We enjoyed being with a lovely couple we met from Quebec, Canada, Gerry, and Nicole, both with thick French accents, and they also spoke English quite well. We’d met them on the ship and spent much time with them, engaging in fun activities. It’s always special to meet new people on cruises, some of whom we’ve stayed in touch with over the years.
As for today’s headline, a few days ago, it received an email from the U.S. State Department about our renewal passport application that read as follows:
(Please excuse the line spacing. Since I copied and pasted this, I was unable to format it properly).
“Dear Ms. Lyman:
Thank you for your recent passport application. To continue processing your request, please provide the
The following information: Please submit your valid passport book. Our records indicate that you applied for a passport book in 2020. If you do not have that passport book and/or passport card in your possession, please complete, in detail, the
enclosed Form DS-64, Statement Regarding Lost or Stolen Passport, and mail the signed form to the address on this
letter. It is the policy of Passport Services to return any expired passport book and/or passport card to the
customer unless it is damaged or mutilated. To assist with processing your application, we must receive the requested information within ninety (90) days of the date shown in this letter. Please be advised that you may receive this information via email and a postal letter. Please respond to one request only. If the information is not received or is insufficient to establish your entitlement to a U.S. passport, your application may be denied, and your citizenship evidence will be returned. By law, the passport execution and application fees are non-refundable. For general passport information or to check the status of your passport application, please visit us online at travel.state.gov.
PLEASE RETURN A COPY OF THIS LETTER, ALONG WITH ALL REQUESTED INFORMATION, TO
THE ADDRESS LISTED ABOVE INCLUDES THE +4 ZIP CODE.”
Of course, as I breezed through this text, I panicked a little and then slowed down and read it more thoroughly before I said anything to Tom.
Upon applying for the passport renewal, we called CIBT, the company we’re using, and explained that:
a. Our ten-year passports expired in 2022.
b. Our four-year second passports were going to expire in January 2024.
Since we began traveling in 2012, we’ve had three passports so far:
- Our first 10-year passport – expired
- A second 2-year passport – expired
- A third 4-year year passport – expires in January 2024
As we’ve explained in the past, we got second passports to enable us to mail in one of the passports when applying for visas (when required) and still have a valid passport in our possession which should always be the case. One should never be in a foreign country without a valid passport in their possession.
When we initially spoke to the online rep, we asked which passport we should mail to them; the expired ten-year or the active four-year. We were each applying for a 10-year renewal. They instructed us to send in the expired ten-year passports, which we did, which our multiple required documents.
Later, we were assigned a new rep, Arturo, and he assumed we had everything needed to apply for the renewal. This was incorrect. We should have sent in our active four-year passports with the application documents. I called Arturo immediately, and he apologized for the misunderstanding.
He sent me an email with a new FedEx paid label, which we needed to get to the FedEx store as soon as possible and mail him the four-year passport we did on Friday morning. He will receive them on Monday and will continue with the application process, assuring us we shouldn’t worry.
We’ll wait and see when we’ll get the new passports within a few weeks. We are glad we started this process so much earlier than our June 20 appointment. We feel confident, in any case, we’ll have the passports in plenty of time for our departure on July 28.
Tonight we’re going to the Havana Country Club for dinner. It looks like a great place to go on a Saturday night, and the menu looks good for both of us. Tomorrow, we’ll share photos.
Be well.
Photo from ten years ago today, June 10, 2013:
