r/Passports

I recently realized that my passport is going to expire this September and I need to travel out of the country May 20 to June 3rd. Im not sure if I should buy the boarding ticket yet and then renew my passport or renew it first then buy the tickets. Im also willing to pay the extra fee for express shipping but Im not quite sure where to go or the best advice for this. Im also 19 and I got the passport when I was 14 and Im traveling to Lima, Peru from NYC if that helps?

I never know what to do! We typically stay with friends’ flats when in Europe and leave our passports there unless buying things (for VAT). Never quite know if leaving a passport in the hotel safe is a good idea. Then there’s the passport card which I ordered when I renewed.

I was filling it out on my table that has wooden planks so cracks between every plank. My pen found one of those cracks as I was filling out the app and now there are 2 pen tip sized holes in my answers. Do I need to redo it or is it no big deal?

Finally doing my passport renewal online and hit a wall at the photo step. Took what I thought was a perfectly fine photo - white wall, decent lighting, looking straight at the camera - and the upload tool rejected it twice. No real explanation either time, just "photo does not meet requirements."

Tried adjusting the crop myself but clearly I'm missing something. Don't really want to drive to CVS and pay $16 just to get a jpeg.

Is there a specific tool or website you're using for the digital upload format? Something that actually tells you what's wrong before you submit?

Hey! Can someone explain what's the logic of every passport in the world has to be valid atleast 6 months for travelling?

Like I should be able to travel even 2 days before expiry ..what's the story behind this specific 6 number!🤔

Okay. Maybe not. But it seemed quite quick.

Online renewal application submitted April 11th.

Application received notification April 13th.

Passport received April 15th.

I only paid for expedited shipping. And when I submitted it, it told me May 23rd I’d receive my passport.

My application was rejected for stupid reasons, they said the photo was damaged (maybe the post office wasn’t perfect with the staples, but…)

Anyway I need to resubmit and can express mail it as soon as 91 days after, but are they just going to bounce it back to me?

Ugh the deadline was 5 min ago, and I did manage to email asking for a two week extension.

I am an out-of-state student studying abroad this summer, and I’ve been a bit worried about the process of me getting a passport book. Here’s my situation:

My study abroad deadline got pushed back a bunch due to lack of enrollment, so we only recently got the go-ahead for this July. My campus has passport services, so intend to use them and have the book mailed to my home address.

I had an appointment for this morning, and made sure I had all the documents, forms of payment, and identification. I get to the office, and we realize that my pre-printed DS-11 form had a printing error, so we went to fill one out online.

Now, I had a youth passport card that is now expired, but I wasn’t worried about presenting it because the DS-11 form just asked if it existed, and what the name was on it. This seems to contradict the online form, which not only asks if I had a passport card, but also the issue date and the card number.

On top of this, the online form states that I must mail the expired card to the department of state with all the other documents. The printed DS-11 form doesn’t say this anywhere, and am starting to worry if I will be able to apply for this passport before I get home in May.

Do I have to mail the physical copy of the expired passport card with the other documents to get a new, and my first, adult passport book? The person helping me said that I didn’t, despite what the website said.

I trust the older woman who’s probably been doing this for multiple years, but when it comes to deadlines and the ability to actually participate in my study abroad program, I want to be as sure as I can.

Hello, i’m 16 and in need of a passport however i did want to see if anybody knew or has gone through the process of applying WITHOUT a parent or guardian, as legally I am an orphan, my mother who was the sole parent on my birth certificate is deceased and I have her death certificate however i wanted to ask if there was any additional forms I would need as I know 16 can apply but with a parent / guardian , issue being i have neither, thank you

So I'm trying to renew my passport as it has expired, and it is withholding my college funding as I need proof I'm a citizen. I tried doing it online, but it says I can only do it for 10-year passports, not 5-year ones. I was just wondering what the fastest way I can get it done is, as the semester is ending, and I'm getting desperate.

i realize this is prob posted everyday sorry but wondering if anyone after 4/4 submitted their renewal online and has received an update? It's been almost 3 wks and still no "In process". Seems odd because looks like people on here seem to get their passport in hand within 2 wks of submission?

hi all

i applied for china visa through vfs and today went to collect my passport today they checked the system and said your data is not in the system than found my passport i asked him did visa granted or refused the guy at the counter checked the system and after 5 minutes later took my passport inside there office and came back after 10 minutes again checked the system and said no sir visa is not granted

no issues embassy call

than i checked my passport at counter and found that one page layer is worn out ... like someone first pasted sticker and than removed ...

i asked the guy at the counter why this page is worn out the thickness of page is not as usual as other pages it looks like sticker is pasted first and than removed

his face become pale yellow

i asked him fine if embassy dont want to give visa i will apply again but why my passport is tempered

he took me to his senior staff at vfs

some lady came and said yes sir let me talk to embassy

she took her time and after 30 minutes she said sir we are not able to connect with embassy

kindly drop your passport with us we will go to embassy physically and get this checked

i asked her

fine i will give you my passport u take to embassy what what will be the outcome

my question is

1 if my visa is rejected than why u pasted the sticker than removed

2 if visa was approved first than what is the reason of cancelling it

3 why u removed the sticker why don't u just put the cancel stamp on the sticker

they don't have a single word to reply they asked me that will contact me tomorrow

now they have my passport

now the problem is i have to travel abroad next month to some other country with my family tickets already booked 2months advance

now passport is tempered

what options i have

reissue the passport

but to reissue the passport u cannot apply under tatkal scheme for tempered/damaged passport u have to apply normal application which took more than a month for a passport to deliver

but i dont have such time as travel date is near

so fellow users

what can i do i dont know

one minor mistake from embassy or from vfs

put me in position i dont know what to do

kindly guide

i

Ok so I need to get my passport fast and I was gonna go to the Chicago office that can give you one the same day if you have proof of travel within 2 weeks and a death certificate (my grandmother passed). My passport along my ID was stolen, so is there a way to still get my passport if I don’t have those documents? I have copies of my ID, my passport and my citizenship just not the physical copy. So my questions are:

Can they just look me up if I give them the information?

How do I get the death certificate documents translated?

I tried to call but the woman was very unhelpful and she didn’t know anything, she also said she couldn’t directly transfer me to anybody at the Chicago office.

I am an out-of-state student studying abroad this summer, and I’ve been a bit worried about the process of me getting a passport book. Here’s my situation:

My study abroad deadline got pushed back a bunch due to lack of enrollment, so we only recently got the go-ahead for this July. My campus has passport services, so intend to use them and have the book mailed to my home address.

I had an appointment for this morning, and made sure I had all the documents, forms of payment, and identification. I get to the office, and we realize that my pre-printed DS-11 form had a printing error, so we went to fill one out online.

Now, I had a youth passport card that is now expired, but I wasn’t worried about presenting it because the DS-11 form just asked if it existed, and what the name was on it. This seems to contradict the online form, which not only asks if I had a passport card, but also the issue date and the card number.

On top of this, the online form states that I must mail the expired card to the department of state with all the other documents. The printed DS-11 form doesn’t say this anywhere, and am starting to worry if I will be able to apply for this passport before I get home in May.

Do I have to mail the physical copy of the expired passport card with the other documents to get a new, and my first, adult passport book? The person helping me said that I didn’t, despite what the website said.

I trust the older woman who’s probably been doing this for multiple years, but when it comes to deadlines and the ability to actually participate in my study abroad program, I want to be as sure as I can.

Looking for some "peace of mind" or a reality check. I’m currently in Kenya and made a massive mistake. I needed to convert a PDF and used a site called overbits.herokuapp.com (it was a top suggestion on Google Drive).

As soon as I uploaded my uk passport scan, I realized the site was abit dodgy so I did a credit lock on my experian. Chances of getting scammed?

I’m hoping that someone here has actual experience with this process. I have a number of international trips coming up and my passport is expiring in October 2026. I have done the process before where I went to a local passport office when I had a purchased airline ticket to an international destination within a few days and was able to get a passport that way, but it doesn’t appear that I can do the renewal that way. It is telling me to renew my passport by mail. Just wondering how many weeks that actually take so I can plan accordingly. Thanks for any experience with this that anyone can share.