Lost Passport

[cruisinfanatic]

Cruising in January and now mother can't find her passport. Online instructions seem so confusing. Anyone been through this and first steps to take. Do I need BC? Lost that too! Cost?

[keke2828]

Yes, you will need a Birth Certificate because you have to mail the original off with the application.  My boss recently went through this and he expedited it and got it in 10 days and it cost about $300 to get it that quick.  He had to make a appointment at a passport authorized post office (not all post offices do the passports).  He had to get a new photo as well.  

[Clarea]

7 minutes ago, cruisinfanatic said:

Cruising in January and now mother can't find her passport. Online instructions seem so confusing. Anyone been through this and first steps to take. Do I need BC? Lost that too! Cost?

 

If you are sailing from and returning to the same US port, then your mom can use a certified copy of her BC and a government issued photo ID for the cruise, passport is not mandatory.

[reallyitsmema]

10 minutes ago, cruisinfanatic said:

Cruising in January and now mother can't find her passport. Online instructions seem so confusing. Anyone been through this and first steps to take. Do I need BC? Lost that too! Cost?

 

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/after/lost-stolen.html

[voyager70]

I would just get a new passport.  Since you are not cruising until January you shouldn't need to have it expedited (renewed mine last year and it only took 3 weeks) but you may want to spend the extra $$ for expedited service just to be safe.  Hope it all works out for you.

 

 

[voyager70]

ETA believe I paid $115 for the renewal, I believe it was $175 or $185 to have it expedited.

 

[cindivan]

When you google “us renew passport” there are a lot of 3rd party companies that show up first (as paying advertisers) that will handle the renewal and charge you additional fees.   I don’t think there is any benefit to using them - don’t know if anyone disagrees?  So be sure you go to official US site 

 

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/apply-renew-passport/renew-by-mail.html. 

Edited October 22, 2018 by cindivan
Spelling correction

[ryano]

I wouldnt worry about expediting for one needed in January.  A friend of mine just renewed his and got it back in one week, non expedited.  Fastest Ive ever heard of

[reallyitsmema]

24 minutes ago, ryano said:

I wouldnt worry about expediting for one needed in January.  A friend of mine just renewed his and got it back in one week, non expedited.  Fastest Ive ever heard of

 

Wow, that was quick.  My DH sent his in for renewal on October 9th, status shows in process.

[Desert Cruizers]

Longest we waited on a renewal was 2 weeks. 

[cruisinfanatic]

seems that this is just like applying for a new passport (cost wise) along with another form saying it's lost or stolen

[dahirsh]

a coworker of mine was able to get hers replaced in one day but that involved getting into NYC in person two days in a row

[HOSKI]

No benefit to using those service providers you find in the search.  We recently had two passport experiences, one was my brother who didn't realize the hospital birth certificate wouldn't work so I went to the state capitol (was going for work anyway) and got him a new one then he expedited his and got it in one week.  A friend who is going with us sent hers in August and we just found out the post office lost it after she went there and had it done.  It got lost on its way to the passport agency so her original birth certificate is now missing also.  She is going back to the post office tomorrow because when she called the passport agency they told her that the post office should accept a photo copy of the birth certificate since they lost the original.  We will see if that works.  If not I'll be driving her to the state capitol for a birth certificate.  Either way she is now stuck paying the extra $60 to expedite it.

[jakers]

Always best to have a Passport. If you have to get off the ship in a foreign country and return to the USA (for any reason), you will need a passport.

[knon24]

I agree that you shouldn't have to expedite it. I got a new one at the end of September and it took about 8 days. 

[beachys]

My passport took 3 months to renew and the hubby took 8 weeks. Time can vary. 

[dwayneb236]

When I my wife and I applied for our passports it was right around the Thanksgiving holiday period.  We still got them back in around 2 weeks. Was much quicker than I expected especially considering the time of year. 

Edited October 23, 2018 by dwayneb236

[cindivan]

DH just renewed his online. He sent it in Monday (priority mail). We did expedited. Check was for $155ish. Got it back 9 days later (the following Wednesday). Crazy fast. But it does vary. Clearly do we didn’t need to pay extra for expedited, but hindsight is 20/20. 

[Alter Ego]

If the online instructions are so confusing, I would stop at a post office that processes them and ask what they need.  This is easy for me, because I know where one is nearby.  I don’t know how convenient this is in other parts of the country. If you need a birth certificate (and I assume it’s much easier to have as I’m pretty sure they are going to treat this like a new application), I would check with the relevant state/county on how to get one. Just make sure what you get is acceptable to the Passport agency.