Always renew your passport

For this issue, let me illustrate the importance of having a valid passport ready and available at all times as it applies in real-life situations.

This involves a close friend of mine here in the US. A few months ago, he noticed that his US passport was about to expire. He told himself that he had no plans of traveling to the Philippines in the near future anyway, so he will just renew his passport when he gets time to do it. Days and weeks passed along with the distractions of daily activities, he forgot all about it.

To give you an idea, processing passport applications in the US is very simple and easy unlike there in the Philippines where it is so centralized and impaired by too much bureaucracy. In the US, local post offices and other designated offices, receive passport application forms, including photos and fees, and send these out to the Department of State. The new passport will then be directly mailed to the applicant after 4-6 weeks.

Just a week before Christmas, my friend received an urgent call from his family in the Philippines that his mother had a medical emergency. It was only a matter of time before she would soon pass away and that it was her wish that all her children would be by her side at her deathbed. Upon hearing this, he scrambled to find a plane ticket to go back home but when asked about his passport details he remembered that it was expired.

He then had to immediately file a renewal application but was told that he can have a new one after 4-6 weeks. There is an urgent service which he can obtain after 2-3 days for an additional fee. My friend took the latter option, paid the fees and waited for his new passport to arrive at the designated date.

But it did not.

He immediately called the passport service center and of all the worst things that could happen, he was told that his application was not entered in the system. The only option that remained for him was to go to another state and avail of the same service for a much higher fee. He had no choice but to drive about three hours away, pay the more expensive expedite fee and sit and wait there for almost a day to obtain a new passport.

While all this drama of renewing and waiting for a new passport was taking place, his mother passed away, leaving him no opportunity to meet and talk to her while she was in her last moments.

I hope his experience teaches us a lesson about the importance of not mindlessly taking things for granted. What we see as minor chores at present such as renewing a passport, could become such a very significant and painstaking process in the future when we need it the most.

This column is not a substitute for professional legal advice obtained from a US-licensed immigration attorney. The information contained herein does not constitute a warranty or guarantee or legal advice regarding a reader’s specific immigration case. No attorney-client relationship is and shall be established with any reader.

For any questions, comments and observations, please contact Atty. Marco Tomakin at [email protected]