Earlier this yr, I hit a milestone: For the primary time, I stuffed up a whole passport with stamps. It felt like an accomplishment till I spotted that, regardless of having three years left till the doc expired, I needed to renew it at a time when individuals have been complaining of monthslong waits.
I’ve at the very least one journey per 30 days scheduled by October. I did not see how I used to be going to have the ability to ship my passport in for renewal and obtain the brand new one earlier than I left for my subsequent task. It is also almost inconceivable to get by to a passport company over the cellphone proper now — imagine me, I attempted — so scheduling an appointment for a same-day passport wasn’t an choice.
“Why do not you simply apply for a second passport?” my boss requested after I gave him a heads-up that I would probably must cancel my subsequent couple of labor journeys. Surprised, I advised him I did not know that was even a factor. However he was proper — it is potential for Individuals who meet sure circumstances to be granted a secondary passport ebook.
With only a month and some days earlier than my subsequent scheduled journey, I utilized. It might need saved me a while versus making use of for the standard renewal of my unique passport. This is how I navigated the method and why it’d aid you, too, in the event you qualify.
The factors
To be accepted for a second U.S. passport, it’s important to meet at the very least one in every of three circumstances:
- You’ve stamps in your passport that would end in denied entry to a different nation (i.e., an Israeli stamp in some nations).
- You’ve a couple of worldwide journey arising, and you should get visas, that means your present passport will probably be out of your possession for a while.
- You’ll be able to show your job requires you to journey incessantly. Flight attendants, pilots and journalists protecting international information, for instance, probably qualify for a second passport.
As a result of I am a journey journalist, I certified underneath the final one and set to work on determining the right way to procure my backup passport.
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The particulars
There are two methods you possibly can apply, relying in your state of affairs. I could not half with my passport with a view to ship it in, which was the entire purpose I could not do the usual renewal within the first place.
So, I skipped the DS-82 kind, which is used for traditional renewals and second passport requests, the place candidates ship of their major passports. As an alternative, I stuffed out the DS-11 kind — the identical kind used when making use of to your first passport or for a brand new passport in the event you’ve been with out one for 15 years or extra.
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Whereas filling out the DS-11, I realized that I would must submit my software in particular person at an acceptance facility — most often, together with mine, a publish workplace — since I would have to make use of my unique beginning certificates as a substitute of my passport as proof of citizenship.
I additionally realized I may select to have my secondary passport fitted with a bigger variety of pages without cost, as is feasible if you receive a major passport. My major passport had a smaller variety of pages. Having realized my lesson, I opted for the extra sizable ebook.
Lastly, I discovered {that a} secondary passport comes with four-year validity. That differs from the 10-year shelf lifetime of a typical passport. A second U.S. passport can be ineligible for renewal.
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The appliance
To submit your software in particular person at a designed acceptance facility, it’s important to make an appointment. I began through the use of the U.S. Division of State’s acceptance facility finder, which lets you discover the ability closest to you. After that, I made an appointment straight on the US Postal Service’s web site.
On the day of my April appointment, I gathered my printed software kind, two passport images that I had taken at CVS just a few days prior, my driver’s license for id verification, my checkbook for the applying price ($130, plus $60 for expedited processing and an extra $19.53 for one-to-two-day delivery) and my bank card for the publish workplace’s $35 acceptance price.
Moreover, I wrote a letter stating why I used to be making use of and outlining all of my upcoming journeys, together with proof of reserving and a letter from my employer. I additionally took my present passport, simply in case, nevertheless it wasn’t wanted.
I arrived on time for my appointment, and the lady on the counter checked my software to ensure it was correctly stuffed out. You are supposed to depart the signature space clean, which I did. She had me signal it in entrance of her to match in opposition to the signature on my ID, of which she then made a photocopy. She took my beginning certificates and my verify for the applying price, packaged all of them up, and despatched them off for me.
I paid the $35 acceptance price to the publish workplace, and I used to be on my approach — however not earlier than I used to be knowledgeable that even expedited processing was taking seven to 9 weeks. From there, all I may do was maintain my breath, though the percentages did not look good.
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The wait
Quick ahead to Might, and the day of my subsequent task — a visit to Greece for the launch of a brand new cruise ship — was nigh. I made a decision to go forward as scheduled and hope that the customs and border safety officers in Athens can be OK with stamping my passport on one of many “notes” pages. (I already had a few stamps there, because of different brokers who beforehand hadn’t paid consideration to the place they have been placing the visas.) I figured that, worst case, they would not let me in, they’d put me on the following flight again residence, and I would have a narrative both approach.
As luck would have it, neither of these eventualities materialized. As an alternative, one thing completely surprising occurred. 5 minutes after I left to drive to the airport, my mother known as.
“You are not going to imagine this,” she mentioned. “The mail simply got here, and I believe you bought your passport.”
I rotated, drove again residence and grabbed it, marveling on the timing. From there, the journey went off with no hitch.
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Backside line
I needed to do some homework with a view to determine the applying course of for a second passport, nevertheless it was value it. I acquired it precisely a month and two days after submitting my software. My beginning certificates even arrived in the identical envelope. (Usually, proof of citizenship is returned individually through untracked postage — an idea that all the time makes me nervous.)
There is no telling whether or not utilizing this course of as a substitute of a customary renewal is what helped me to obtain the brand new passport quicker. A few my TPG colleagues utilized for renewals across the identical time, and the outcomes diversified. One acquired hers inside three weeks, whereas one other waited three months and narrowly missed having to cancel a trip to Paris.
Acquiring a second U.S. passport is not an choice for everybody, however in my case, it offered me with a usable passport in sufficient time that I used to be capable of seamlessly embark on my scheduled travels. It simply may give you the results you want, too, in the event you meet at the very least one of many standards.
