BootsnAll Travel Community

Just for an fyi...

I sent my passport out for new pages on November 6 and got it back today, November 19.

Hopefully this means that the time it takes for a new or renewed passport has shortened as well.

I sent out for a new passport (expedited, just in case!) on Oct 30, got it Nov 14th. Not bad, not bad.

Marisa, this mirrors what I've been reading on some other sites lately. 2 weeks for expedited. Certainly an improvement!

Just curious, when you renew, do you get your orginal passport back? Or am I going to get the new and improved version (complete with tracking chip). I'm a little attached to my old booklet since its full of Visas and stamps and would hate to lose it. Thanks....

quote:

when you renew, do you get your orginal passport back?

Yes.

I got mine back. They punch a few holes in it and put an 'expired' stamp in it.

It's time for me to do the same as well. I just hate having to put it through the postal mail. I quess I better make a copy just in case.

Mine will be sent out for renewel next week as I'm about 6 months before expiration. I'm sure I'll feel some seperation anxiety....

It's the old style passport with a real picture under the laminate and it's getting pretty bruised up.

I was flying out of Amsterdam a few days ago and the Dutch immigration guy really gave me a hard time about it's condition. The lamination around the picture is peeling up. I seriously thought they wern't going to let me out of the country. He ran off with it for a while to show someone else, but eventually let me go.

quote:

Originally posted by gsutiger2:
It's time for me to do the same as well. I just hate having to put it through the postal mail. I quess I better make a copy just in case.

I had to put my citizenship papers in the mail...that's much scarier to send. The only proof that I belong in the country (since I wasn't born here). But everything came back, safe and sound

10 days for mine! Wow! I sent it from Taos on Nov 19th, saying I was leaving Dec 10th, and I got it back on the 29th.
And that includes the Thanksgiving holiday too.

Just got my renewal back, only 10 days after I dropped it in the mail. Glad I didnt pay to have it expedited. Something is finally going right in that dept.!

Renewals seem to be going faster than page additions. I am already on two weeks of waiting. I miss my little blue friend .

I did expedited service for a first US passport and it took only 5 days!. I went to drop it off on Monday at 1pm (have to do it in person 1st time) and got it today Saturday at 10am.

Cost me a $100 extra for the rush service. They told me it would take 2-3 weeks.

BUT they FORGOT to send me my original Citizenship certificate. OF COURSE THIS HAPPENS ONLY TO ME!!!!!

Never mind...I read in the pamphlet they sent that I should get my citizenship certificate in a separate mailing. I wonder why they do that?

quote:

Never mind...I read in the pamphlet they sent that I should get my citizenship certificate in a separate mailing. I wonder why they do that?

Would you want both your passport and citizenship papers to get intercepted at the same time?

quote:

passport out for new pages

For those of you who don't already know it, when requesting a new passport, you can ask for more pages than the normal sized one without it costing a penny more.

I would look at mine to see just how many I got (I think 40+) but at present I am waiting for the Indian consulate to return it. Hopefully it will be done quickly.

Kendrick

quote:

Originally posted by 2wanderers:

quote:

Never mind...I read in the pamphlet they sent that I should get my citizenship certificate in a separate mailing. I wonder why they do that?

Would you want both your passport and citizenship papers to get intercepted at the same time?

As soon i wrote asking the why the answer came to me :-). I know i know stupid question.

I sent for my new passport via the embassy in Auckland last week...lets see how long this takes...

We are in the process of getting passports for our two sons - and it is a MAJOR nightmare!! The first time we went down to city hall, they said the photos weren't good enough. We had new photos taken.

The second time we down there they said they need ORIGINAL birth certificates to verify that my husband and I are the parents of these two boys, and I only had a copy with me.

Now I am waiting for new original birth certificates to come in the mail so that we can make yet ANOTHER trek to city hall to apply for these passports.

And this is only for a renewal - they've had passports their whole lives! It's amazing what they make parents do to get passports for their children - no wonder more parents don't travel with their kids...

Oh, nancy sv, I so sympathize with you. I have just been doing the same thing. My son has had a passport since age 2. This was the second renewal for him but what a hassle.

First annoyance is that now both parents have to go together with the child. So, you have to find an office open when both parents can go. We chose the library office open on the weekends and at night. So, we go down there. Everything is fine, but the woman assisting us is officious and insists that we have to fill in "Occupation" and "Employer" for our twelve year old. Fine, put whatever you want - I forget what she put. She said you need a birth certificate...I said, no he shouldn't it's his second renewal. So she sent it in.

Well, about a week later, we get a letter that he's been rejected because no birth certificate. I call the passport call center on the phone, the dude on the phone agrees that I shouldn't need it for renewals, but since they said I need to send it, I'd better send it. OK. So, we search through our files and find an official certified one and off it goes.

About two weeks later, we get his passport in the mail. Yay! Well, we tell Yossi to sign his new passport. He says "is it ok to sign Yossi?" My husband says, "Better to put your formal name Joseph" not realizing that Yossi has already written Yossi. Scritch, scritch, scritch, before we can say anything Yossi has scribbled out his signature. So, I call the call center again and find out that crossing out with a line is cool, but scribbling somthing out is "adulteration". So, we had to apply again.

Fortunately, we had just gone and gotten a second birth certificate since the first had been sent in for the original adventure in passport renewal, therefore I had a spare one to send with the second application. So this time, both parents went off to the post office and we explained the situation and handed in our new forms, new photos, new birth certificate and new but adulterated passport for renewal. This woman was great, she was cool, calm. No, nothing needed to fill in for occupation for a twelve year old. Yes, she knew what to put for "other" for what happened to the old passport. I knew we were in good hands.

So hopefully, we'll see another new passport soon and this time Yossi can sign whatever he likes as far as I care as long as he doesn't cross it out. (Turned out Yossi was what he had signed on his last passport and no one cared).

Moral of the story - never put "scritchy" marks on you passport signature. Oh, and as I had to tell myself until I really absorbed the message - Be happy it's just forms, money and time - No one was hurt in the renewing of this passport.