US passport

[tomc12]

Thank you all for the information. Hopefully, SD, I am not "fooked"-I sent the necessary paperwork off to one of the fast passport renewal services Thursday afternoon and supposedly will get my renewed passport back Saturday. Anybody know the reasoning why a passport has to be good for 6 months?

[..]

That's an incredible turnaround time. Excellent. I've been hearing stories of folks in the States waiting 12-15 weeks for a passport.

 

That six month thing is a rule that most countries have. I've never heard a reasonable explanation for it tho'.

 

Cheers,

SD

[Guy Himmaparn]

Just received my new passport last week. Total processing time 3 weeks.

 

Same here; I was shocked when it arrived in something like 15 days. My wife's arrived even quicker, but we paid the extra fee as she had just become a US citizen and our flight was scheduled to depart within 30 days of the ceremony.

 

 

[tomc12]

It was pretty incredible-I FedExed all the paperwork to them at 3 PM Thursday and got my renewed passport back around 1 PM Saturday. The service cost $199, plus $135 for the Department of State, plus about $30 for FedEx.

[Hugh_Hoy]

There a quite a few "express service" alternatives now to acquire official government documents such as birth certificates, marriage certificates, etc. I think that this is the result of "outsourcing" by various government agencies. Relieves the government of having to hire permanent workers and pay them benefits while being able to say they haven't had to add any people to the payroll. Of course, those employed by the private concerns would have to undergo the same scrutiny that the government workers would...including any background checks and drug tests.

 

HH

[HSTEACH]

For those getting new US passports or renewing an old one, the fees effective 02/01/08 are $100.00 for a new passport and $75.00 for a renewal.

[The_Munchmaster]

Tomc12 renewed his for $364!

[tomc12]

Passport renewal is $75 plus $60 for expedited service for US State Department. In a way it was a bargain as 5 days ago, due to my ignorance, I was faced with the loss of $6000 in nonrefundable airline tickets. Instead, I'm facing downtown Bangkok out my hotel room window.

[mongatu]

One time I sent my passport off to a Thai Consulate in the US to get a non immigrant visa about 6 weeks before my departure to LOS date and made the mistake of sending it (and providing a return envelope for) regular USPS first class mail. The Thai Consulate processed my application promptly and sent the passport back to me in my pre stamped pre addressed envelope, but it didn't arrive after 3 weeks from the date they mailed it and my flight was less than 10 days or so away. So I did the expedited passport application and lost passport report myself without using any service (I think it cost about $150 at the time) and I submitted it in person to the local Dept of State Office on a Thurs and was able to go back and pick up my brand new replacement passport from them the following Monday. (There was a US Dept of State office in my home city.)

 

Note: I also thought I had to get a birth certificate to prove citizenship which I did, but it turned out to be unnecessary if you either pay the Dept of State a fee to research your lost passport number, or if you know your old lost passport number and can give it to them. So it is a good idea to write your passport number down somewhere, or better yet, to have a photocopy and/or scan of it.

 

After I had the new passport, I fed exed it back to the Thai Consulate and they restamped the replacement passport at no additional charge and fed exed it back to me (at my expense, of course).

 

Get this, the very same day the replacement passport was delivered by FedEx from the Thai Consulate with the new visa stamp in it, the original passport finally arrived by regular mail. It was postmarked about a month earlier and the envelope looked very beat up. I never will trust the US Mail for such things again.