United States leaves daily (M-F) from the Consulate and takes approximately 1-2 days to get to the U.S., mail speed once within the U.S. varies and could take 5-10 days. Voters should have already submitted their ballots to the U.S. Consulate for FPO mail if the ballots must be received by November 4. For those states with a postmark deadline, please come to the Consulate on or before the postmark deadline date. Please see "State Ballot Return Deadlines" above. No postage is required for mailing ballots from the Consulate to the United States.
- Express Courier: Last-minute voters can use express courier services such as FedEx, UPS and DHL to send their voted ballots to all states and territories except Alabama. Express courier companies cannot deliver to post office boxes, so you will need to know the street address of your local voting official in the United States. Mail sent by express courier companies is not postmarked.
Contact information for some local express courier companies follows:
DHL: http://www.dhl.com
Fed Ex: http://www.fedex.com or https://www.overseasvotefoundation.org/overseas/ExpressYourVote.htm, (852) 2730 3333.
Note: In cooperation with the Overseas Vote Foundation, from September 15 to October 29, FedEx will ship voted ballots to the U.S. free from Hong Kong and Macau.
UPS: http://www.ups.com
You may come by the Consulate during regular business hours for assistance. No appointment is required.
ADDING PASSPORT PAGES
If your full-validity U.S. passport has not expired, but has no blank pages left for visas, we can add additional pages for you free of charge. Barring any unusual circumstances, we can usually add pages to your passport in two hours or less. You need to make an appointment for this service. In some cases, you can have a courier assist you in this process. Learn more at "Adding Pages to Your U.S. Passport". The required form is available for download on our website.
A Los Angeles Times article about adding passport pages is available at http://travel.latimes.com/articles/la-tr-spot9mar09.
SUBSCRIBING/UNSUBSCRIBING
Anyone who wishes to sign up to receive this monthly ACS email newsletter and the travel advice we provide can do so simply by going to our web page and submitting their email address in the fill-in box towards the bottom of the page. You can also unsubscribe through the web page.
New subscribers will be sent the last few messages we have sent out in a digest form to help them catch up. Back issues are on the web at http://hongkong.usconsulate.gov/acs_newsletter.html.
This newsletter is published by the American Citizens Services Unit, U.S. Consulate General, Hong Kong, Tel: 2841-2211, 2841-2323, 2841-2225; Fax: 2845-4845; e-mail: acshk@state.gov; website: http://hongkong.usconsulate.gov; All services by online appointment only.
Last modified: October 24, 2008
American Citizens Services
Newsletter
