Frequent Travelers: Tip to Save Passport Pages and a Renewal Cost - Expedited Passports

Renewing your passport is expensive, but now that there’s a hefty new $82 fee for adding pages, it’s almost a better deal to just go ahead and apply for a US passport renewal. Plus, there are limits to how many pages you can get added to your passport before you have to get a new one.

If you’d prefer to put off the day of reckoning for as long as possible, here’s a tip courtesy of Gadling’s Grant Martin:

“One way to conserve space though is at immigration on the way back into the United States. For American citizens it’s not a requirement to have each and every inbound border crossing stamped. As a result, page-stingy travelers like myself can politely ask the homeland security officer to not leave any ink. Those few remaining spots can mean one or two last trips squeezed out before the dreaded trip back.”

Once you’ve run out of pages, though, you absolutely have to get more added or get a US passport renewal before you can travel. Some countries even require you to have more than one page available to accommodate their visas. Having not-quite-enough room in your passport can mean missing your flight while you get the situation rectified.

Whether you decide to add pages or to go all out and apply for a US passport renewal, it’s best to apply as far in advance as possible. The average processing time for either of these procedures is 6 weeks if you apply for regular processing and 3 weeks if you apply for the government’s expedited processing.

If you need your passport updated more quickly, you’ll either have to visit a US passport agency office or use a private passport expediting company like RushMyPassport.

At RushMyPassport.com, whether you want to renew your passport or just want more pages added, we’ll personally deliver your paperwork to the Department of State for processing times as low as 24 hours. Even better, when you use our service there’s no need to make an appointment, travel to or wait in line at a US passport agency office.

Apply for your US passport renewal today!

When you run out of pages in your passport, you have to get more pages added or you won’t be allowed to travel. Usually, adding pages is no big deal-in fact, until just this summer, the government didn’t even charge for it. However, tech entrepreneur Sanjeev Midha had a passport so large, he had to get an early US passport renewal instead.

According to AOL.com, Midha’s passport had enough pages that it could almost qualify as a small novel: a full 96 pages of passport stamps! Once your passport gets that full, the State Department cannot continue to add pages to the back and will require you to get a new one instead. That’s what happened to Midha. After getting an early US passport renewal due to lack of space, he’s now on page 72 of his new passport!

How did he manage to amass such a collection of passport stamps? Midha strongly believes in the importance of travel, and he makes it a point to take his family to as many different places as he can. He has personally visited over 100 different countries, and his 16-year old son has been to at least 80. He explained to ABCNews.com:

“If people were to travel more to all parts of the world, there would be more camaraderie and less distrust, for more people would be getting authentic experiences, getting rich in all aspects of life, including culture, art, architecture, history, languages, science, cuisines, climates, nature and religion.”

If you need more pages in your passport, be aware that it can take some time to process your request. Allow at least 6 weeks if you apply for normal processing, which costs $82. Expedited service is an additional $60 plus overnight shipping costs, and you should allow at least 3 weeks if you decide to use it.

If you need your passport back with the additional pages more quickly than that, you have two options: make an appointment at a Regional Passport Agency office or use a private passport expediting company. An expediting company costs a little more, since you have to pay the company’s fees, but it’s a faster, less time-consuming process, especially if you don’t happen to live near a Passport Agency office.

Need a quick US passport renewal or extra pages? Let us help!

For Dean Mancuso, an American traveling in Thailand, a lost passport was more than just a temporary inconvenience. It actually left him stranded in Thailand, begging from other Americans in order to support his Thai wife and his two daughters.

How could this happen? Well, for some reason, after he lost his passport, Mancuso didn’t go to the embassy to get a new one. Without any identification, it was impossible for him to go home, to get a job, or to do anything other than beg from other Western tourists visiting Phuket, getting them to loan or give him money based on false pretenses. However, earlier this month, a beachfront resort on the island called the police after he was warned about begging from their customers and persisted in doing so. In an interview, Mancuso described life without his passport to Phuketwan.com:

”I have been so afraid. Because I have my two daughters to take care of. I want to live as a normal person again. All this time, I have been fighting with the devil, and fighting with the good…’I wasn’t trying to be a bad person. I just lost my passport somewhere. Call me a coward, but I just didn’t have the nerve to go to the embassy. I was ashamed.”

The moral of this story? If you lose your passport overseas, you need to replace it immediately. As in, forthwith. To do so, simply go to the nearest US embassy. They deal with lost passports all the time. It’s their job, and they aren’t going to think any less of you. The process will be somewhat quicker and easier if you have a copy of the information page of your passport, but even if you don’t, go to the embassy. They will still find a way to help you.

If you’re still in the US, the process for replacing your lost passport is even easier. See How to Replace a Lost Passport for details. And remember, kids, if you are still in the US, RushMyPassport can help you get that lost passport replaced in as little as 24 hours!

It’s hard to believe, but there was a time when you didn’t have to fill out a passport application to travel internationally. In fact, passports weren’t required for international travel until the first World War, though governments had been issuing passports or “documents of safe conduct” for centuries prior.

After World War I, the League of Nations decided that passport requirements should be maintained for international travel in peacetime as well. Although today we think of passports as essential, when passport applications became a requirement, many people were not happy. Over at the Oxford University Press blog, Craig Robertson, author of The Passport in America: The History of A Document, explains:

Middle-class and the more well-to-do resisted the implementation of passport requirements creating what was labeled the “passport nuisance” in the 1920s. With little experience of the need to prove identity through documents the passport became the site where people objected to perceived affront of a government not trusting its citizens. Identity documents were for people who could not be trusted such as criminals and the insane. They were not for people who simply wanted to travel.

Other interesting facts about the history of the passport:

• Before passports became mandatory, immigration officers decided who let into the country based on what amounts to gut instinct. Can you imagine how much trouble that must have caused for American citizens who didn’t fit the officials’ mental image of an American?
• Early passports didn’t necessarily have photographs-instead, a written description of the bearer’s physical characteristics was usually included.
• According to the Guardian, the Pope always carries Vatican Passport Number One.

These days, if you want to leave the US, you need to fill out a passport application. See How to Apply for a New Passport for more details. Make sure to allow sufficient time for processing-it can take 6 weeks or even longer if you apply for regular processing, and around 3 weeks if you apply for the government’s expedited processing.

If you need your passport more quickly, RushMyPassport can deliver your paperwork directly to the Department of State for processing times as low as 24 hours.

Let us help you expedite your passport application today!

US citizens born to midwives near the US-Mexican border will get a chance to get new passports next month by applying at special mobile units set up by the Department of State.  The mobile units are being set up as part of the settlement for a class-action lawsuit filed by the ACLU on behalf of American citizens who were born at home to midwives near the border.

Because the government suspected some midwives of fraudulently issuing American birth certificates to children born in Mexico, many citizens who had lived their entire lives as US citizens were unable to get a passport.

Now, “certified class members” who have birth certificates signed by midwives, applied for a new passport between April 8, 2003 and Aug. 14, 2009 and had their applications “”filed without further action, “abandoned” or “closed” will be able to reapply for a new passport free of charge. In order to apply at one of the special sites, you will need to have the Department of State verify that you are indeed a certified class member. You can request to be certified as a member of the class here. Getting verified can take up to 4 weeks, but the Brownsville Herald is reporting that it is often much faster.

The mobile units will be set up in the following Texas cities from May 18th to May 23rd: Laredo, San Antonio, El Paso, McAllen, San Antonio, Del Rio, Eagle Pass and Brownsville. For more details, please see the Department of State’s website (link above).

If you qualify as a member of the class, you can reapply without having to pay an application fee. If you apply at one of the sites listed above or at a Regional Passport Agency office, you will also be exempt from paying the $25 execution fee. However, if you resubmit your passport application at an acceptance facility (like your local post office), you will have to pay the $25.00 execution fee.

Getting a new passport generally takes about 6 weeks if you apply with regular processing and about 3 weeks if you apply using the government’s expedited service. Need it faster? RushMyPassport  can submit your passport application directly to the Department of State, resulting in processing times as low as 24 hours.

Apply for your new passport today!

At 5,525 miles long, the US/Canadian border  is the longest border in the world.  Not all of that border is paved-some is mountain wilderness, some of it empty prairie, and some of the border runs along the Great Lakes.  If you are crossing from Canada into the United States at a border crossing in a populated area, you need a US passport, passport card or another document that’s compliant with the World Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI). For more details, see Do I Need a Passport to Go to Canada?

But what if you are hiking into Canada via the backcountry? In some cases, you don’t just need a US passport, you also need a CANPASS Remote Area Border Crossing permit.  This permit is required by the Canadian government to cross the border in the following areas:

• from Pigeon River through to and including Lake of the Woods
• the Canadian shore of Lake Superior
• Cockburn Island
• Sault Ste. Marie (upper lock system)

To get one, you need to be a US citizen or permanent resident.  You must also meet Canada’s entry requirements, of course, which means you need to be healthy, have enough money to take care of yourself and have no criminal convictions.

You can apply for the permit here, using either a copy of the pages of your US passport that have your photo and your personal information or using other acceptable documentation as described on the web site.

For most people, it’s a good idea to have your US passport book handy if you are traveling to Canada, even if you are traveling by land and able to use alternative documents such as a passport card, enhanced driver’s license (only available in certain states), or a NEXUS, PASS or SENTRI card.  A US passport book is a requirement for air travel to and from Canada, so having one makes it much easier to get home quickly in case of an emergency.

If you need to get a passport quickly, using a private passport expediting service like RushMyPassport.com makes the whole process much faster and more convenient.  With RushMyPassport, you can get your passport application processed in as little as 24 hours, with no need to make an appointment and travel to a US passport agency office.

Apply for your US passport today!

The Mexican government just announced that they will hold off enforcing new regulations requiring US citizens to show their passports to get into the country, at least in some areas. According to the San Diego Union Tribune, the new rules will go into effect on March 1st for other parts of Mexico, but not for Baja California, because “Mexico lacks the infrastructure to enforce the regulations at busy ports such as San Ysidro and Otay Mesa.”

That means that US citizens going for short-term visits to Mexico and entering through crossings such as Tijuana or through ports like San Ysidro and Otay Mesa will not need to present passports to enter Mexico.  Cruise ship passengers in Ensenada will also be exempt.

However, you should pack a passport anyway-even if you don’t need one to get into Mexico, you will likely need it to come home.  In June of 2009, new passport regulations went into effect for US citizens returning from Mexico by land or by sea as part of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI). Now, passports are required to return from Mexico by land or by sea, except in a few special circumstances, like for children. See “Do You Need a Passport to Go To Mexico?” for more details.

Trying to re-enter the US without a passport is no fun, unless you like getting questioned by border officials and having to wait while they try to determine whether or not you are, in fact, a US citizen. It’s true that if you are a US citizen they have to let you in eventually, but why not avoid all of the hassle?

Oh, and if you are flying to Mexico, you absolutely have to have a passport-they won’t let you on a plane without it. Driving or cruising south of the border without a passport also means that you can encounter difficulties if you need to fly back due to an emergency.

So, if you plan on traveling to Mexico, go ahead and get a shiny new passport if you don’t have one already.

If you need your passport quickly, the fastest and most convenient way to get one is to use a private passport expediting company like RushMyPassport.com. We’ll help you with the application and personally deliver your paperwork to the Department of State for processing times that range from 24 hours to a little over a week, depending on which option you select. Compare that to regular passport processing times of 3 weeks for the government’s expedited service and 6 weeks for regular service.

Let us help you apply for your new passport today!

According to DallasNews.com, starting March 1, 2010, Mexican border officials will begin asking to see US citizens’ passports before they leave the US.

You may be asking yourself, “What else is new?” After all, technically passports have been  required for US citizens traveling to Mexico since June 1st, 2009, when the final phase of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) went into effect. However, the WHTI requirements only require US citizens to show their passports when they re-enter the United States. The Mexican government didn’t care if you had your passport or not, so you could get across the Mexican border without it-you would just run into trouble trying to get back into the US.

The US government also can’t keep you from re-entering the US as long as you are a US citizen. They can just detain you until they have verified your citizenship. So, as long as you were willing to risk being held up for hours on the way back in, you could hop over the Mexican border without a passport.

In some cases, US citizens have been unaware of the new requirements, and assumed when they were allowed across the Mexican border that they must have had all of the documents they need to get back.  Read an Oklahoma newspaper columnist’s account of just such an incident here.

As of March 1st, this will no longer be an issue since the requirements to get into Mexico will be the same as the requirements to get out of Mexico.

So, remember-starting March 1st, if you want to go to Mexico, you will need a passport to get across the border.  According to DallasNews.com, it is not yet clear whether or not closed-loop cruise ship passengers and children under the age of 16 will be exempt from Mexico’s new passport requirements as they are under the WHTI. We’ll keep you posted once that information is available.

Remember, applying for a passport takes at least 6 weeks if you apply for regular processing, and at least 3 weeks if you apply for the government’s expedited service.  If you have a trip to Mexico coming up sooner than that, a private passport expediting service like RushMyPassport.com offers the easiest solution, with processing times as low as 24 hours.

Apply for your new passport today!

If you are traveling in 2010, there are new passport laws you need to be aware of.   For example, at the beginning of last year, American citizens could enter Mexico, Canada and the Caribbean without a passport.

However, on June 1st, 2009, the final phase of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI for short) went into effect. Now, most Americans traveling to these countries do need passports to travel. Here are the details of the new passport laws:

Americans traveling to Mexico, Canada or the Caribbean by plane need a passport book. Americans traveling to these countries by sea need a passport book, a passport card, or a WHTI-approved alternative, like an enhanced driver’s license, a NEXUS card, a FAST card or a SENTRI card.  For most Americans, the passport book and the passport card are easiest to obtain, but the passport card can only be used for land or sea travel, not for air travel. The passport book is a better choice, because there is always the possibility you might have to fly home in an emergency.

There are a few exceptions to the new requirements, but they primarily apply for land or sea travel, not to air travel. So, again, even though you don’t technically need a passport if you fall into one of the following categories, it’s a good idea to carry one anyway in case you need to fly home.

Here are the exceptions:

• Children under the age of 16 traveling by land or sea can use their birth certificates, naturalization certificates or certificates of citizenship.
• Children under the age of 19 traveling by land or sea with a school group, religious group, social or cultural organization, or sports team accompanied by an adult chaperon can use their birth certificates, naturalization certificates or certificates f citizenship.
  
• Cruise ship passengers on a closed-loop cruise, one that begins and ends at the same US port, can use government-issued photo ID (like your driver’s license) and a birth certificate, certificate of naturalization or certificate of citizenship.
  

Under the new rules, the only circumstance in which an American citizen can travel outside the US by plane without a passport is if you have a NEXUS card and you are traveling to a Canadian preclearance airport with a NEXUS kiosk. Preclearance airports are listed here.

If you need a new passport, the fastest and most reliable way to get one is to use a private passport expediting service like RushMyPassport.com. You’ll get personal attention and help from a passport specialist, plus your application will be hand-delivered to the Department of State for processing times as low as 24 hours.

Apply for your new passport today!

We may still be stuck in the depths of winter, but Spring Break is just around the corner, and it’s time to start planning your spring vacation. If you are vacationing outside of the US this year, it’s important to check and see what kind of travel documents you will need. New passport regulations went into effect on June 1st, 2009, and passports are now required for more destinations than ever before. Here’s the scoop:

On June 1, 2009, the final phase of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative went into effect.  Now, the law requires that US citizens traveling to Canada, Mexico or the Caribbean by land or sea carry a passport book or another WHTI-compliant document, like a passport card,  an enhanced driver’s license or a NEXUS, FAST or SENTRI card. Previously, you could just bring your driver’s license and your birth certificate, certificate of citizenship or naturalization certificate.

However, if you’re going on a cruise for Spring Break, you might be able to get by with just your driver’s license and birth certificate, assuming that your cruise begins and ends at the same US port. Check with your cruise line to see what documents are required, but consider applying for a new passport anyway-you’ll need it if you have to fly home for an emergency.

Also, if you’re under the age of 19 and you are traveling outside of the country for Spring Break with a church group, school group, sports group or cultural organization, you can just bring a copy of your birth certificate as long as your group is under adult supervision. Again, though, it’s better to have a passport.

If you are flying anywhere outside of the United States, even if it’s just to Mexico or Canada, you must have a US passport-no exceptions.

The time to apply for your passport is now-in fact, according to the University of Arizona’s passport acceptance office, students only have 5 days left to apply for a passport with regular processing. Applications need to be in by February 12th if you are using the government’s expedited processing option for your new passport.

This is based on the University of Arizona’s Spring Break-you may have more or less time depending on when your school lets out.  Check your dates, and make sure to allow 6 weeks for regular processing and 3 weeks for expedited processing.

You should also be aware that applying for a new passport through a private passport expediting company  can make the application process much easier as well as drastically reduce your processing time.  For example, RushMyPassport.com can have your application processed in as little as 24 hours.

Apply for your new passport today!