Requirements To Expedite First Time Us Passport: Fill & Download for Free

Here's my amazing story. Amazingly horrific. I apologize for the length, but thank you, if you have enough endurance to make it to the end.The year was 2010. The day was September 30 (how I remember the exact day will become relevant later in this post).It was my first time in China. My girlfriend and I booked a two-week 'sampler' tour, visiting six or seven cities in China, with Shanghai being our final stop.On the last official day, we checked into our hotel in Shanghai. Our plane would be leaving the next morning, headed back to Los Angeles.Our tour guide, who had accompanied us on most of our stops, helped our group (there were about 30 of us) to get checked into the hotel, as he did throughout the trip. He asked for our passports (I guess this is some kind of requirement in China), so he could check us in.We ate dinner at the hotel that evening, too tired to venture out into the city.After dinner, our guide caught up with us to return our passports. He returned my girlfriend's passport, but then informed me the 'hotel' had lost my passport."Huh? What? You realize I need a passport to get out of the country tomorrow, right?" "How the hell could they lose my passport? It has to be in the hotel somewhere! Go find it."The front desk staff looked high and low, searching for what must have been hours. "Go look in the copy machine. Check the video tape. It has to be somewhere!," were my 'helpful' bits of advice.It was nowhere to be found. Fuck.That evening, the tour guide and I went to the local police station to file a report. Apparently, you need this document to obtain a replacement passport.Although my (Chinese speaking) girlfriend wanted to stay with me, I told her to go home, since there was no sense in both of us being stranded. She didn't want to leave me (knowing I can't read or speak Chinese), but finally agreed.So the next day, I had to obtain two documents: 1) An emergency passport and 2) an exit Visa. Additionally, I had to purchase a replacement plane ticket, since it was clear I would be missing my flight (trying to get all the documents together).Here was the problem. October 1 is a national holiday in China. The US Embassy and Visa office are both closed down for the entire week, in observance. So, if I was not successful in getting both documents that next day, I'd be stranded in China for one week.If I bought my plane ticket, but couldn't get the documents, I'd piss away $1,000 (yes, that was the 'change' fee), because I wouldn't be able to leave the country without them. Ugh.The next day, I said goodbye to my girlfriend, then immediately went down to the Visa office with the tour guide to get there as soon as they opened. I fought the crowds but managed to fill in the required application. We showed them the police report and told them it was imperative it be issued today. They assured us it would and to come back later on in the day.So, from there, I rushed to the US Embassy. More crowds to be fought. I filled out the application, once again clearly communicating, "I need this right fricking now" (luckily I had a photocopy of my missing passport). They were pretty understanding and they said all I needed was a photo to complete the passport. "What, you don't take the photo here?" "No, but you can probably find a place to do it for you." So, I'm scrambling around town and finally find a place that will do it. An unanticipated wrench in the gears.Keep in mind, I'm running out of time and not getting served immediately when I walk through each door. There is one customer in front of me, trying to talk to the photographer about Photoshopping lint off her dress in her picture. I'm boiling mad and so impatient by this time, so I ask the tour guide to go ask if he'll quickly do this and to explain to the customer my predicament. She allows the photographer to take my picture and I get the hell out of there and run back to the Embassy.I return to the Embassy with my photo and they quickly process my 'temporary' passport.Whew! Step 1. Mission accomplished.We then rush off to the physical office of the airlines. For some reason, they couldn't do this over the telephone. I go there and there are more lines. Tick tock. Tick tock. Now remember the next day is October 1, the national holiday. Everybody and their brother is travelling that day. They inform me the surcharge is $1,000, but they can get me on a flight the next day. What choice do I have? Supply and demand. Opportunistic bastards. I begrudgingly hand them my credit card and get my ticket.Whew! Step 2. Mission accomplished.We then rush back (which is a Herculean feat, considering pre-holiday rush hour is already upon us) to the Visa office to see if they've finished processing my Visa. It's 3:00 p.m. It's not. They close at 4:30 p.m. and won't be back in seven days (due to the holiday). I'm getting nervous. 3:15. I check again. Still not done. 3:30. Still not done. 4:00. Nope. I'm freaking out. If they don't get this done, I'm screwed. Not only will I be stuck in a country where I can't even find the bathroom, but I'll be out $1,000 for the plane ticket that will be useless to me.4:15. Not done yet. Oh my God. I'm getting ready to jump out of the window. But what can I do? In 15 minutes, I'll be totally screwed.FINALLY,4:25 (five minutes to spare), "Saito, your Visa is ready." This was like the ticking time bomb you see in the movies, where the right wire is cut two seconds before the bomb explodes. You can't imagine how relieved I was.I head back to the hotel and excuse the tour guide, who has now spent the entire day with me speaking for me in Chinese to expedite things where ever we went, that he can now go home.I have a nice dinner that evening, relieved that all is set for the next day.Visa. Check. Passport. Check. Plane ticket. Check.All I have to do is get my ass onto the plane.I normally don't carry a backpack, but my girlfriend left me hers so I could put all my important stuff in there.I just need to figure out how I'm going to get to the airport, which is pretty far away. The tour guide shows up the next morning and helps me with the ground transportation.He accompanies me in the taxi to the bus station which should take me directly to the airport. Looks like I'm all set.I pay the taxi driver and get a receipt for the fare (so I can be reimbursed by the travel insurance I luckily purchased) and the taxi drives off.My guide points out the bus I should get on and it will be leaving in 10 minutes. Still plenty of time. I'll be okay. Then, it suddenly dawns on me.I'm missing my backpack! On no! I left it in the taxi!Guess what was in the backpack? My wallet, Visa, passport and plane ticket!I don't think I've ever felt so sick in my entire life. Immediate thoughts of how screwed I'd be went through my mind. Don't speak the language. Have no money. Stuck here for at least a week.The only thing that saved me was that I still had the taxi receipt. We called their dispatch office asking them to patch me through to my taxi driver on the telephone.He wasn't picking up. Holy shit! The bus is leaving in five minutes and I'm going to miss my flight.I just stood around in disbelief for a few minutes, numb from the whole experience.I looked up and guess what I saw? It was the taxi driver walking toward me carrying my backpack!"Is this yours?" (he was speaking in Chinese, but that's what I assumed he said)I was so happy to see him. I ran over to him and gave him a big hug, saying thank you, thank you, thank you. He gave me this look as if to say, "Hey man, get the fuck off me. We don't do this kind of shit in China." But, I didn't care. I gave him a huge tip, once again expressing my gratefulness that he returned.Apparently, the next customer must have noticed the backpack when they got into the taxi and he was smart enough to put two and two together.The trip to the airport and flight home went without incident and I was happy when we touched down in LA.I did have a lot of fun in China, but this memory stands far and above the rest.(Here I am at the Forbidden City in Beijing at the start of our vacation, with the 'famous' backpack. I was advised to wear it in the front, to avoid pickpockets.)

A Mexican (drop the “immigrant”, we’ll discuss that later because first we need to cover some basics) applies for a Mexican passport at the Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) office, which is an office of the Mexican government. This has nothing whatsoever to do with the US (maybe they’re going to the UK, to Spain, to France, to Japan, and so on).A passport is actually an official request by a government to provide assistance to a traveler (the text of which is in one of the pages), and identifies the person in question worldwide to be a national of the country that expedites the passport.So a Mexican citizen or national (Mexico actually makes a distinction on these but that’s beyond the scope of the question) would get a Mexican passport. It looks like this:And the request is on the first inner page and reads like this (in English, Spanish and French)."The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the United Mexican States hereby requests all competent authorities to permit the holder of this passport, a Mexican national, free transit without delay or hindrance and in case of need to give all lawful aid and protection."Most countries’ passports have something like this. This includes the US passport, which says:The Secretary of Sate of the United States of America hereby requests all whom it may concern to permit the citizen/national of the United States named herein to pass without delay or hindrance and in case of need to give all lawful aid and protection.This request by the Mexican or US government on a document, of course, doesn’t automatically mean any country will just allow that person in; i.e. just because some country asks, it doesn’t mean some other country has to say “yes”.Visitor or Resident?Because of this, the US, for people of many countries including Mexico, requires a valid Visa that the US themselves issue, which is a document certifying that this person has been vetted by a basic US security check and is deemed safe to visit the US.This is a card that goes with your passport and looks like this:Visitor visas are applied to in the US consulate or embassy in the country of the person who requests it.The US requires no visa for some countries if the stay is short (90 days or less), like Australia, the UK, Japan, etc. This is called Visa Waiver.Mexico also has visa requirements for some countries (most countries have some sort of requirement like this for some countries and not others, and it depends on the relationships between the two), like Eastern Europe, Africa, Southeast Asia and others. Many “Western” people have never seen a Mexican visa because it is not required for US, Canada, Japan, UK, Australia or people in the Shengen (European Union) area, and it’s also not required if you bring a valid visa from any of these countries, because Mexico is cool and assumes that you already went through their security vetting and piggyback on that country’s visa waiver, especially because they can often even electronically check the document. These people just use their existing documents and visit. But a visa card into Mexico looks like this:This is a resident (immigrant) visa Mexico issues for people moving there (in this case, a man from Brazil). The only visible difference between the tourist one and this one is the “Class” change. This works great in Mexico, but of course means nothing in the US.With me so far?Well, now that we’ve mentioned the word “residence”, we can clarify that the US visa we have seen so far is for tourism and business (i.e. non-immigration). For immigration, a separate process for “residence” is done, which is long and complex (and often takes multiple years and a much higher security check) but results in the US issuing what is called a “Green Card” (but it’s really a “Permanent Residence” card).With this one, you continue to use your foreign passport and your green card whenever you go into and out of the US, and it serves as proof of authorization to work (unless otherwise specified on the card), a federal ID so the US doesn’t have to trust or learn the formats of a foreign passport, and so on - everything but voting or getting benefits that are only for citizens.After 5 years or so as a permanent resident, you can apply for citizenship. Then you get a passport and can return your resident card.Foreign citizens cannot apply for US passports. But a foreign born US citizen can. In this case, you end up with both passports. It’s called dual nationality. Not every country allows it, but Mexico, the US, Australia, Spain and many others do.If you are a dual national, you get to have both. Neat, huh?Those are the basic mechanics of visas and immigration. Beyond this it gets super complicated. Some countries limit incoming people by country. Some limit it by social class. Some limit it to only family members and/or consummate professionals, the best in their fields. Some allow all refugees, or some depending on what they are fleeing, or none.This, along with the visa classes, time limits and requirements (to remain employed, to remain married, etcetera etcetera) causes a number of different pressures and a number of unique “irregular situations” (not all which can or should be called “illegal”), which have to be assessed individually or as subgroups (classes) so decisions can be made that both serve the country and also weigh compassion and human need, in a balance that one hopes will be fair to both the people already in the country and the people who are coming.

Get replacement documentation.I was visiting China a couple of years ago and had my passport stolen (the hotel says 'lost', but what's the difference?).I had to report the passport stolen/lost to the local police. You need a passport to exit the country. I was required to go to the US Embassy, to obtain a temporary replacement passport. Luckily, I kept a photocopy of my passport, which expedited the processing time. They were able to process it within two hours. You need to provide them with a photo for the passport. There was fortunately a place nearby to the Embassy where they did immediate photo developing. I paid the Embassy a US$140 processing fee. The photo ran me about $8. The passport is temporary and expired 90 days from the date of issuance. You can then obtain a permanent passport by filling out some forms when you get home.I then had to go to get an exit VISA. I've forgotten what governmental agency it was. After explaining that my passport was stolen and that I had a next-day plane ticket, they pushed my paperwork processing to an 'emergency' (expedited) processing line and I was able to obtain a same-day exit VISA. The fee was about US$150, if memory serves.The passport and exit Visa were the only two pieces of documentation that was required for me to exit the country.Of course, I cannot speak to if this procedure is different in other countries.IMPORTANT TIP: Always carry a photocopy of your passport in your luggage.