I need advice! My passport is set to expire in March 2012... when I'm in Chile. The question is do I renew it now or do I renew it when I'm there? And there lies my conundrum.
Reasons to renew in Chile:
- It costs $110 for a new passport and then it will cost another $130 to get my visa when I enter Chile (the tourist visa is good for the life of the passport)
- If you change your name within one year of getting a new passport you can have your name changed in it for free. If it has been more than one year you would have to pay another $110 for the passport (and pay for another visa as well)
- I am planning on getting married and changing my name... but it will probably be a few months over that one year mark
-So if I can put off renewing my visa for a few months I wouldn't have to pay for my passport twice. I may still have to pay for my visa twice. But this is the main reason: I save at least $110 and I also put off having to spend $240 for awhile.
- I emailed the U.S. embassy in Santiago and they said that if I was living there and my passport expires I can renew it with them.
Reasons to renew before I leave the US:
- What if since I would not be living in Chile permanently at that point the embassy decides I broke the rules for renewing it? What are the rules for renewing your passport abroad?
- What if something goes wrong and I get deported?
- The reasons here are mostly my worries. Some are blown out of proportion I think, but they still worry me.
- Convenience. If I renew it here I can just mail in the application and a check. If I renew it in Chile I can possibly mail it in but I might have to go to Santiago (a two-hour trip) to renew it.
What do you think? Have you (or someone you know) ever renewed your passport when you were abroad? Any advice would be appreciated.
Tammy,
ReplyDeleteI know the US Embassy here in Beijing renews passports. And depending on how many visas you collect in your passport, they will also staple new pages into your passport. This is nice because it is cheaper than paying for a new passport just because you've run out of pages. Hope this helps.
That being said, my advice is to look up the US embassy or consulate in Chile and see what services they offer regarding passports. You shouldn't have much of a problem renewing your passport while there though.
Good luck,
Megan
ps. There is really nothing to worry about doing renewing your passport abroad. In fact, I sometimes find the people more understanding when your abroad than when in the US.
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