Passport Procrastination

[disneydarling07]

GRRR!!!! We are going on a land and sea vacation with a family friend.
We leave in 33 DAYS! He procrastinated in sending in the applications for passports for him and his son.
He just got a denial letter TODAY for his son!! He didnt know he needed to have an extra document included with his son's application. So now he has to go back tomorrow, re-submit the application and HOPE that he gets the passport in time!!

33 DAYS!!!

I told him 248 DAYS ago to do this!!!!! GGRR!!!!!

 

[jdb in AZ]

Where are you going? Not all DCL destinations require passports.

 

[disneydarling07]

Bahamas. I thought the rules were changed and everyone needed a passport now?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Bahamas. I thought the rules were changed and everyone needed a passport now?

For US citizens on a closed-loop cruise (begins and ends in the same US port), the minimum requirement is a birth certificate and (for those 16 and over) a government-issued photo ID.

That's the current policy.

 

[lanejudy]

He'll be fine going to the Bahamas with just a Birth Certificate (plus a driver's license for himself). In the event of an emergency, he would not be able to fly home or fly to meet the cruise without getting an emergency passport, but the chances of that are probably rather slim.

Enjoy your cruise!

 

[jtba]

Is there a passport agency near your friend where he can do this in person? If he shows his travel documents and pay the expedited fee he can get the passports very quickly, sometimes within one business day.

Edited: In the time it took me to reply I see that you had posted again saying you're going to the Bahamas, in which case I would go with what PrincessShmoo and lanejudy said above.

 

[disneydarling07]

Thank you!

It doesnt excuse his procrastination, but at least I feel better...I may make him sweat it out a bit...lol

 

[cashe]

Is there a passport agency near your friend where he can do this in person? If he shows his travel documents and pay the expedited fee he can get the passports very quickly, sometimes within one business day.

Edited: In the time it took me to reply I see that you had posted again saying you're going to the Bahamas, in which case I would go with what PrincessShmoo and lanejudy said above.

yeah i had to do this for a mexico trip. i walked out of the office w/ passport in hand in 45 min BUT we live in dallas so there's an office here. Just go w/ Shmoo and use BC

 

[lanejudy]

Thank you!

It doesnt excuse his procrastination, but at least I feel better...I may make him sweat it out a bit...lol

Make sure he has additional copies of their birth certificates in-hand... those may or may not get returned before the Passports come (ours usually come in the mail after the Passport), and if he's pushing the time frame on the passports that leaves him without BCs as back-up.

Enjoy your cruise!

 

[Maggie'sMom]

Make sure he has an extra copy of the birth certificate. You have to send that in with your passport application and it gets sent back in a separate envelope from the passport. We got my DD's birth certificate back a few days after the passport arrived.

 

[MUN]

GRRR!!!! We are going on a land and sea vacation with a family friend.
We leave in 33 DAYS! He procrastinated in sending in the applications for passports for him and his son.
He just got a denial letter TODAY for his son!! He didnt know he needed to have an extra document included with his son's application. So now he has to go back tomorrow, re-submit the application and HOPE that he gets the passport in time!!

33 DAYS!!!

I told him 248 DAYS ago to do this!!!!! GGRR!!!!!

FWIW, It took exactly 3 weeks for us to get our kids passports back (using non-expitied service) once we submitted the applications at the court house.

 

[KristiMc]

There is a family on our June Alaska cruise that just got their passports in 2 weeks. He should be good.

 

[Pens Fan]

Just renewed mine and my son's passports - well technically not a "renewal" for my son as a child's passport is always considered "new", no matter how many they've had in the past. It took about 2 and a half weeks to get them back. His came first, then mine about two days later. I don't know if we just got lucky, but your friend has a good chance of getting it in time.

 

[cashe]

we sent in DDs on March 9th and we are still waiting... week 3 now. DH had to renew his at the beginning of the year and it showed up in 2 weeks.

 

[NYIceQueen]

My DH was hired for a job, showed up his first day of work, and was told he was leaving for Europe for business in 48 hours. There was a passport office here locally and he was able to get an expedited one pretty much on the spot (picked it up the next morning first thing). It's doable but just depends. Frankly if it's closed loop, I'd follow the above advice about birth certificates. Good luck

 

[lpereira]

Take everything you have plus the missing document down to the office of one of your state's senators. Senators have a constituent services office in every major city in their respective states. In SC Graham and Scott both have offices in Columbia, Charleston, and Greenville. They can turn around a passport in 5-7 days. You'll have to sign an authorization form when you are there.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Take everything you have plus the missing document down to the office of one of your state's senators. Senators have a constituent services office in every major city in their respective states. In SC Graham and Scott both have offices in Columbia, Charleston, and Greenville. They can turn around a passport in 5-7 days. You'll have to sign an authorization form when you are there.

If someone needs a fast passport, they can apply in person at various locations in each state and get one in one day.

 

[bumbershoot]

Thank you!

It doesnt excuse his procrastination, but at least I feel better...I may make him sweat it out a bit...lol

As others have said, if you do this you might end up in a situation where he can't go. Only do this if you know he has extra certified copies of their birth certificates OR they can get them immediately (they live in the county of their births).

 

[lovedisney123]

Both of my daughters brought friends on our last cruise (4 weeks ago) and they did not have passports. They had their US birth certificates and drivers licenses. It was a 4 night cruise to the Bahamas (Nassau and Castaway Cay). All was fine. They did not want to pay the money for a passport and I didn't blame them. They had never left the country before and probably won't again in the near future. So it will be fine.

 

[nzdisneymom]

We discovered our sons' passports expired on Saturday. No big deal as we aren't traveling out of the country until July but even though we called the local passport office at the courthouse to find out what all we needed to bring, we still ran into issues. They both had theirs issued when under age 15; they are now 17 and 18. Not too much trouble for the 17 year old as we could still sign for him, but for the 18 year old, because he only has his learner's permit, that wasn't sufficient proof of identity. They took it and his school ID along with his last passport (which didn't have his signature on it because I had signed for him as Mother according to the instructions for child passports at the time) and we are hoping for the best. If his doesn't come back approved, we have since found that there is a secondary form that we can go back to the courthouse and fill out - he can just take his social security card along with his birth certificate and one of us as identifying witness with our ID, etc. What gets me is that he was able to get his learner's permit using his Passport as his proof of ID but it can't work the other way. He won't get his permanent license any time soon, so he could surrender his learner's permit and get a state issued ID card but then that sets him back to not having a permit for while he's learning to drive. Argh!

Anyway, please wish us luck as we do each of you dealing with passport issuance. Also DH and I see ours expire in November so we won't have the 6 months window post-travel, so we have our renewals ready to go in the mail tomorrow. That big ching-ching you heard was the $110 times 4 (plus $40 for four pics and $25/ea for two passport processing fees for the children).