Re: Passport Delays
 

Terrific....I'M so happy to hear it.

Re: Passport Delays
 

We mailed applications on April 22nd via UPS, with payment taken May 14th. We are not traveling until June 24th, so are not yet at the point of full panic. It would be good to be able to get an update, however. This afternoon the Careline number at 1 900 945 2220 seems to be permanently unavailable.

Re: Passport Delays
 

alamacra

Your timeline is very similar to mine. My application was received in Washington April 20th. Money taken from credit card May 12th. I got desperate though and emailed the consulate yesterday and they replied to me this morning saying that my passport is in the final stages of processing and will be sent out in the next few days. Hopefully yours is nearly completed too.

Re: Passport Delays
 

... so it appears to be a somewhat steady process. Thanks for the info.

Re: Passport Delays
 

I'm American and my husband is British. I was able to get my passport from the Post Office and it took only 2 weeks. I can't believe the hassles we are all having with the British Embassy. My suggestion would be to write to the North American Passport Production Centre. The address is in one of my earlier e-mails. I wish you the best of luck with this. At least now they know there's a problem.

Re: Passport Delays
 

Hi everyone
So I mailed in my passport renewal application in last week. My fiance and I leave for our honeymoon cruise on August 16th which HOPEFULLY means I'll get it back in time, as it's 8 weeks away, but this thread has made me nervous! :ohmy:

There will be one angry bride at Brooklyn pier if I am not allowed on that cruise because I do not have my passport back!:frown:

Fingers crossed, eh?

Re: Passport Delays
 

Hope you're not on a K visa?
/random thought

Re: Passport Delays
 

No - I am a permanent resident (green card). Got that through an inter-company transfer 13 years ago. Mine was a passport renewal. (What's up with K visas?)

Re: Passport Delays
 

Oh, good! (you could be a dualie now if you wanted... looks like you are here for the long haul)

K-1 is the US Fiance Visa, for the fiance of a US citizen. After they arrive, they must marry their petitioner in a certain period of time and then apply for their green card. During that time after arrival but before the Advance Parole travel document comes, they must not leave the US or their application is abandoned. Tragic mistake for those who make it; they have to stay outside the US and apply for an Immigrant Visa (just under a year application). Not how most people want to end their honeymoon. :blink:

There's a good link in the wiki about Naturalization and another about the pros/cons of dual UK/US citizenship.

Re: Passport Delays
 

Well I am indeed the fiance of a US citizen but I already have my green card so this obviously doesn't apply to me :)

I'm not really in any rush to become an American citizen - mind you I already have dual citizenship - British and Spanish. Do they allow triple citizenship?:p

Re: Passport Delays
 

Sure, you can be a triple. We had a member here who had 4 IIRC.

And the fiance thing, again, a specific type of visa that allows you to come to the US specifically to get married and adjust status, so yes, doesn't apply to you in the least. Trivia fodder. :)

It will be worth further looking for you to see the advantages of taking USC. I know Spain is like the US in wanting to know about (and tax, eventually) your worldwide income. However, if you're married to a US citizen, that's going to come up. As a PR you have to report anyway.
Citizenship offers you the ultimate protection if you'll be living here long term.

Even as a PR, you can be removed if you do one dumb thing. AND, under the last administration, rules changed and were applied retroactively. There were several infamous stories of PRs being removed (deported) for offences 10 years back. Scary.

Re: Passport Delays
 

I just got my passport this morning UPS so obviously the email to the consulate on Sunday did the trick.

Re: Passport Delays
 

I have been thinking about the citizenship - guess I've been lazy about it:) I might look into it after the wedding/honeymoon in August. I've never had any tax issues - file every year, thankfully get a refund every year lol. No criminal offences - I've never even had a traffic ticket - what a good citizen I am, eh> :)
Thanks for the info. though! I think I might brush up on the pros/cons of citizenship. I don't have any plans to go back to the UK (been here 13 years already!) so it will probably be worth getting it.

Re: Passport Delays
 

I just read everyones advice. Mine would be this...

Ignore Abtran - they will rip you off with their ridiculous phone line and I didn't even bother to call that anyhow.

I applied for my new UK passport roughly 4 weeks ago when it read "10 days" for a new passport.

I called the Consulate directly and they are having someone call me back. Give them as much information as you can and explain how mad you were at only getting machines! They will probably at least try to help you out, like a REAL person should!

I'm waiting for a call back...

Re: Passport Delays
 

Good to hear - all in all, how long did it take to get your passport? Was yours a renewal or a new one?