"E90M3" (e90m3)
01/17/2020 at 09:50 • Filed to: Unnecessary traveling with e90m3
1
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"E90M3" (e90m3)
01/17/2020 at 09:50 • Filed to: Unnecessary traveling with e90m3 | 1
| 33 |
Back in spring of 2010 I decided I needed a break from school and decided not to take summer classes that year. In fact that would be the only semester I took off from college, but that’s not the point. During that summer, really the only thing my dad required of me was to get my passport, which I begrudgingly got. At the time, I thought it was pointless, but since he was paying both for it and school, I obliged. I really can’t remember why I didn’t want to get it, probably because it was something I had to do.
This was back in June of 2010, which means my passport expires in June of this year, 2020. As a result I would need to renew my passport before then, and since I was planning on going to Belgium in April, I figured I should probably do it sooner rather than later in case I ran into an issue renewing it.
What issue might I run into? Well, the website makes it pretty clear that the passport had to be undamaged.
Back in 2014, someone may or may not have accidentally washed their passport in Russia. It got a little beat up. I wasn’t sure if that fell into the normal wear and tear category or not; however, since washing it, I had used it to travel. It got me, most importantly, out of Russia and back into the US, in and out of the UK, and in and out of Costa Rica. As a result, I was somewhat confident that they would accept it.
Luckily, I was correct and I got my new passport in the mail yesterday, which is somewhat coincidental because I also booked a plane ticket to Belgium yesterday.
facw
> E90M3
01/17/2020 at 10:12 |
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Mine expires in September. I’ll put in for a new one soon, but I’m preparing myself to be disappointed by the whole process.
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E90M3
> facw
01/17/2020 at 10:16 |
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It took about 5 weeks for me to get mine. Really painless.
Ash78, voting early and often
> E90M3
01/17/2020 at 10:21 |
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I got one in about 2 hours at the US Embassy in Madrid...but ONLY because I had a photocopy of in every single one of my bags, just in case. Otherwise they said it’s 2-3 days. Either way, the ultra-expedited process is pricey.
Made my flight with about 30 minutes to spare. Long story.
Keep a couple photocopies AND a pic on your phone AND maybe a scanned on e saved in your email . You never know when or how you’ll need it.
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E90M3
> Ash78, voting early and often
01/17/2020 at 10:23 |
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Good point. I have a scan of my old one, probably need to make a scan of this one too.
If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent
> E90M3
01/17/2020 at 10:31 |
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That reminds me, I need to go find mine for my Mardi Gras trip next month because I'm a schmuck who hasn't gotten a RealID yet.
MonkeePuzzle
> E90M3
01/17/2020 at 10:40 |
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shame, I l iked the denim patina the old one acquired.
My two kids became Australian citizens last year, and I still have yet to acquire their passports, because it has to be done in person, at one of only a few places in the US :(
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E90M3
> MonkeePuzzle
01/17/2020 at 10:42 |
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I did like the wear, made it look like I was well traveled.
TorqueToYield
> E90M3
01/17/2020 at 10:49 |
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No rips or tears and just some scuffing? Doesn’t seem too bad.
You’d probably be surprised how insanely beat up some can get.
shop-teacher
> E90M3
01/17/2020 at 10:53 |
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Fun anecdote: w hen I applied to get a passport in 2007, despite having no criminal record or ties to anything remotely suspicious, I was denied. I have not reapplied since, and thus I regrettably have never left American soil.
CalzoneGolem
> E90M3
01/17/2020 at 10:57 |
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... probably because it was something I had to do.
Are you my child?
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E90M3
> CalzoneGolem
01/17/2020 at 11:04 |
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I’d hope my parents are my actual parents .
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E90M3
> shop-teacher
01/17/2020 at 11:05 |
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That’s weird. Did they tell you why?
Since I had my passport, I took a trip to Germany and France with a high school friend after college.
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E90M3
> TorqueToYield
01/17/2020 at 11:10 |
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The back page is de- laminated. I did figure that some others they get would be worse, but I didn’t know how strict they’d be.
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shop-teacher
> E90M3
01/17/2020 at 11:14 |
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About a month after I applied, I got a letter stating that I had been randomly selected to provide more information. Enclosed with that letter was a stapled packet of the most poorly x eroxed documents I had ever seen. They were easily 7th generation copies of copies of copies. They asked for essentially every statistic about me from birth to that day. They wanted to know what hosp ital I was born at, the ad dress of every place I had ever lived, every school I had ever attended, every job I had ever held and who my direct supervisor was, etc, etc, etc. Oh, and they not only wanted copies of three curr ent IDs, but also FIVE expired IDs . Who even has those!?!?
I actually thought it was a scam. If that information had fallen into the wrong hands, I would never in a million years be able to get my identity back . I almost called the cops, but decided to just throw it out.
A couple months later I got another letter, stating that they had asked me to provide more information, and since I hadn’t my application was denied. They enclosed the passport picture I sent them, and told me I was free to apply again in the future. Now I’m afraid I’m on some weird watch list.
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E90M3
> shop-teacher
01/17/2020 at 11:17 |
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That’s super weird, do you have a very common name or something? Maybe they got you confused with someone else. I’d try and apply again.
SPAMBot - Horse Doctor
> E90M3
01/17/2020 at 11:31 |
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I just received my Global entry last month after a 4 month wait for them to review my application. Meanwhile, my sister in law applied on Monday and got her approval to go in for the interview yesterday. 4 days vs 4 months. The government is so inconsistent with their process times lol
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E90M3
> SPAMBot - Horse Doctor
01/17/2020 at 11:38 |
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Yes they are. I went with a friend to do TSA pre-check, and he got his I think three days later and it took a few weeks for me to get mine. I was worried there was something I didn’t know about in my background check or something. I’m thinking it’s because I spent two months in Russia.
Side note, I don’t have global entry because I need to go to ATL to get it. Maybe one of these days.
gmporschenut also a fan of hondas
> SPAMBot - Horse Doctor
01/17/2020 at 12:07 |
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Same office?
Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
> shop-teacher
01/17/2020 at 12:20 |
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I was born in a farm house down by the river and my parents didn’t get me a birth certificate until I was 2 years old and still got a passport.
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gmporschenut also a fan of hondas
> shop-teacher
01/17/2020 at 12:28 |
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Anyone wanted with the same name?
My cousin has the same first and last name and middle initial as a bank robber that was never caught. Worst as the bank robber from the same town, he perpetually is red flagged at airports.
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shop-teacher
> gmporschenut also a fan of hondas
01/17/2020 at 12:45 |
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Not that I am aware of. This is the only thing I’ve ever been flagged for.
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shop-teacher
> E90M3
01/17/2020 at 12:46 |
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Not particularly common. There are people in the world with the same name, but it’s not like my name is John Smith.
functionoverfashion
> E90M3
01/17/2020 at 12:57 |
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I let mine lapse the last time, which was... 2009 I think. Which means I need to do it this year. I didn’t do that on purpose, in fact, I traveled to Canada literally the night before it expired back then. I did not realize it until we were in line at the border. Oops. That’s another story though.
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facw
> SPAMBot - Horse Doctor
01/17/2020 at 13:49 |
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I got mine renewed earlier this month. One business day to get approved, and less than a week to get the new card. No new interview required. Meanwhile my friend who put in much before me and did an interview before I put in is still waiting for her renewal. I suspect the difference is that I’m a boring white guy with a boring white guy name, who’s only visited Canada and Europe in the past 5 years, while she has a S outh A sian last name and has made many trips to Asia (including the M iddle East) and Africa over the past half-decade.
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facw
> If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent
01/17/2020 at 13:53 |
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The deadline for RealID isn’t until October 1st: https://www.dhs.gov/real-id
Probably doesn’t hurt to have the compliant ID (unless you lose it) but you don’t need it quite yet.
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E90M3
> functionoverfashion
01/17/2020 at 13:53 |
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Kinda surprised you'd let that happen, but I guess it can slip your mind.
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functionoverfashion
> E90M3
01/17/2020 at 14:22 |
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Well... I think it was the first renewal I had done on my own. The 1999 renewal would have been in high school and prompted by my parents. 10 years later I hadn’t been using it much (2007 was the most recent time). I got married and moved and didn’t think about it until we were waiting in line at customs. My friend says “haha look at you, you look like you’re 12 years old” and I was like “dude that was years ago... wait. A LOT of years ago... oh SHIT it expires tomorrow!”
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gmporschenut also a fan of hondas
> Ash78, voting early and often
01/17/2020 at 22:01 |
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Also handy to travel with the old one. A family friend was robbed and when they got to the US embassy, they were able to show they were americans and didn’t have to wait in line for hour for the folks applying for visas.
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gmporschenut also a fan of hondas
> E90M3
01/17/2020 at 22:07 |
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Even expired its a lso handy to travel with the old one. A family friend was robbed and when they got to the US embassy, they were able to show they were americans and didn’t have to wait in line for an hour+ for the folks applying for visas.
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E90M3
> gmporschenut also a fan of hondas
01/17/2020 at 22:08 |
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I also got the passport card, so I’ll probably travel with that as well. Good idea though.
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SPAMBot - Horse Doctor
> facw
01/18/2020 at 01:23 |
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I too am a boring white person but I have a rarer German last name. I think there is only one other dude in the country with my same name and according to his LinkedIn, he appears to be a boring white guy as well. I was in Asia this summer and I've been to the middle east for work. Plus I switched jobs after I submitted the application. That prob didn't help. I'm guessing it helped her that my brother (her husband) has global entry. Or the application fell off the cart and they picked it up and set it on the approved pile by accident lol
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SPAMBot - Horse Doctor
> E90M3
01/18/2020 at 01:28 |
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I almost just did precheck BC it’s in the same office as twic and would have been easy. But I held out for the GE. You can sometimes do a walk in appointment at a major airport or schedule a trip around an appointment. I somehow (thru a fluke I think) found a local appointment the same day I got my conditional approval. Then used precheck on my flight two days later. It’s amazing how it worked out after the 4 damn month process.
If you fly thru international airports that allow you to use the app, that honestly works pretty much as well as global entry. I was thru lax in the same time as my brother when we did our Asia trip last summer.
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SPAMBot - Horse Doctor
> gmporschenut also a fan of hondas
01/18/2020 at 01:30 |
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This is before the office comes into play. I was actually able to make a same day appointment in long Beach (I think there was a fluke) after I was conditionally approved. She is in Denver which has one appointment in November open. They are just going to try to do a walk in haha