I live in the Cayman Islands which has a US Consular Agency, an entity separate and distinct from an Embassy or Consulate.
A Consular Agency is supposed to be able to collect the paperwork and payment and forward it all to the relevant Embassy for processing of a passport renewal.
Last time I tried to renew my passport I went through a bit of hell trying to deal with the local office. Their directions for payment contradicted the instructions on the passport application and they would not budge.
Net result, I had to use a passport expediting service in the US. IIRC I found one with a service level below same-day for somewhat cheaper. But yes, they can get a passport the same day and then send it out via Fed-Ex for soonest delivery.
I had to submit my old passport along with new photos and the paperwork. I enclosed payment for the State Department and a separate payment to the expediter. Got the new passport back in around a week, Fed-Ex travel time included.
Just in case this idea has occurred to the OP, I’ll explain why it’s a bad idea. If you think that flying back to the US to get a passport renewed and then return overseas, you might end up stuck in the US as your new passport does not have your visa.
As an American citizen residing abroad (in Indonesia), here is how it worked for me last time I renewed a passport:
[ul]
[li]I made an appointment (required, no walk-ins) at the US Embassy in Jakarta.[/li][li]I handed them my expiring passport (which contained my stay visa for Indonesia) along with any forms I had to fill out and the requisite amount of cash (I think it is $80 these days but not sure) and the clerk did a thing or two, handed me back my passport, and said my new passport would be ready in a week or so.[/li][li]I kept my expiring passport while I waited. It was still valid.[/li][li]The embassy advised me when my new passport was ready to pick up, and I went and got it. They canceled my old passport (with the visa) and returned it to me. Then I had two passports: a canceled one with a current visa inside, and a new passport.[/li][li]When I traveled, I carried BOTH passports. No one cared or needed to see the old passport except Indonesian officials on the way out, and when I returned to Indonesia.[/li][li]At no point did any Indonesian official so much as blink an eye when I handed them two passports. I didn’t even need to explain what was going on. This is a very common occurrence. People ask about it all the time on the expat website I participate in, and many people will chime in reporting the same experience as I had.[/li][/ul]
You do if you’re going to be working there. The OP’s apparently talking about renewing a passport while he’s residing outside the US, not merely visiting.
Here’s how it worked when I got mine renewed at the US embassy in Seoul in 2009:
[ul][li]I submitted my application in person. The clerk accepted my application and took the old passport, which was still valid.[/li][li]I received my new passport along with the old passport in the mail. The passport agency had drilled a hole through the old passport.[/li][*]I then took the old passport, the new passport, and my alien registration card to Korea’s immigration office. The immigration office put a visa into my new passport Korea requires the visa be in a valid (unexpired) passport. They even fine you if you wait too long to transfer your visa to a new passport.[/ul]
I’d be willing to bet that the OP does not have a current visa to work in Mexico, and that he’s relying on his individual stays being shorter than 30 days at a time.
Pauly, do you have a current work visa for Mexico?
That’s pretty much how it happens in Thailand now too – except that instead of having to carry the old passport that contains the visa, the embassy gives me a letter to take to Thai Immigration requesting they transfer the visa in the old passport into my new one. I’d never thought about whether that was a Thai requirement or standard procedure for the US. That’s similar to how the US treats my wife’s visa though; it doesn’t get transferred into a new passport but rather she has to take her old passport with her too in order to show the visa when entering the US.
As for Mexico and visas, the time I took the train from Juarez to Mexico City, I recall having to get some sort of visa at the border since I was traveling more than X miles into the country. (Don’t recall how many miles the rule stated.) It was free, but apparently only day trips or short stays across the border don’t require a visa, or at least that was the way it was in the 1980s.
OP - if you renew in the US, even with an expedited approval process, they will take your expiring/old passport while they are processing. You can do a same day renewal, but plan on spending the entire day at the office and getting there first thing in the morning. If you get there too late in the day (noon might be too late in the day), you will have to pick it up the next day.
Call them if you need to find out about a visa. Google might also help you find out if the visa transfers. It may be attached to the passport number, but you need to verify that.
I had to renew my Passport in a hurry last year after I found out I needed one to travel between the US and Canada. You can expedite the procedure if you are willing to pay extra. I think its $200. After forking over the money I got a new passport in 72 hours. Also, for a few dollars more you can get a “Passport Card” the size of a drivers license. Its only good for International LAND AND SEA TRAVEL (not Air) between the US, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda.
I checked online and apprently in my city… the reviews on yelp say they do it in 1 or 2 days assuming your flight is less than a week. Anyone familiar with that?
Yes, I’m totally familiar with it. Your plan is completely solid. Ignore all of the solid advice in this thread, and do what you’re going to do anyway. There’s no way it could go wrong!
Do they retain your expired passport when renewing outside the USA? Because it is the only photo ID I have and sometimes it is needed for using credit cards etc.
Do they always return and allow you to keep the old passport? Because for an unrelated issue I need to show the stamps in it.
If his flight is in less than 2 weeks and he gets to the NYC office around 5:30 am with all his paperwork filled out, photos and flight tickets … he will get his passport.
I just thought about something. What if you booked a flight within 2 weeks as proof then bring that to the office. Only to later on cancel your flight afterwards.
As I here in Thailand and someone in Indonesia have said in this thread, we don’t have our passports retained while renewing our passports. Others in other countries say they have. So I guess it may depend. Yes, they always return the old passport to you regardless. Again, I have all my old passports.
OP, have you tried checking with the embassy there in Mexico? I’m getting the impression that there’s some reason you don’t want to contact them. But I can assure you they’re not going to lie to you or jerk you around.
No idea. I don’t even know if they will do it if your flight is refundable.
When I was renewing my passport last month, there was a man and and his family who was travelling in less than two weeks and they told them to go to the Hudson St office but he kept arguing with the window clerk, asking her if she could put a “rush” on their paperwork instead.
Major comprehension problem.
Grude, get a passport AND a passport card. It’s an extra $40. That was if they take your passport you can still use the card for ID.