Passport pages

[njhorseman]

31 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

 

The standard renewal by mail process does not include the "less than 9 years ago" restriction.

Correction. I meant to say "more than 9 years ago" . 

It was too late to edit my post when I realized it.  ☹️

Edited January 20, 2023 by njhorseman

[PhD-iva]

I remember about 15 or 20 years ago my son had his passport issued (not a renewal) while waiting at the Stamford Connecticut passport office. It was issued to him the same day that he applied.  He was able to show airline tickets with travel within the next 24 or 48 hours. I’m not sure if this is helpful to you or not.

[Jancruz]

6 hours ago, tvmovielover said:

Because we are going to several different countries in SE Asia next month, we did the rush job since we were down to 3 1/2 pages.  You do  not have to be within a year of renewal to get a new passport (and we ordered the extra page one this time), you just have to pay a lot more and stay on top of it.  Renewal is now the only way to get more pages-we had more than 5 years left but no pages.

I hoped you ordered the passport with the most pages there are two types..

Jancruz1

[Jancruz]

3 hours ago, Tsunami74 said:

All opinions are welcome

But still trying to find an expedited service!

My TA does not know any

You ca expedite with the US passport office..It just costs more money..call them

Jancruz1

[tvmovielover]

We used USPS but paid for priority shipping to designated passport office (philidelphia) and return of new passports to us.  Just followed all the directions carefully and double checking for each.  You can send two passports together and use one check but amount of everything is double (except sending them the old passports) as each item will be processed individually.  We got the new ones within 3 weeks.  As pointed out above, a regular paged passport and one with more pages cost the same so it might always be better to opt for the one with the most pages.

[susiesan]

19 hours ago, Tsunami74 said:

All opinions are welcome

But still trying to find an expedited service!

My TA does not know any

I used Fast Passport Center back in December 2022 when I had less than 21 days to renew passports for an Oceania cruise. I used their Philadelphia office as that is where renewed passports are printed. I did it online via their web site. it was pricey but they did an excellent job and we got the passports on time to take the cruise.

https://fastpassportcenter.com

[basor]

28 minutes ago, susiesan said:

I used Fast Passport Center back in December 2022 when I had less than 21 days to renew passports for an Oceania cruise. I used their Philadelphia office as that is where renewed passports are printed. I did it online via their web site. it was pricey but they did an excellent job and we got the passports on time to take the cruise.

https://fastpassportcenter.com

Thanks for giving specific and personal experience - very helpful for OP

[Tsunami74]

Thank you everyone for your input

[PaulMCO]

What a load of bad information. @susiesan has it right -- use a passport service.

 

1) 3 pages may not be enough.  It really depends on where you are going.  Some countries insist of two consecutive pages (South Africa is one).  Many on an Oceania cruise will not stamp your passport or even look at your passport.  When they clear a ship, the customs officer may just look a few and then if you are going to Israel you will have a face to face.

 

2) There is no specific length/duration of passports.  Passport center generally gives you a 10 year passport, but it is up to the Dept of State people as to how long they give you.   I now have a 4 year passport because of my specific country travels.  I also have a 10 year passport that just expired.

 

3) Do not send your passport FEDEX to the passport center, it does not help.  The center is just a way point, after being received your package is sent to one of the many processing centers throughout the country.  It is then processed there and that is the biggest time waster.

 

4) Use a passport service for a quick renewal.  I travel for business and have two passports.  I trust the people at my passport service to get my passports (every 4 years) renewed within 5 days (they claim they can do it 24 hours)

 

4) Oceania recommends Visacentral.com  I have used them only for O Visas (India, Brazil and China).  I recommend passportvisaexpress.com  -- have used them for 20 years.

 

Best of luck...

[pinotlover]

+1 with passport visa express. I used them several years ago for China and they were excellent. Quick and efficient.

[GICNJC]

I can offer my humble opinion.  The number of pages you will require depends on the countries you are visiting that require you to carry your passport.  A lot of O cruises we have been on Oceania holds your passport unless you need it to go ashore.  Most of the time the Custom Inspectors who review your passports on board do not stamp them.

Just something to consider.

I am Canadian, and the government recommends having 6 blank pages.

Edited January 22, 2023 by GICNJC
grammar correction

[azdrydock]

Based on experience 2 months ago.

 

We  were about 10 weeks between cruises and used the expedited renewal process.

Passport was only 5 years old with 2 clean pages.  I had a new passport in 2 weeks and 4 weeks latter DW received a form letter that she had to resubmit her paper work due to a non descript issue. Two weeks latter there was no indication they received it and it was being worked on. After a few calls they suggested we make an appointment at one of the walk in sites (luckily there was on a few miles from where we live). 2 days latter we walked in and the agent found out that it was originally  rejected because it was missing a signature. She was able to see the original paperwork and couldn't see the problem. They generated a new passport on the spot and instead of waiting a few hours for it they sent it to us overnight.

 

Agent told us that all expedited service does is expedite the initial screening for distribution to the processing location. Processing location can anywhere in the US. It does not get any special handling after that.

 

She told us if you need it less then16 weeks wait until you are within 2 weeks prior to travel (or 3 weeks if you need it for a Visa) and use the walk in service.  You must have proof of travel and be able to get to one of the sites.

 

If you have a long term Visa like a 10 year China Visa you can use your old passport with the Visa plus your new one forentry. Some countries require  x number of blank pages for entry. and some of the entry stamps like Japan may require a blank page for a paste in stamp.

 

The online service was still being tested when we renewed and I was led to believe it just eliminates the initial mailing. The processing time is still the same and the end to end time might be one or two weeks less.

The third party Vis a services cannot speed up the services. This is addressed on the passport website

 

 

 

 

 

[PaulMCO]

11 hours ago, azdrydock said:

The third party Vis a services cannot speed up the services. This is addressed on the passport website

 

That is totally FALSE....  Many 3rd party services have license that allow them to had carry a passport application to the visa processing center for 5 day to 24 hour service depending on the urgency,

[azdrydock]

22 minutes ago, PaulMCO said:

 

That is totally FALSE....  Many 3rd party services have license that allow them to had carry a passport application to the visa processing center for 5 day to 24 hour service depending on the urgency,

Should have read "passport services" not Visa services.

See: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/get-fast/courier-and-expeditor-companies.html

 

Applications through a third party must meet the same criteria as those applying in person.