Has anyone found a solution to the passport fiasco. In order to renew you have to send in your current passport and then have no idea when your new passport will be issued. They are currently not processing expedited passports. I am sure aircrews are probably in the same situation.
I sent mine in last week, said 90-120days, who knows ?
I just used the no-fee merchant mariner option, got my new passport back in maybe 2 months max…needless to say I highly recommend it.
Covid 19 is a serious problem for all of us, but the inefficiency of the federal bureaucracy is breathtaking.
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In this country renewal of a passport takes max five working days. The fee for this is € 73.23. The validity is ten years. You have to go for that, on appointment, to your City Hall.
There is also the possibility to apply for your passport urgently. The passport then costs € 123.05. If you apply for the passport before 2 p.m., you can collect it the next working day after 10 a.m.
I am amazed of the time it takes in the US to renew a passport. It isn’t exactly rocket science. Probably because a lot of bureaucracy is going on?
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It is a pain, to be sure. While the scenic industrial splendor of Cleveland, OH or the exotic shores of Bruce Mines, ONT are not exactly global sailing, we are lucky on the US side of the Lakes since we can use an enhanced state driver’s license as a secure ID for USCBP or CBSA customs and immigration purposes. The delay in passport processing is an issue as our fleet works a 28/14 or 28/28 schedule and winter layup is rarely more than 70 days.
Not much time in that schedule for a passport renewal.
There is a no fee merchant mariner option?
I need a source for that man.
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gCaptain has a search function. It’s useful.
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I believe you can get two passports if you’re constantly sending one in for a visa. Then you can travel on the other. Can you do that just so you’re covered during the renewal process?
I have a Passcard so I can at least drive into Canada while my passport is getting a visa or being renewed. No good for travel by water or air though.
Got passports for my bride and I a while back. USPS took incorrect photos, twice. Ended up going to WalMart for correct photos. 4 week delay from USPS , got passports 3 weeks later after correct photos. Soooo, 7 weeks after original application.
You can also take and print your own photos, formatted for a variety of different countries’ requirements. I used this site to upload and format pictures, and printed them at the nearest drug store.
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Good advice sir, hope the other fellows take this info to help expedite things.
If you can show cause, you can get a 2nd U.S. Passport. My reason was for visa hold-ups where my passport was with the agent. Only good for 2 years though.
If you get the special Merchant Mariner passport (which is only suppose to be used for work travel), you still keep your regular passport. So you will have two passports. Which is a good thing to have.
Way back when, the federal government was more efficient and helpful. I remember going to the passport office with my Z card and a plane ticket and getting my new passport in less than an hour.
Post 911, “security” is the default excuse for very long delays and no service.
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Very similar here. It took 6 days to get my new passport at the standard application time; just in time to not travel anywhere.
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Once I also had two passports but that was because I had to join a ship at Port Said. On the morning I had to fly I went by the travel office to pick up my ticket. The lady asked if she could have a look at my passport. She browsed through pages, handed the passport back and said that I couldn’t travel to Egypt with this passport because of the Israelian stamps proving that I had been there.
I called the shipping office and explained the situation. They said to sit and wait. After half an hour they called and said to my surprise that everything was going to be handled. A new passport would be waiting for me in about two hours time. However, I had to pick it up at the Province House in The Hague but that was about halfway between Rotterdam and Schiphol Airport at Amsterdam. I was told that this happened quite often and in these cases business travelers got a preferential treatment.
It is not advisable to put novelty stamps into your passport either, I was at Macchu Picchu earlier this year and there was an area where you could stamp your passport as a memento for being there, our tour guide encouraged us to do it but I didn’t, then I read this article of someone else having done it and been denied travel.
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I put mine on the last page and nobody even noticed
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Point of reference, even if you have a work visa, Israel only stamps Israeli passports these days.
Otherwise you get a (easily lost) little printed slip of paper that you’re supposed to keep until your departure.
i just renewed my wife’s passport. From what i read i recall 2-3 months turnaround time. A nice change for payment would be the pay.gov option like for our mmd fees. I feel these days its a bit archaic to still only accept a personal check or money order, via snail mail.
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