WOW THAT WAS FASTER THAN I THOUGHT!

[crusinbanjo]

I was very hesitant to send our passports for renewal because when I inquired about timing in the fall, the response was it would take months, but with them expiring in May, Mrs Banjo and I bit the bullet and sent them in in Feb.  Low and behold!  The new passports arrived today, exactly 4 weeks from when we sent the old ones back with forms and $$.  I guess at least one part of the Govmint is on the ball! 

[Randyk47]

Isn’t like there is a lot of foreign travel right now.  🥴😀

[carefreecruise]

We just received our new passports within four weeks with email updates every four days to keep us up to date on the progress.

 

Can't complain one bit. Now we just need a place to use them... 

[Emtbsam]

Glad to hear it.  I have been very disappointed trying to renew my global entry and TSA pre check.  It is impossible to schedule an appointment which is required.

[brumagin1]

If you would enjoy a brief getaway - look at Niagara Falls, NY.   We easily scheduled appointments there.

[crusinbanjo]

8 hours ago, Emtbsam said:

Glad to hear it.  I have been very disappointed trying to renew my global entry and TSA pre check.  It is impossible to schedule an appointment which is required.

I have the same problem with the Global entry, had an appointment for an interview that I waited 9 months for and it got canceled.  Now, appointments or interviews are not given in my area unless I am returning from an international flight........   and we all know how much of that is going on!

[OlsSalt]

12 hours ago, Emtbsam said:

Glad to hear it.  I have been very disappointed trying to renew my global entry and TSA pre check.  It is impossible to schedule an appointment which is required.

 

Not sure why it happened now, but when we renewed our GOES we did not need an additional interview - might have been the beginning of "covid" and just like our California drivers licenses, we just got an automatic five year extension - even though we are over 75. Everything was done online.

 

When we got our GOES the first, we did schedule a remote location at the California-Mexican border (Calexico) because the closer  LAX location was backed up over three months. So we planned a short overnight sweep into into LA - Salton Sea Imperial Valley area to take care of two tasks -get our China same-day visa and our GOES interview. 

 

However it ultimately required a second trip because we had a total "senior moment breakdown"  moment trying  to do these two things on the same trip: (1) get China visa in LA proper and  (2) our GOES interview during the same trip in Calexico.

 

The first stop at the  China consulate, however the clerk simply could not understand we were on a cruise that included China port stops, so we therefore could not prove we had airline tickets for our entry and departure from China. She kept waving a flight voucher at us and could not understand why we did not have one. She finally relented by asking for a confirmed cruise itinerary in each our names - which we did not have on us -- nothing in the visa application form asked for this dociment.

 

Frazzled by this unexpected document demand,  we just did what she asked and did not even think about anything other than getting our China visa. We went to a Kinko's location to make copies of our official cruise itinerary and then took this back to the consulate. She then said this would have to go to her supervisor and instead of the same-day turnaround process we expected, she told us  we had to leave our passports and pick them up later

 

 Then as we drove on to Calexico for our GOES interview the next day..........duh! .... it suddenly dawned on us we no longer had our passports which we needed for the GOES processing. (!!!!!!!!)

 

I relate this embarrassing tale (multi-tasking brain function seems to be the first to go) in case anyone else is still kicking themselves for doing something stupid like this too. Or perhaps this is a veiled advertisement to use a visa processing outfit, instead of DIY.

Edited March 26, 2021 by OlsSalt

[fudgbug]

On 3/26/2021 at 8:20 AM, brumagin1 said:

If you would enjoy a brief getaway - look at Niagara Falls, NY.   We easily scheduled appointments there.

Same here and Niagara Falls makes for a nice get away.

[fudgbug]

On 3/26/2021 at 8:32 AM, crusinbanjo said:

I have the same problem with the Global entry, had an appointment for an interview that I waited 9 months for and it got canceled.  Now, appointments or interviews are not given in my area unless I am returning from an international flight........   and we all know how much of that is going on!

The same happened to me.  I noticed you are in MA.  Try Niagara Falls.  It's an easy drive and a nice getaway.

[zqtchas]

On 3/26/2021 at 12:25 AM, Emtbsam said:

Glad to hear it.  I have been very disappointed trying to renew my global entry and TSA pre check.  It is impossible to schedule an appointment which is required.

don't know why you had such a problem.  we renewed on line with a credit card. it was a few years ago.

they have changed their website around since then but i updated that a few months ago.

[Emtbsam]

2 hours ago, zqtchas said:

don't know why you had such a problem.  we renewed on line with a credit card. it was a few years ago.

they have changed their website around since then but i updated that a few months ago.

Times have changed!