“A lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.”
My former commanding officer in the U.S. Air Force had that quote boldly emblazoned on a plaque on his desk. Today that is quite vivid in my mind as I find myself in a dilemma of my own making.
My Double Whammy Passport Dilemma
I’ve had trips on the calendar for months. A lot of them. And they are spaced out such that I really cannot surrender my passport for more than a few days at a time in order to obtain visas.
As I look at the next 30 days, the math simply doesn’t work. I need to obtain a visa that will take several days and I don’t have a window in which to surrender my passport.
But this issue gets more complicated.
I was in Germany last week and received a good lecture from the passport control agent upon leaving the country.
Why?
I’m out of space in my current passport, which is less than five years old. Yep, all 52 pages have been filled with stamps, mostly from Germany…
That was unexpected. Word to self: next time, check your darn passport. The U.S. no longer adds extra pages to a passport, meaning my only solution is to renew it early.
The Plan: Two New Passports
I don’t see much of a choice other than to renew my existing passport and request a second one at the same time. I say request because you are allowed to hold a second passport, but under limited circumstances, including:
- Multiple international trips which require a visa
- Stamps in your passport that may result in denied entry to another country
- A job which requires frequent travel (e.g. flight attendants, pilots, journalists)
I’d say I qualify for all three in this case, though it will still be up to the State Department to accept or deny my request.
Since I have travel…this week…I am going to head down to the National Passport Center in Los Angeles and attempt to secure two same-day passports.
CONCLUSION
Whether I succeed in obtaining both passports, it will be an interesting experience to apply for a passport in-person. I’ll cover my outcome in detail here.
Isn’t it time for you to apply for German citizenship based on your wife status? Having extra citizenship saves a lot of time and hassle.
Doesn’t work that way, he needs to reside in Germany continuously for 3 years…
Well, it might be different in Germany but my wife got her Italian citizenship from me and she never lived in Italy. Although one needs to be married to an Italian for more than 3 years to request it.
That applies to some countries, like Italy, France, Malta, and Portugal, where you can get citizenship by being married to a citizen of that country for X amount of years, regardless of where you live.
But for others, like the UK, Germany, the Nordic European countries, Canada, and the US, you have to reside in that country even if you are married to a citizen of that country.
I was under the impression that there were still circumstances where Sweden granted Swedish citizenship to foreign spouses of Swedish citizens without having a Swedish residency requirement. Like living in a third country with a Swedish spouse for ten years.
About US citizens getting a second US passport with overlapping validity in substantial part, it’s not that difficult to get two if credibly having a need for two such passports. It’s also been possible to get three (or even four) valid US passports with overlapping validity in substantial part.
That’s not 100% true, I’m a dual US/Germany citizen due to being a descendant of a Holocaust victim. I’ve never set foot in Germany (that’s changing this year, but I digress).
@Erica:
Holocaust victims have their own special law (or as you said, had). The majority of people who obtain German citizenship need to reside within that country for a certain period of time. People like Matthew, who are married to German citizens, only have to reside for 3 years (the usual requirement is 8 years). There are other exceptions where the amount of years is reduced, but basically, unless you or your ancestors where victims of the Nazis, you are going to have to reside in Germany for a certain period of time.
@Aaron and @Matthew:
My wife is dual German/US and we live in Germany. Everything I found said that as of right now, the only way to have dual citizenship (other than the laws for Holocaust victims you mention, which I have no idea about) is if you are born with dual. So if I apply for German citizenship, I would have to hand over my US passport (I assume Matthew would have to do the same). I have friends who have had to do this. The only exception is a friend from a country that would persecute him or his family if he gave up his passport, so he was allowed to keep it. Am I wrong?
@Paul
Yes and no. From this website:
“German law generally discourages dual citizenship, but it does not always require that applicants renounce their citizenship before becoming German. Citizens of other EU member states have the right to dual citizenship inside the bloc.
Another exception is made for refugees, who represent a growing share of dual nationals.
According to Die Welt, in 2017 not a single naturalized German from Iran (2,689), Syria (2,479), Afghanistan (2,400), Morocco (2,390), Tunisia (1,125), Algeria (462), Lebanon (1,294) and Nigeria (954) gave up their original nationality.
One reason for the rising rate of dual nationals is that a number of countries where refugees come from do not allow or make it extremely difficult to give up citizenship.
That is the case with countries such as Afghanistan, Syria, Lebanon, Eritrea, Iran, Nigeria, Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia.”
https://www.dw.com/en/dual-citizenship-granted-to-most-naturalized-germans/a-45030118
Now, per the wikipedia page on German nationality laws, it claims
“There are exceptions made for citizens of countries that do not allow their citizens to renounce their citizenship (§ 12 Abs. 1 StAG) (e.g., Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Costa Rica; the following jus-soli countries allow renunciation only if the citizenship was acquired involuntarily by birth there to non-citizen parents: Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Uruguay), or if the renunciation process is too difficult, humiliating or expensive (e.g., Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Cuba, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Morocco, Nigeria, Syria, Thailand, Tunisia, USA), or, rarely, in individual cases if the renunciation of the old citizenship means enormous disadvantages for the concerned person.”
However, all of that is not cited, so not sure if the part about the same applying to citizens of the US is true or not. I guess we will know if and when Matthew tries…
@Aaron,
Thank you very much for the detailed answer! Yes, I knew the part about refugees and those who do not allow renunciation, but I was surprised to see the US on the list of “too difficult, humiliating, or expensive.” Maybe when I have been here for three years I will try it and see. Thanks again!
You can hold two US passports and you are complaining. My daughter born in this country and the Department of State would not give her a passport. It is just because she has a delayed birth certificate.
@Santastico: I am working on it. Aaron is correct that I have to live there continuously. That may happen…
Use Peninsula Visa services in DTLA. They are the best at this sort of thing; even in a short time frame. They WILL get it done. The center in Westwood will likely give you a big bureaucratic “no”- just an FYI
1. Always have 2 passports
2. Have dual citizenship and 2 passports. Common sense. It stinks they do not put extra pages in US pasports anymore.
passport center in San Diego works a lot faster in my experience.
You are lucky u live in the Los Angeles area. The Wiltshire federal building is actually in a nice area with a nice parking lot. They are also nice at the office. You will waste a few hours, but will walk out with a passport. Imagine what a different story it would be if one lived in Visalia.
Wiltshire when in England. Wilshire in LA
I used to reside in Arkansas and we didn’t have a single location in the entire state where one could even interview for Global Entry, let alone acquire a same day passport. In a country the size of the United States, the benefit of the amenities available to residents of large cities cannot be understated.
Neglect for things like this for people in places like Arkansas, Visalia, etc probably plays a part in why so many Americans are seen much more provincial than many of our European counterparts.
At the same time, in a country the size of the United States, it is shameful that only a few states matter when deciding the presidential election. One of the benefits available to residents outside of large cities is their vote counts for more than residents of large cities.
The National Passport Center is available for everyone to use, regardless of where you live. And Global Entry interviews can be conducted upon landing at most international gateways.
“One of the benefits available to residents outside of large cities is their vote counts for more than residents of large cities.”
That’s not really the case anymore. Take a look at Illinois for example. In 2016, Hillary Clinton won a grand total of 12 of the state’s 102 counties – yet won the state’s popular vote by 17.1%, because the 12 counties she won were largely urban, and she ran up huge margins in them. For better or worse, politics at the state level are now largely controlled by the urban centers in those states. The issue of a few states mattering in presidential elections is more a function of most states having insurmountable partisan leans. I.e. there are only a handful of states where the vote is close enough to matter.
@Jerry-
Arkansas *has* a Passport Center, located in Hot Springs. Was there over the holidays to replace a stolen passport. Happy New Year, right?
Very helpful folks there. Before the official application review process, the agent went over everything I needed to have for my appointment, held my appointment open while I completed a hardcopy form that I thought was submitted electronically (hint, if you apply for a lost/stolen passport replacement, print a copy of the DS-64 to submit with your paperwork, the electronic submission is only half the reporting process), and for me to run back to Kinkos (they don’t do photos at the Arkansas Passport Center) for a new photo, first photo they took was determined to be too washed out. Moving from California, this experience is *not at all* what I’m used to at government offices…think of all the DMV horror stories you hear about, they are true 🙁
Being 9 days out from an international flight, I didn’t qualify for same day service, and they recommended against paying extra for overnight delivery to my address; it would be processed and in the mail within 24 hours. Still pretty good timing for the ‘slow’ expedited options!
TLDR: had a Thursday morning appointment at Hot Springs Passport Center. My new passport was delivered on Saturday, via USPS Priority Mail, in Tulsa — impressive, I was told to expect it Monday 🙂
I thought they have 3 sizes of passport, regular, large, extra-large. I use those terms, not the government. I have a large passport, which I think is 52 pages. Ask for the extra-large one next time.
I could be wrong and only 2 sizes available.
Also since you have to get visas often, you have the need to have two passports. If you can get 2 extra-large ones, that’s about the equivalent to 6-8 regular passports.
Bon voyage!
I wish there was extra large, but there is just 26 and 52 page sizes, nothing larger.
When something is rare, people hoard. I am guilty. When passport pages would no longer be added, I requested one right before the deadline (because rare things cause hoarding).
I did have a possible need for it. In the end, if I didn’t get it, One or two stamps would have had to partly cover another stamp or the last two non-visa pages would have had to be used. In the end, a few stamps were placed in the addendum. I added pages as a souvenir of what life used to be for the same reason that I keep a few paper tickets from the early 2000’s.
Isnt the LA Passport Center closed/not processing passports currently and people are being directed to the SanDiego Center?
Nope. I was served by them this morning.
So did you get your 2 passports?
I find many Europeans to be at least as provincial as many of my fellow Americans. It’s just that Americans have some kind of popular notion of Europe as being more “cosmopolitan” and “sophisticated” when really it’s not except in the heads of those who want to see it that way. Sure, contemporary American entertainment is widely consumed in Europe while contemporary European entertainment is more of a niche dynamic: and, sure, regional vacations are more likely having Europeans hearing a foreign language and maybe even speaking one or two; but some of the most provincial people I’ve ever met have vacationed in two or three continents and spoke at least two or three languages and yet were no more accepting open-minded (and actually are way less accepting and open-minded) to the ways of others than what I find in say rural parts of the Upper Midwest where many a person may not have even been to the neighboring state, let alone abroad.
The notion that well-travelled people and polyglots can’t be provincial and bigoted against others and other ways flies in the face of what I’ve encountered.
You would think that, in 2020, we could figure out a method by which you don’t have to relinquish your passport for weeks at a time while waiting for a new passport or visa.
I like the Israeli system: no stamp in the passport but gives a printed ticket as a memento of the stay. Egypt is worst: full-page sticker for every overnight stay at the airport, taking up space as well as inviting unwanted scrutiny on arrival in some other countries.
I ask immigration officers to try to use the gaps rather than stamp a new page; they always accommodate politely, no matter which country.
I usually put the visa sticker in myself in Egypt right after buying it, that way I can be strategic about it’s placement. Never been an issue.
Can you put the new one over the old? I’d prefer to do that if possible.
As someone living in Stockholm, Sweden but spending a lot of time in the US and abroad, I often complain about everything from our high taxes to our lack of Walmart, but I always feel a bit better when reading things like this and listening to Americans describing their dealings with the government. I just renewed my EU passport: 1) booking an appointment at the local police office online, 2) spending literally three minutes at the police office with no wait and 3) collecting my new passport two days later (I got to keep my old passport while waiting).
Let us know how it works out
If you can demonstrate both visa require and immediate future travel, the folks at national passport agency are extremely helpful. I received my current passport in an hour. Just make sure to a) book an appointment and b) have itinerary available to demonstrate future travel. Potential travel does not count.
I had a similar issue (more visa focused than lack of pages) but was able to obtain a second passport very easily. One thing I’ll recommend is to have a letter printed to give them Explaining the reasons citing specifics. I didn’t know I needed this and literally hand wrote one while standing at the window in DC. Email or FB me if you have any more questions, very familiar with the process.
I think I’m missing the ‘dilemma’ part of this issue?