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Need help – adding more pages to US Passport

Need help – adding more pages to US Passport

Old Mar 18, 2008, 9:37 am
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Need help – adding more pages to US Passport

I’ve had a bulk of international business travels in the past year; hence my passport is now close to full. I understand I can submit an application request to add more pages (form DS-4085) at no additional cost. However, I have several questions.

First, I would like to give my employer an estimate on how long I will be unavailable for international business travel. Hence, does anyone know how long it takes to get extra pages added to your passport without using expedite service? For example, if I send out my application to the National Processing Center in Philadelphia today, what is the average wait time to get my passport back into my hands?

Secondly, how exactly are the extra pages added to an existing passport? Do they actually re-stitch extra pages after page 24 and are the numbered as pages 25~48? Also, despite my passport has an issue date of January 2007, they gave me the old type passport without the IC chip. Will this affect anyway in the passport pages that I am issued?

Your comments will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

kebosabi
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Old Mar 18, 2008, 9:51 am
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if during your next international trip you're in a city where us embassy/consulate is located, take 1/2 day off, walk in, ask for extra pages, and you're done. no charge and usually done while you wait or few hours at most. Some locations will try to tell you 3 days and if you have the time, then no big deal, but if you don't, just state your case and they will make an exception.

did it twice, in tokyo (told 3 days), done in 2 hours, and in warsaw, done in about 1/2 hour.

my extra pages were taped in the middle of the passport. they stamp it with the amended date.
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Old Mar 18, 2008, 9:53 am
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I've never added pages when in the US, but have done it a few times over the years at different US consulates overseas (I think twice in Madrid and once in Phnom Penh). IIRC, there is no charge when having pages added at a US consulate, and it's done while you wait -- I don't think I ever waited more than an hour at the most; adding in time for and going through security, you should be able to get the whole thing done in 2-4 hours.

Why not just build in a little extra time (say, a half day) on your next overseas trip? Your employer should be happy to accommodate you, as it will certainly be faster than sending your passport to Philadelphia and waiting for them to turn it around.

As for the page numbering, my current extension is numbered with letters, rather than numbers. So I have pages 1-11 (or whatever) and then A through W (or whatever), and then 12 through 24.

- Michael

Last edited by Michael; Mar 18, 2008 at 9:56 am Reason: Added the bit about the page numbers.
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Old Mar 18, 2008, 10:01 am
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btw, don't freak out when you see a long line of people waiting at the embassy. i almost turned around in tokyo when i saw the looooong line at 9am in the morning, until i realized that this was the locals. for us citizens, they have a separate line. i assume that's true for any embassy/consulate.
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Old Mar 18, 2008, 10:44 am
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You should be able to go to the passport office in LA and do it in a day or two.

I had extra pages added at the Houston office last year, and a friend had them put in at the Miami office same day last December.

My extra pages have letters instead of numbers for each page, and as noted above they are stamped with the extra date. Mine are "taped" in with the endorsement in the back there are extra pages.

Ciao,
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Old Mar 18, 2008, 11:05 am
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I mailed my passport to get extra pages added on Mar 13 2008. I will try to remember to post when (and if) I get it back.

MisterNice
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Old Mar 18, 2008, 2:29 pm
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You will have no trouble adding pages to a non-chip PP. I've had it done a number of times. Overseas, some US embassies do it while you wait. Although there is no charge for adding pages, you can pay a $60 expediting fee here in the US and get the pages added in a few hours.

As previously mentioned, the pages are attached with tape-wings.

The 24 added pages run A-X. All are usable for full-page visas except for the first page (A) which has the supplement info and a raised seal.

It sounds like you travel a fair amount, based on your PP page burn rate. You can request two 24-page inserts which will most likely be granted. I used to go for one insert at a time, which was annoying. I once asked what it took to get several inserts at one time. The reply from the consular official: "all you have to do is ask" !
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Old Mar 18, 2008, 5:23 pm
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I did this just last month (after being lectured by a US Immigration officer because I didn't have any more blank spaces in my passport). I sent it to the passport office via FedEx and enclosed a pre-addressed form and envelope for them to FedEx it back to me. I didn't pay for expedited service, but I had it back in about two weeks, with the new pages taped into the middle.
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Old Mar 18, 2008, 5:33 pm
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First of all, thanks everyone for their fast and prompt responses!

This was the first time that I've used up all of my pages in my passport so naturally I had many questions. But thanks to everyone's input, I see that I have nothing to be worried about.

I am also thankful for the idea of going to an overseas consulate/embassy to get this done in a jiffy. That's a nice to hear as I will actually be touring one of my company's plants in Tijuana this weekend (via driving on my own car ). I hope I'll get some extra time on Monday to visit the US consulate in Tijuana for my request.

And thank you to UAL Traveler for the additional input of asking for two sets at the consulate to spare me some time in the future. Seeing that I've used up my pages in little over a year, I think it's best to get two sets inserted into my passport.

I'll post back a full report with the outcome when I return on Tuesday.
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Old Mar 18, 2008, 7:04 pm
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Mine were actually stitched in. Just got them added about 3 months ago. None chip passport, same lettering as others. No issues

About 1 week with an expedite service (I was travelling domestically so had them delay delivery)
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Old Mar 18, 2008, 8:08 pm
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Denied more pages

Four years ago, when my passport was nearly full (and not knowing any better), I went in to a passport office in the TPA airport post office. On the spot they took my passport and said it was "damaged" (it seemed fine to me, and I had recently returned from China). They said I could not travel with that passport, and made me file a renewal. Then, when the new passport arrived, the endorsements page said "this passport was issued to replace a damaged passport."

I was looking forward to having new pages stitched in - to me it's like a rite of passage. So, I guess I just need to keep on truckin' to get more stamps and visas...
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Old Mar 18, 2008, 10:47 pm
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Originally Posted by kebosabi
First of all, thanks everyone for their fast and prompt responses!

This was the first time that I've used up all of my pages in my passport so naturally I had many questions. But thanks to everyone's input, I see that I have nothing to be worried about.

I am also thankful for the idea of going to an overseas consulate/embassy to get this done in a jiffy. That's a nice to hear as I will actually be touring one of my company's plants in Tijuana this weekend (via driving on my own car ). I hope I'll get some extra time on Monday to visit the US consulate in Tijuana for my request.

And thank you to UAL Traveler for the additional input of asking for two sets at the consulate to spare me some time in the future. Seeing that I've used up my pages in little over a year, I think it's best to get two sets inserted into my passport.

I'll post back a full report with the outcome when I return on Tuesday.
I noticed that a lot of US Consulates lately make you make an appointment online before you can go get your passport renewal/pages added etc. I ran into this challenge this past February in Sydney. You might want check to see if you have to do that in Tijuana.
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Old Mar 19, 2008, 2:04 am
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I imagine that the US Consulate in Tijuana must be a nightmare, and practically beseiged by local visa applicants; at the same time, given the proximity to the US, they may have reduced US Citizen Services. Make sure you find out the correct times / place for US Citizen Services, as you might otherwise waste a lot of time making your way through the crowds -- only to find that you won't be attended to at that time.

- Michael
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Old Mar 19, 2008, 2:21 am
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Originally Posted by jakeryan1
I noticed that a lot of US Consulates lately make you make an appointment online before you can go get your passport renewal/pages added etc. I ran into this challenge this past February in Sydney. You might want check to see if you have to do that in Tijuana.
as per my previous post, tokyo had the same "rules" yet, I just walked in without an appointment and had the extra pages within couple of hours. the appointment rule is nothing new, it's been around forever, but it's hardly ever enforced for such mundane tasks as extra passport pages.

but i agree about tijuana. that may be one of the few exceptions.
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Old Mar 19, 2008, 8:18 am
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I recently had extra pages put in a the LA Passport Office. I paid for the expedited service -- $60 I think but it could have been $40. I made an appointment (very important!) for Thursday and the passport was ready by Tuesday, just went back to pick it up. A year or so ago (before the big rush got going) a friend sent his off to have pages added and it took well over a month. May be worse now.

As was mentioned above, the inserted pages are lettered. They are the color and style of new passports and so don't match my 5 year old passport. When I used it the first time in DUS it got some close looks and a few questions, but no hassles.
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