Wife and I applied today. We'll see how long it takes.

That and my wallet is $320 lighter now...

So, Hunter, where ya guys going?

Re your $320, I forget what the topic was, but I had some email questions for the US citizens section of the US Embassy in Tokyo, maybe six or seven years ago, while living in Japan. As I recall, they wanted me to pay something just to answer my questions! This, when I am paying US taxes out the kazoo, the US being one of the very few countries in the world that requires citizens to pay income taxes when living and earning income abroad...

And I was paying Japanese taxes out the kazoo at the time, too, but at least the Japanese did not try to charge me, additionally and piecemeal, for asking their government questions and expecting answers.

(Nowadays, fortunately, my income in retirement is greatly reduced, so my dual country income taxes are not as excessive as they used to be.)

in 1971 I paid $10 for my passport at the Frankfurt Consulate

A passport is a great form of identification to keep, even if you never travel outside the U.S. And you never know, you may decide to you need to flee the country someday...

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Common sense isn't so common.

$320 for a passport now...............

forget it.

I'll stay in the good old US of A.

That's for two. One person should be 145, or 175 if you also get the card, which I do. Still a lot.

Last time I renewed, I got the card.
Still haven’t used it!
I've been within sight of several Mexico entry points but haven’t gone across in several years.
I have so close - how close?
I got a text message which said, Welcome to Mexico!
Then they Gave me Mexico cell call prices.

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NRA LIFE MEMBER

I applied this spring, took 4-weeks folks at local post office very helpful.

Cruise in January. 7 nights, west carribbean, Mexico, Belize, Honduras.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

Road Trip.....let us know where to meet you and when! PS...where we going?

My first passport cost $15 circa early - mid '70s IIRC. In today's dollars that's about a hundred bucks. So what you paid is not too far out of line. I had to pay a couple bucks extra to have my picture taken at some drugstore that did passport pictures. I think the P.O. does that now. I've got to go get a new passport soon. At our P.O. you have to make an appointment.

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You're shy a few manners.

Belize is a pain. Tender in from a long ways out, not much to do but the touristy dock area with Senor Frogs and a minor indoor shopping area or a day on a small outlying island with a bar and a beach, and then tender again to the touristy dock area. out the back door of the shopping area, looks like a bomb went off. Very poor and very violent country. Get ya’ a Belikan beer, though. Not too bad . . .

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Wisdom comes thru fear . . .

I haven't needed a passport since I visited Russia in 2003. If I ever renew my passport, it will be for taking my son to Italy. It won't be anytime soon. He has no interest.

Now we know why the protestors are still here, too cheap to buy a passport to leave for Canada.

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S&WHF 366

Passport renewal is $110. I am getting ready to send mine in. My old passport doesn't expire until next February, but we have some travel plans for this December and they recommend having a passport that doesn't expire within 6 months.

Quite a few miles on that old passport, trip to Belize, two cruises, and five different trips to Europe. Plus the fact that I have used it exclusively as ID when flying domestically.

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Only a cold warrior

Got mine reissued in Australia once. Took 15 minutes and no charge.
Only hassle was I had to go all the way to Sydney from Cairns to get it.

Your trip to Honduras should be to Roatan/ Bay islands... Don’t want to be on the mainland — bad place. Belize — Ambergris Caye and Caye Caulker are both good. Belize city is sketchy to janky, but has some interesting and fun stuff.
Have a good trip.

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Halfway and one more step

I had thought about getting a passport just for the heck of it...in case I ever need to go to Canada or Mexico in a hurry, BUT if they cost that much, I think I'll pass. BTW do those folks from Central America buy passports before they hitch up with the migrant caravan and cross our borders uninvited? IMO it is kind of messed up if I have to pay $$ to leave my own country, but they are allowed to come here totally free.

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Smith. And Wesson. And Me!

My last passport, a renewal, took about two weeks.

I'm 60 years old and don't have a passport. The only other country I've been to is Canada, just a bit North from where we live in Central New York. I've just never had a desire to travel overseas but I do plan on getting a passport at some point. My 27 year old son and his girlfriend have vacationed in France, Morocco, Thailand, and Mexico.

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'Merica!

My most recent passport is expired now, but it had a lot of mikes's on it. Multiple trips to England and Russia, trips to Turkey, Greece, Czech Republic, Belgium, France, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Austria, Hungary, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland....

Some countries require that you send your passport to their embassies for a visa. When I went to Turkey, for example, I mailed my passport to the Turkish embassy in Washington, and they glued in a visa, and mailed the passport back to me. Russia wanted my passport in order to grant a visa....this has been a few years ago, procedures may have changed. You might want to check the web sites of various countries embassies befor traveling to see what requirements may be in place.

Best Regards, Les

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SWCA 3084, SWHF 495, PGCA 3064

I agree Belize is very 3rd world but one nice thing is that everyone there speaks English.
It's been said many people from here retire there but I wouldn't do it.

In Belize we took about a 1-1/2 hr. bus ride to zip line and do an underground river inner tube cave thing. Pretty cool.
In Honduras we took a Boss submersible excursion. Kind of like an underwater moped.
BOSS Underwater Adventure
Had a ball!

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Who are those guys?

The Passport card is only $30 per person and works fine for travel to Canada, Mexico, and the Carribean.

I applied for a passport in Feb of this year, don't think it took 3 weeks.

What bothers me is the driver's license in OH. Now you have to upgrade it if you want to buy airline tickets. Having the passport it supposedly is good for 3 of the 5 requirements for the new license leaving the SS card and utility bills.

Where is our freedom? The trip I made in April to St. Maarten made me realize foreigners are treated better than citizens when returning to the US.

Well, US citizens cannot be turned away from coming into the country, but they also tend to be the most arrogant ones out there. All US citizenship means is you will be allowed back in... most think that you are exempt from inspection. That is not the case. Have contraband in your baggage/on your person, you’ll be let in... and also allowed to try out some very fashionable bracelets.

You still have your freedom... border search authority does not infringe on the 4th Amendment.

Aliens tend to have their stuff in order, since you can be barred from entry just for that reason alone. But they also have to be inspected.

I have had a passport since 1974 with renewals of course. I won't be without one as it is the most valid form of federal ID you can own and I can leave the USA any time I want/ need to. When I lived in the UK in 2016-2019 I had a brand new passport renewed in Jan 2016. I did so much travel that year to Germany from England mostly, but other countries as well, that I filled up the 22 page stamp section and had to get a new one in January of 2017. I got that at the Consulate in Edinborough and went with the extra 54 page passport this time. In 2015 they changed the law about filled up passports. You used to just be able to order a new set of stamp pages for a free or a very nominal fee IIRC. But they changed the law to having to get an entire new passport if you filled it. For security they claim... I think it was so they could extract more $$ from people.
Anyway, 2Xs I have renewed a new passport while outside the USA and it is much easier and faster than getting one from inside the US. Both times 2007 and 2017 Jordan and The UK I had it in less than 1 week.
Interesting factoid: In the USA about 27% of folks hold a US pasport. Briton, Canada , Australia is around 60-75%. I think western Europe is very high too. The number has jumped significantly since Canada requires one now. Interesting article on why so few have a passport. The Europeans and UK think we just don't like to travel. But that is not so as this article bears out.
One huge difference is the anount of free time or vacation Americans have vs other countries.
Off The Grid: Why Americans Don't Travel Abroad :: Travel :: Paste

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John 1:17
NRA Life Benefactor

The identification forms required for a brand new passport have become much more strict since 9/11. Don't let your passport expire, renewal is much easier than applying for a new one.

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Common sense isn't so common.

"Recommend" is a poor choice of words. There are many countries that will allow you in only if your passport will be valid until the last possible day of your tourist visit, normally a 6 months limit (for most). Hence the get it renewed early "advice".

I had more than one case where an employee could not travel overseas because their passport was not valid long enough for the country I needed to send them to.

Eventually I asked HR to monitor expiration dates, and pay for renewals if done between 6-12 months of expiration, even if no travel was on the immediate books.

I spent some time trying to help an elderly English lady who was born on the ship as her parents immigrated to the US before the war. She was admitted as "infant, female". She is a US citizen, but without just the right birth documents. She was applying for her first passport (about 2005, I think), and was denied for a list of reasons all tying to that birth on the ship.

We were never able to get her a passport, and she never saw her extended family in the UK.

Low number of passport holders in the U.S. doesn’t surprise me at all. It takes 15 hours to drive through Texas, and all day to fly to LAX just to start a trip to Tokyo.
I can ride a bus from UK to France for lunch for heavens sakes, and a train ride through six countries in Europe in a day.
London is a bit expensive.

Randy Newman thought:
“Asia’s too crowded
Europe’s too old
Africa is far too hot
And Canada’s too cold
They all hate us, anyhow...”

Everyone (just about) wants to come to America, but travel broadens.

Mark Twain said:
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.”

Some of the reasons I’ve travelled to foreign countries did little to dispel those things Mark Twain mentions, but made it apparent to me that Americans aren’t the only ones that lack the qualities he mentions.

So keep those passports up to date and collect stamps from all 194 foreign countries!

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Halfway and one more step

Is this some sort of Epcot thing going on? Didn’t know there was a bridge across the English Channel.

They's a tunnel under it . . .

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Wisdom comes thru fear . . .

I rest my case...

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Halfway and one more step

Mine was expired for 15 years and I applied for a new one. I don't consider a 3 week wait all that bad. I also had to supply a birth certificate because I was filing as new.

What I considered bad was the city closed the office where I had to apply requiring me to travel to a branch office 15 miles away where major road construction was going on. Of course then you can throw in the requirement that the form be filled out in black ink and I used blue. Just more examples of our government working against us instead of for.

You cannot drive/ bus across or under the chunnel. Train only. You can ferry across on a train or you can ferry by boat.
In reality a 2.5 hour train ride on the High Speed Eurostar to Paris from London. Thats at 185MPH. If you bus or drive it takes about 8 hours with the ferrying eating up most of that.
Europe is a bit larger than we sometimes think.
You can do 6 countries in 24 hours if you plan a specific route to do so. But I travelled by car from London to Rome. It's a 22 hour drive non stop over 1000 miles and you have to ferry the channel.

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John 1:17
NRA Life Benefactor

Potato, potahtoe. You start on a bus on one side, it loads on the train, you get back on the same bus on the other side, and then you go to lunch.

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Wisdom comes thru fear . . .

We have had passports for years, in fact ready to get our third.

I had to go to the states DMV office about our new driver license and as proof I brought my passport in case it was needed. It was not, surprisingly as this is the peoples republic of NY.

The passport was in my rear pocket and all the paperwork I got from the clerk including my DL I put in the console and went on to my next stop.

I was gong to a branch of my bank to withdraw some money. (My bank of which I hold stock in) has a strict you must show proof in order to get money out.

As I said my license was in the car so I whipped out my passport and gave it to the rather young looking teller.

After a few seconds she went into a deer in the headlights look and said this is no good I need your DL. I then said perhaps you should call the manager over. She did and the manager looked at it and said to the teller this is much better than a DL give him his money. She needed to get some money from the vault and the manager apologized to me, said something like good help is hard to find.

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14 S&W Revs none with locks!

My second career requires me to live and travel abroad. My passport is sacrosanct, definitely don’t want to lose it. Once in country I leave my passport in my condo or hotel room safe and carry my passport card as a source of ID. Luckily I’ve never had to use it, but it’s comforting to have. Some folks like to carry a color copy of their passport, but for me the card makes good sense.

I guess I should have been more specific. I’m familiar with it. But you’re right, there isn’t a bridge.
Travellers break world record after visiting 19 European countries in just ONE DAY | Daily Mail Online

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Halfway and one more step

Bus? Don't you mean Motor Coach?

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Only a cold warrior

Motor coach, chunnel, le bus. In that order
London to Paris Day Trip | Eurostar

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Halfway and one more step

I would worry that local law enforcement would not recognize a passport card, outside of Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean for which it is designed. I also think the countries you visit must have reciprocal no visa requirement agreements with the US for short term visits. (I assume passport cards are not stamped upon entry, which a country requiring a visa would do, and the authorities would check.)

I like the idea of the passport card, but since it is not accepted by Japan, which is my back and forth travel, or in Europe, which I am considering revisiting, it does not seem useful in my case.

Might be useful for frequent domestic flyers whose state DL’s are behind on the Real ID requirement.

When I became a US citizen many years ago after having lived here for another many years as a legal resident, I immediately got not just a passport, but also the card.

The latter wasn’t for international travel, but because so many folks, including employers, agencies, people I bought guns from, etc. knew me as a non-citizen, and having the card in my wallet was the easiest way to always be able to show that I was a citizen now.

Us folks who like to go to Mexico, even if we’re too Chicken to go!
Or Canada, should get the Card.
When I was recently in Douglas, AZ about 1/2 Mile from the Border, I had my card with me but didn’t cross over.

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NRA LIFE MEMBER

I put my renewal in the mail today, sent it Priority mainly for the tracking. Let's see how long it takes.

I carry my Passports (yes, plural, US & Canadian) on my person, depending on where I am they are in a neck wallet. I also have color copies in my suitcase, as well as pdf copies on my smartphone.

It wasn't long ago that most foreign hotels would "safeguard" your Passport upon check-in, and return it to you upon departure after settling up accounts. I have only had this happen once recently, about 3 years ago at a "hostel" (called a hostel, but with a private room and en suite facilities) in rural Extremadura, Spain.

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Only a cold warrior

How much tax you pay is written down. How much you pay for 'fees' is not. Hence, charge whatever the traffic will bear. How much is it worth to you to be able to travel out of the country?

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

That’s very true. I have “been told” of people charging up to a thousand dollars for a US passport in Mexico. But you have to get it “fixed” at another place that they won’t disclose until after you pay the grand.
Now a Mexican passport is less....

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Halfway and one more step

Re “motor coach,” I think he meant lorry.

You can "renew" your passport up to five years after it expires. I recently renewed my 3 year expired passport with no problem. Went to the county clerk's office to fill out the forms and get a new picture, they submitted the packet and I had my new passport in the mail in 3 weeks.

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- Change it back -

Two weeks in and nothing yet.