I’m scurrying home right after work today because my SiL has a 6:30 pm flight to Paris, and I want to get her to O’Hare a couple of hours before the schedule departure. So, that means last night was the time to get her boarding pass on line. Part of the international boarding pass procedure is uploading a photo of the passport, which I actually have on my desktop because I scanned her passport a month or so ago as part of the preparation she is making for her trip to Greece in June. For some reason, their system rejected the upload. I made several attempts, but no dice. So, I called her and told her she would have to go to the ticket counter and get her boarding pass there. She said okay, no problem
The problem. She can’t find her passport to save her life. Now, mind you, she travels a lot, and she is no stranger to international travel. Guess it doesn’t matter because, even after several hours of searching, she still can’t find it. I emailed her the photo copy of her passport. She has her current driver’s license.
Now, the question. Is there any way she can make that flight today at 6:30 pm? Is there any procedure that could be that fast? Can she use the photo itself on a temporary basis? Need answers.
I very much doubt a photocopy will get you on an international flight. I would contact the nearest passport office as soon as they open, if there’s a solution they’ll know what it is.
The US State Department has a page on How To Get My Passport Fast. Their most expedited service only covers “life-or-death emergencies” (meaning a close relative outside the US has died or is dying) and seems to offer service within three days. For other circumstances they offer urgent appointments at their passport offices, but the usual timeline for that is 14 days. All of this makes me think that it’s unlikely that she will be able to get a replacement passport today.
As far as whether she could travel on the photocopy of the passport, she should call the airline and see if they will let her board with just a photocopy. Airlines are highly incentivized to make sure that you have the documentation to be admitted to a foreign country, because many (most?) countries will fine airlines for any passengers they bring in who are inadmissible. I suspect the airline will tell her “no”, and that means she won’t be boarding the flight.
They won’t, because passport control when she lands in Paris won’t accept it - they’ll scan the passport and will want the biometric data it holds. Plus a photocopy is easily faked.
Seconding and thirding what others have said. My passport, and the passports of my family, have many, many stamps; we’ve been through controls many times and have seen most permutations of the process. There’s zero chance she takes this flight without the physical passport.
Edit to add: The only time I’ve seen an exception granted is when the American is already overseas, the passport is lost, and the American is trying to return. In those circumstances, an exception may — not will, but may — be allowed. But going to a foreign destination without the passport? Nope. Won’t happen.
Good thinking. I have scanned things and forgotten about the original left in the scanner. This time, however, I remember removing it immediately and handing it back to her. I checked anyway just to be sure. I also exhaustively searched my entire apartment twice over.
From what I’m reading, this is the only hope. 8:00 am is the magic time, and I just called my SiL She is going to be physically there when they open. Can this be solved in 7 hours? Seems like a Hail Mary at best, but it appears like this is the only hope. Lord, she is going to be heart broken if she can’t make it.
Since it feels like the OP is probably adequately answered, may I offer the following for your SIL.
In my vast experience of losing stuff, I’ve learned exactly one (two-part) thing: slow down (stop … take a few long, deep, slow breaths). If you’re going to check for the lost item in a place, check that place thoroughly.
IME, both I and others have ended up finding the prodigal thing … in a place where we’ve already looked – often repeatedly.
Losing stuff – particularly a passport on game day – is hugely anxiety provoking. I’ve found that the time and effort it takes to manage that anxiety first often pays enormous dividends.
This 100%. Was on a trip a couple years back and someone in our group misplaced their passport. They tore apart their luggage looking for it. Suggested they check their passport wallet/bag again and there it was - in a different pocket than they normally kept it.
There are third party vendors that can expedite a passport. I know people who have used those with success, though not necessarily same day turnaround. This one claims 24-hour turnaround for lost passports, so perhaps she could reschedule her flight by just a day:
The one time I lost my passport for a significant amount of time in an “important to have passport” situation, it was in the jacket I was going to wear. If I’d just given up the search and prepped to go without it, I would have found it immediately - the only reason I’d not yet put my jacket on was because I was turning the hotel room upside down looking for my passport.
How and where did you give it to her? Was she visiting you? In which case, she might think about what she was wearing that day or what purse she was carrying. Did she put it in the glove compartment when she got back to her car?
Yeah, I was going to suggest this. Every time I lose something, my wife walks me through the sequence of events by questioning me, where was I, what was I wearing, what did I do, where was the last place that you remember it, and every time I seem to think this is a stupid exercise in futility that will not get us anywhere, and yet, about three-quarters of the time, some question will jog a memory. So I would start with trying to replay the sequence of events with the SiL, starting with scanning and returning the passport to her. What did she do afterwards. Where did she go? What was she wearing, etc.
Good ideas. I told her to check all of her coats and her car. I told her to even check between and under the seats and in the glove compartment. She has several purses to, but she usually uses her tote for everyday use.
If it hasn’t been mentioned, contact your congressperson. Part of their job is to help get you a passport quickly - meaning they should have a specific place on their website.
I had a friend do this and they got 3 passports overnighted via fedex (not USPS) to get their passport in time.
Yup–when I lost my passport it had fallen out of my pocket in between the seats of my buddy’s truck we had taken to Mexico. And I was POSITIVE I had put it back in the “valuable documents” drawer. One of the only times I’ve made my wife cry… We left for Fiji that night, but it was a close shave.