The situation is that my six year old daughter is in the DR with an expired US passport. She is down here for the summer and my plan was to get an extension for her in July, but events conspired such that I could not arrange this until now. I was under the mistaken impression that it would not be a problem to have this done a lot quicker than it now seems possible without an emergency request.
I was told that my circumstances would probably not qualify me as an emergency case where I could have request expedited for an emergency extension and I would need to wait the standard 2-3 weeks for an extension. In addition to that, I was told that emergency cases require proof of travel plans in order to qualify as an emergency and it doesn't make any sense to buy non-refundable airline tickets that I very likely will need to cancel.
Since it now looks very doubtful that I will get a passport extension until after her school in the US starts on Aug 20, here are my questions:
will my daughter be allowed to travel to and re-enter the US with an expired US passport and an original Consular Report of Birth Abroad Report. It looks like re-entry by air may not be possible but what about taking the ferry to San Juan to re-enter the US?
what about if I get her a Dominican passport (establishes identity) along with the US Consular Report of Birth Abroad (establishes US citizenship). Would this combination allow her to travel to the US?
how strict is the embassy about requiring proof of travel to qualify as an emergency? I would think that a rational human would understand that a six year old being in school is an emergency situation to a greater extent than someone that needs to incur a change fee because they cant make their reserved flight date. (I really do not understand why they dont just require someone to pay an extra $100 to expedite rather than show proof of travel plans).
My appointment at the embassy is scheduled for tomorrow. Any tips for what to have prepared to get a positive result? Any other advice on how to resolve this situation to my advantage? I do request responses refrain from scolding me about not taking action on renewing the passport earlier as I am now well aware of this error in judgment on my part. Thanks to everyone in advance.
I was told that my circumstances would probably not qualify me as an emergency case where I could have request expedited for an emergency extension and I would need to wait the standard 2-3 weeks for an extension. In addition to that, I was told that emergency cases require proof of travel plans in order to qualify as an emergency and it doesn't make any sense to buy non-refundable airline tickets that I very likely will need to cancel.
Since it now looks very doubtful that I will get a passport extension until after her school in the US starts on Aug 20, here are my questions:
will my daughter be allowed to travel to and re-enter the US with an expired US passport and an original Consular Report of Birth Abroad Report. It looks like re-entry by air may not be possible but what about taking the ferry to San Juan to re-enter the US?
what about if I get her a Dominican passport (establishes identity) along with the US Consular Report of Birth Abroad (establishes US citizenship). Would this combination allow her to travel to the US?
how strict is the embassy about requiring proof of travel to qualify as an emergency? I would think that a rational human would understand that a six year old being in school is an emergency situation to a greater extent than someone that needs to incur a change fee because they cant make their reserved flight date. (I really do not understand why they dont just require someone to pay an extra $100 to expedite rather than show proof of travel plans).
My appointment at the embassy is scheduled for tomorrow. Any tips for what to have prepared to get a positive result? Any other advice on how to resolve this situation to my advantage? I do request responses refrain from scolding me about not taking action on renewing the passport earlier as I am now well aware of this error in judgment on my part. Thanks to everyone in advance.