Passport issue

So....passport service here in the USA is pretty much at a halt. I am “scheduled” to travel to the BVI in November and my passport is up April 2021....makes me a bit nervous. Anyone out there get in with one that was under 6 months from renewal???

I would just send it in now. We have guests scheduled for December but had a passport expiring in February. They sent it in for renewal on May 28th and got it back in 5 weeks. Not sure when in November you're traveling but you have at least 14 weeks.

FYI - I just read that the BVI only requires your passport be valid for the duration of your stay. It's really the airlines that seem to give people grief.

Thanks for this, Jason! There are updates on the US Passport site that warn that they are only processing requests for “life or death” travel at this point and that it could quite a while before people see the return of their passport if they send it in so I am a bit nervous. We are flying in and out of St. Thomas so I am not worried about the airlines on this one - it was the clearing in at RT or West End that concerned me.

Here is the link about passport requirements but you take the risk of getting a grumpy immigration officer when you arrive.

Similar info from US Department of State

I think I’d risk the grumpy officer before sending off my passport right now with no guarantee of getting it back anytime soon...

I think you can renew without sending in your old one, it is just a little more involved.

Good to know - I will look into it!

Huhm, never heard of that. I thought you always had to send in the old passport.

I guess you could claim it is lost.

Commit perjury, in other words?? Yikes, I don't think so!

Don't think you want to do that. When the immigration officer scans your passport it will come up on the system as being lost. And then you get to follow the kind agent into the back room.

Winterstale - if it was me I would not take the chance to get it screwed up. Since you are traveling to STT (airlines won't care) and BVI just needs a valid passport I would do the renewal after getting back from the trip. I don't see any upside to doing it before, i.e., as far as the BVI is concerned you have a valid passport now and a new one will be no more valid that the current one.

Would that happen when you present the new replacement passport? Not that I think lying is a good idea....more just curious if everyone who looses a passport and applies and receives a new one has to go to the back room.

We traveled to the BVI with just a few weeks left on my wife's passport, and had no problem. Here's an old TTOL thread on the subject:

http://www.traveltalkonline.com/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/131598

Dan

If renewing by mail, you MUST send it in with the renewal application. If you are renewing in person, it seems you don't need to. It states the reasons why you MUST submit an application in person, listing a lost or damaged passport as one reason, but I never saw anything that required you turn it in if you were renewing in person. I think the only concern would be at what point is the passport in hand cancelled - if the passport renewal was processed just before you leave and shipped to you, could the old one no longer be valid? That would be the only concern. I'd confirm all of this, this is just what I noticed when looking at our last renewal.

I would consider it a no brainer to use your current valid passport. BVI does NOT have a requirement that the passport be valid for 6 months, etc.

My passport was stolen, hopefully I can get a new one before November.

I am in several online communities for all-inclusive resorts in Mexico and the Caribbean, including many resorts that are open to Americans right now. The passport issue is one that is discussed constantly since COVID started. Recently, people have been having luck having their congressperson's office look into where their passport is "stuck" and "helping" it along. Seems it takes 2-3 weeks from when you first reach out.

I paid extra for 'expedited' and my new passport returned in about 10 days, although this was several months ago.

The issue is if you use the passport you reported as lost/stolen. When you get a "replacement" it's a new passport with a new number, i.e, it's not a duplicate of the old one. The one that is reported as lost/stolen is flagged as such and if anyone tries to use it I'm pretty sure bad things will happen.

The renewal site now states expediting isn't possible.