<p>cbreeze - that is one story that I wouldn’t like to hear about until AFTER the fact! </p>
<p>^^ Since we live on the opposite coast, I didn’t hear about it until weeks after. I was impressed he was able to make the trip and kudos to the employees at the Passport office in Philadelphia who did their best to help him out.</p>
<p>I know that the OP got her passports - phew! This is just an FYI - this is a recommended link listed on the official site of the Toronto Marathon advising the US runners that they need passports to get into Canada:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.rushmypassport.com/”>http://www.rushmypassport.com/</a></p>
<p>^^You can also use an enhanced driver’s license if you are crossing by land or sea. Not valid for air travel.</p>
<p>Ours have come back with no holes punched. My H and I have “saved” our since the 70s for sentimental reasons. My youngest renewed his a couple years ago and his expired one, too, came back with no holes punched, perhaps they punch when it’s not expired? I always waited until the month they expired to renew since it always worked out with our travel plans. </p>
<p>Yes, of course, good point, but it is limited to Canada only. The point of my post was that this company offers a 24-hr passport service, and since it is officially recommended by the organizers of a major marathon, it sounds like a legit option for a US citizen who needs a passport - pronto. Could be an (expensive!) option for someone who cannot have an easy access to a Passport Agency and needs a passport in a day. Still cheaper than cancellation of travel!</p>
<p>My son goes to college near the Canadian border so we made sure to get him one of those passport cards. Seems like a smart idea for anyone that’s within driving distance of a border. His college actually reimburses all sophomores (or maybe it’s freshman) for the cost of a passport if they have a B average at the end of the year. When he got his new passport his old one was returned with a hole punched. Maybe the hole punch thing is done in some regions and not others?</p>
<p>How do you get an enhanced driver’s license??? </p>
<p>In Michigan I’m pretty sure you can get them at the same place you get your license. (In Michigan it’s called the Secretary of States office. </p>
<p>I think this is the Ohio website. <a href=“U.S. Passport Card & Enhanced Driver License | DMV.ORG”>http://www.dmv.org/driving-abroad/passport-license.php</a></p>
<p>Looks like the enhanced license is not available in Ohio yet. This would be a nice option for us as we drive across the border to Canada often. Not a big deal, but would be nice not to have to lug the passports with us each time. H has a Nexus card, but not the rest of us. </p>
<p>‘We have to renew our youngest D’s passport card to a regular passport’</p>
<p>If this passport card was issued to a child, you cannot renew by mail. If the child is still a child, the child and ‘all’ parents need to appear (or have a notarized statement from non-attending parent) at a passport processing center (post office, county clerk). If the child is now an adult, he/she can appear alone.</p>
<p>^^^ that’s me - we always process through the post office - didn’t really know there was another way! And yes, we will both be present. :)</p>
<p>This thread was extra timely. We went to get our marriage license yesterday and when I opened fiance’s passport it turns out they sent his old one back and never even sent the new one, and he never opened it to check. It’s still valid so we might be okay but he’s lost over 100lbs since his photo was taken and we had major problems with his drivers license any time he was asked for ID until we updated the photo, so we wanted it done to make sure we wouldn’t run into any problems at the border. Now seeing if we can get it in time for our honeymoon in less than two weeks or if we take our chances with his old one. He called and they said it would be $60 to expedite it and didn’t say if it would come in time. </p>
<p>I am pretty freaking irritated that we have to pay to fix this when he paid to get a new passport in September and didn’t receive it, but I guess that’s what happens when you receive a passport and don’t even bother to open it. I hope they didn’t issue him a new passport and lose it. You’d like to think for something so important, in this day and age of terrorism hysteria, they couldn’t mess up a passport application this bad.</p>
<p>^^^ Where are you going? Some countries want to see your passport be valid for at least 3-6 months so you need to be careful.
<a href=“http://www.chicagonow.com/raising-world-citizens/2014/01/passport-expiration-dates-when-you-cannot-travel-on-a-valid-passport/”>http://www.chicagonow.com/raising-world-citizens/2014/01/passport-expiration-dates-when-you-cannot-travel-on-a-valid-passport/</a></p>
<p>Emaheevul, Did your fiancee get his passport done through an expediter? When we were figuring our problem out last week I noticed that some of those services had a guarantee that you would get the passport by a certain amount of time. Good luck on getting the updated one quickly!</p>
<p>I talked to someone at the passport office a little bit ago and mine was supposedly processed at 10:30 this morning so we should get both of them tomorrow. They wouldn’t tell me about my husband’s, but I’m assuming they did them together. </p>
<p>I have no idea who he called and am having in trouble getting him to take this seriously, he just wants to take his chances with the old photo. I did look up St. Lucia’s requirements and it says “you should ensure your passport has a minimum of six months validity before traveling.” I don’t know if that’s recommended or required, or if that means 6 months prior or six months after. Fiance’s passport is valid until at least September but I can’t remember if that’s 2014 or some later year. I can’t believe the passport people messed this up! They took my money and sent him back his old passport! If he’d gotten his in September when he ordered it we’d both be fine regardless of how this 6 month thing is interpreted. </p>
<p>Some countries require that the passport be valid for six months AFTER the trip. Better check this.</p>
<p>Emaheevul - Last year my husband went to renew his passport and they wouldn’t do it because it had more than a year before expiration. Maybe that was the issue with your finance’s passport. Is it possible they simply ripped up the check and returned the still valid passport? Does it have holes punched in it?</p>
<p>It does not have holes punched in it but I did not get refunded. It does look like it doesn’t expire until 2018 after all so it should be okay and maybe that is the problem, but then they should have refunded me-- and it would have been nice if somebody had said something. They just sent us an empty envelope with the old passport in it and kept my money.</p>
<p>Hopefully the completely unrecognizable picture won’t be an issue. He is a bodybuilder now and in his 20’s and in his photo he looked like a 300lb 45 year old. I am going to have a meltdown if anybody gives us a hard time. We took a new picture, made the appointment, brought it in, and paid for a new passport and they refused to give it to us. There is nothing else I can do apparently. Before we updated his drivers license people were refusing his ID because they thought it was fake or stolen, I did not want to have to worry about this at customs.</p>
<p>When I’ve renewed my passport, they’ve always sent back the old one separately from the new one.</p>