Passport Pain

Remember that I mentioned having a bit of a passport snafu? (By the way, I just learned that the word "SNAFU" is military slang for "situation normal, all fucked up".  Did you know?) Anyways, I want to tell you about it, so that it doesn't happen to any of you.

Passport are tricky, because they are valid for 10 years at a time (typically), so they are very much out of mind, out of sight, until you desperately need them. 

On Friday morning, four days before our trip, I was on the metro and decided to check when my passport expired. I knew it was still valid for the trip, but didn't know exactly when I would need to renew. I've always kept a copy of my passport and Matt's with me at all times, not sure why, but it makes me feel prepared and it has actually come in handy couple times. Anyways, Matt's was fine for a few more years, but as I unfolded my piece of paper, I saw that mine only had about a month left. Leaving me plenty of time to travel to and from Madrid/Florence, but not enough if the countries we were visiting required your passport to be valid for 3-6 months AFTER your entry. Noooooo! I hurried to work and frantically looked online, hoping that Spain and Italy did not have such requirements, but lo and behold they did (many do and they are not all the same, so it's best to always check). This meant that I needed to renew my passport immediately, unless I wanted to chance it at the airport, which I of course, didn't.

I called the Regional Passport Agency and endured the typical automated machine with 5 million options, had to hold, had to speak to three different people and in the end, was told that there was an expedited passport agency near my office, but that there were no appointments for a week and a half. What is the point of an expedited service, one that claims is intended for those travelling in the next two weeks if they cannot see you? What options does that leave you with? This agency was only about four blocks from my office, so I figured I would just show up and see what happened. Maybe sweet talk 'em? However, my passport was of course at home. So, I had to flee work and trek to Virginia. Man, I had never gone home in the middle of the day and had to come back. Even though, it's really not that far, it still takes quite a bit of time (about 1.5 hours total) and a lot of energy, especially when it is 100 degrees outside. Plus, all the anxiety of work piling up back in the office. Once back, I had to run to CVS to get new passport photos taken, which are super unflattering, given the sweat, frizz and desperation.

This was me today, trying to reenact what I felt that day,
but it just looks like I want to fly with my hair or something..?

As I walked towards the passport office and saw a loong line of people, I remembered that my friend Jake had told me about a private company next door that also expedited passports, but for a hefty fee. I decide to go ask about costs and turnaround time, in order to compare. Turns out they charge a $150 fee, on top of the government's fee's which total $170 (passport fee + rush). So, you are essentially paying two rush fees, but it takes two minutes and they guarantee same day renewal if submitted before 9am and if not, next business day (sounds like a dry cleaner). Lord! A ton of money on top of all of our trip expenses. Matt and I agreed it was best to give the regular passport agency a shot and otherwise go back to that place. I went to stand in line, which eventually lead me to a metal detector (not sure exactly why that is necessary there) and then had to go to a counter, where I was given a piece of paper that said "A-18, expected wait time 23 minutes". Not too bad, I thought.

The place was packed with frantic people just like me. I waited and waited and waited, while praying for some free wi-fi, to pass the time, but it never happened. I kept staring at the screen, that announced who was up next and it seemed very unpromising. After an hour, I had not even seen the letter "A" once! I got up and decided to ask the most friendly looking employee how much longer she thought it might be. She explained that the A's are for those who did not make an appointment and that they only squeeze in between those who did and that 6 out of the 10 people that process passports were on break ("indefinitely"), so it would probably be a few more hours. So much for 23 minutes...! Filled with frustration and hunger, I decided to leave. First of all, I didn't have a few more hours, I was due at work. Secondly, no one had even been able to guarantee that my passport would be ready by my date of travel. Thirdly, I heard that when you come pick up your passport, you have to stand in line again. Yes, again.

While the place next door is in a good location, the locale itself is not very impressive (left picture). It's actually a bit dingy, which did not give me much confidence. They guaranteed that my new passport would be ready by 4pm on Monday and asked me to pay them directly and then write a separate check for the State Department. It was so painful. As I was leaving, I was trying to come up with Plan B, C and D in case my passport was not ready on Monday, as promised. I called Matt and he was was a bit worried about the legitimacy of this business, but knew that it was probably our best bet. I was fairly confident that if this place was a scam, word would have gotten out and they would not be allowed in such a prominent area and more importantly, right next to the actual passport agency. However, he did freak me out a bit, so all I could think to do, was call the number on the receipt they gave me and say, "I'm sorry to call, I just dropped my passport off for renewal, I have a quick question: are you guys legit?" His answer, "We would not jeopardize our reputation for $150 dollars, so yes". Okidok, thanks for that reassurance sir.

On Monday, I showed up at 3:45pm and the gentleman told me that my passport was not there and I had to wait. I was definitely sweatin' it. However, around 4:20pm, the other employee walked over from next door with a handful of passports in her possession and handed me mine, telling me to "check it". As I carefully examined it, I wondered what exactly I was checking? That my name was spelled correctly? Accurate date of birth? Do passports have watermarks? How many pages should they have? I figured I would travel with both passports just in case. I still do not understand how their business works. Do they have a private contract with the official passport agency? Do they process these passports for them after hours? Does the State Department gain anything from all this? 

It's a mystery; but I'm very happy to tell you that while I am drastically poorer as a result, I had no issues at the airport. Hope none of you ever have to go through this; if you are not in a rush, these are the normal channels: Renew Passport.

In the end, it was undoubtedly well worth it! Katie just received some pictures from her photographer and shared these with us -

Love how we are all laughing and covering our mouths for some reason :)



Doudouce, Sofia, Katie and Lauren


Have a good evening and weekend!