When we were packing for the trip to Dominicana, I noticed my daughter's USA passport was expired by a few months, so we used her Dominican passport for the trip south and had to renew the USA passport in Santo Domingo.
It is outrageous that the bureaucrats require people to go on line to schedule an appointment, instead of consular staff assisting the customer by saying what appointments are available. I paid 5000 pesos to a private service located up the hill from the embassy, to handle the paperwork. I don't like that because I shouldn't have to pay 5000 pesos, and because now the private agency got copies of all our ID data. The 5000 peso fee is offset because it included passport photos, which we would otherwise have to pay for. Kinda like if the driver licence people require applicants to bring in their own photos, or the JCE people issuing cedulas.
I went to Juridico Visa, one of several located in the commercial plaza just up the hill from the embassy on Avenida de Colombia. Yes, I can put in a good word for the service. Why not provide good service? They were getting paid well for it.
The consular bureaucrats required documentation that we had purchased flights. I provided the JetBlue itinerary six-letter code and the service was able to pull it up. The service phoned me with every new development and our appointment for an emergency passport was scheduled for the day before we left.
We arrived before the 7 a.m. appointment, stopping first at Juridico Visa to get some documents. We were advised to leave our cell phones there as these things were not allowed through security.
Notwithstanding what is says on the paper they hand out, they did not ask for family photos or medical records, nor for her Social Security card.
I was given a red ticket and told to return at 2:00 p.m. at which time they had prepared the passport. A good verb for this in Spanish, BTW is CONFECCIONAR which also applies to flags, cheques etc.
At 2:00 p.m. they issued my daughter an emergency passport valid for 30 days, and I told her to sign it immediately. This looks almost the same as a regular passport, but the identity page is actually an adhesive label applied at the consulate over a passport booklet with fewer pages; and another adhesive label over the annotations page saying the passport is issued for a limited time and cannot be extended. The identity page overlay has artificial watermarks clearly identifying it as a temporary passport and yes, the bureaucrats knew at the Dominican airport and at the US airport. It was not a problem because it is a perfectly valid passport. The Dominican bureaucrat wondered why my wife and daughter did not have Dominican entry stamps in their passports, and it was because they entered on the basis of Dominican passports, which he asked to see.
Of course, if you have a few weeks to wait in Dominicana you can get a normal USA passport instead. I overheard something, too. A lad was denied a USA passport requested by his father and step-mother because the mother refused to consent, and under USA law that is her right. I reminded the guy to make sure, if he does manage ("LOGRAR") to get her to sign the form, it is useless unless it is duly authenticated, so make sure that it is done right. He told me the mother refuses to take care of the kid. This requirement began years ago after a USA mother lost her children to her father, who took them to his country on passports issued by his country. Now, many countries are co-operating to prevent such illegal removals from the country where the children were born and are living.
When planning any international trip, always check the expiration dates of everybody's passports. Don't plan on renewing a U.S. passport while on vacation.
It is outrageous that the bureaucrats require people to go on line to schedule an appointment, instead of consular staff assisting the customer by saying what appointments are available. I paid 5000 pesos to a private service located up the hill from the embassy, to handle the paperwork. I don't like that because I shouldn't have to pay 5000 pesos, and because now the private agency got copies of all our ID data. The 5000 peso fee is offset because it included passport photos, which we would otherwise have to pay for. Kinda like if the driver licence people require applicants to bring in their own photos, or the JCE people issuing cedulas.
I went to Juridico Visa, one of several located in the commercial plaza just up the hill from the embassy on Avenida de Colombia. Yes, I can put in a good word for the service. Why not provide good service? They were getting paid well for it.
The consular bureaucrats required documentation that we had purchased flights. I provided the JetBlue itinerary six-letter code and the service was able to pull it up. The service phoned me with every new development and our appointment for an emergency passport was scheduled for the day before we left.
We arrived before the 7 a.m. appointment, stopping first at Juridico Visa to get some documents. We were advised to leave our cell phones there as these things were not allowed through security.
Notwithstanding what is says on the paper they hand out, they did not ask for family photos or medical records, nor for her Social Security card.
I was given a red ticket and told to return at 2:00 p.m. at which time they had prepared the passport. A good verb for this in Spanish, BTW is CONFECCIONAR which also applies to flags, cheques etc.
At 2:00 p.m. they issued my daughter an emergency passport valid for 30 days, and I told her to sign it immediately. This looks almost the same as a regular passport, but the identity page is actually an adhesive label applied at the consulate over a passport booklet with fewer pages; and another adhesive label over the annotations page saying the passport is issued for a limited time and cannot be extended. The identity page overlay has artificial watermarks clearly identifying it as a temporary passport and yes, the bureaucrats knew at the Dominican airport and at the US airport. It was not a problem because it is a perfectly valid passport. The Dominican bureaucrat wondered why my wife and daughter did not have Dominican entry stamps in their passports, and it was because they entered on the basis of Dominican passports, which he asked to see.
Of course, if you have a few weeks to wait in Dominicana you can get a normal USA passport instead. I overheard something, too. A lad was denied a USA passport requested by his father and step-mother because the mother refused to consent, and under USA law that is her right. I reminded the guy to make sure, if he does manage ("LOGRAR") to get her to sign the form, it is useless unless it is duly authenticated, so make sure that it is done right. He told me the mother refuses to take care of the kid. This requirement began years ago after a USA mother lost her children to her father, who took them to his country on passports issued by his country. Now, many countries are co-operating to prevent such illegal removals from the country where the children were born and are living.
When planning any international trip, always check the expiration dates of everybody's passports. Don't plan on renewing a U.S. passport while on vacation.