Alex71

We live in Germany and are currently on vacation in the U.S., where we are on a three week trip through the Southwest.

Today, our rental car was broken into and, among other things, our passports were stolen. I am German, my wife is American and our kids have dual citizenship.

My wife just got off the phone with the National Passport Information center to inquire about the replacement of the American passports and is in full panic now. Some of the required documentation, especially for the kids passports, might be very difficult to obtain from here, since we have documents, such as their birth certificates, at home in Germany. Also, our house keys were stolen as well.

We did report their births at the American consulate in Frankfurt, so are hoping they may have some record for the kids. My wife will also require a birth certificate, which she doesn't have with her either.

I haven't had a chance to speak with the the German consulate yet, since they are closed for the weekend, but am expecting things to be easier there, since I still have my national ID card, as does my daughter.

Next sensible steps seem to be:

1. Call the American consulate in Frankfurt on Monday morning to find out what they have on file.
2. Go to the German consulate in LA on Monday to get our German passports replaced

Questions remaining:

1. Would it be possible to get an excemption from the rule that the kids have to leave the U.S. on Amarican passports?
2. How quickly can passport centers in the US issue replacement passports?
3. What are the chances that the consulate in Frankfurt have some of the required documents?

We are hoping we won't get trapped in the U.S. and will make it back home eventially.

Any help and advice would be much appreciated.

Mwenenzi

USA does not have exit (emigration) controls. You just board the aircraft.
TSA may want to see a passport as proof of identity.
The airline will want proof you are admissible to Germany on arrival.

Do you have a scan of all your documentation?
When travelling I scan everything, ticket pdfs, etc, an email it to myself so can access from the web.
If you have travel insurance make a claim

Good luck getting this sorted out. It will not be easy.
How much longer are you in USA for?

Alex71

Thank you! Our return flight is on the 28th, so we have two weeks to get it sorted. We did not make copies / scans of our documents, that's a lesson learned the hard way for next time.

If the kids could in fact exit the US on German passports, our live would become a lot easier. It seems to me though, that some sort of electronic exit check is performed. We in the past tried to provide the kids' German passports at check-in for the return flight, but were told that the American passports were needed, since they were used for the flight over. I would hate to show up at check-in just to find out they won't be allowed on the flight. Our flights are with EW, the budget branch of LH.

TWA884

I'm terribly sorry about your misfortune.

The Los Angeles Passport Agency offers same-day service with proof of emergency or immediate foreign travel. You drop the application with supporting documentation in the morning and pick the new passport in the afternoon.

If you are still near the area where your car was burglarized and you haven't done so, I strongly recommend that you file a police report and bring a copy with you when you apply for the replacement passports.

Alex71

That's great news. We did file a police report and received a case number. We also have the report from the rental car company (Hertz), which was surprisingly quick and unbureaucratic in getting us a replacement.

The LA Passport Agency unfortunately did not have any appointments available. The only appointment we were able to get was for San Diego for next Thursday. Does the LA Agency also take walk-ins without appointment?

The supporting documents will still be a challenge, but my wife will check with her parents tomorrow if they have a copy of her birth certificate.

In the meantime, I was also able to check with the airline. They will accept temporary travel documents for the kids and me at check-in, which we can obtain at the German consulate in LA.

GUWonder

Just show up early in the morning at the passport agency in LA and maybe they will process you anyway. This is what I've seen work at passport offices elsewhere in the US and at US embassies/consulates abroad -- both despite claims of needing an appointment.

Despite some US exit controls, the rule about US citizens requiring a US passport to leave the US has been legally toothless for decades. Even if it weren't, if you can arrange to reroute your return to involve a land trip to Canada and flight out of Canada to the EU, the kids traveling on the German passport should be fine too. But with a German government travel letter acceptable to the airline, you all should be able to return home directly from the US without too much more issue (other than having to get things fixed when back in Germany).

TWA884

I am not going to turn this into a debate on US exit controls* - we have a thread dealing with that subject in the Checkpoints and Borders Policy Debate forum (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/check...ls-coming.html) - but except for rare random or targeted checks, the US so called exit controls consist of nothing more than the airlines electronically reporting passengers information to CBP/DHS.

There is no need to go to Canada, undocumented immigrants regularly depart the US by air without having to show how they entered the US.

* Moderator's Note: Any further comments on this subject will be moved to the linked thread.

wrp96

Depending on the state where your wife was born there are some services that can get replacement birth certificates quickly. I believe vitalchek.com is who my family has used previously.

GUWonder

If the wife has changed name since birth and has had a US passport issued in a name different than the name on the birth certificate, just getting the birth certificate itself may not resolve the need to provide proof of citizenship and proof of identity to acquire a US passport that has been reported lost/stolen; it may even be a bit more complicated even if proof of citizenship by birth and proof of identity are available and presented but don't have the names all lined up.

wrp96

Services like the one I listed above can also be used to get copies of marriage certificates which can be used to prove the identity change.

Often1

Despite the stated requirement that you must have an appointment and an emergency which includes immediate travel, I don't know anyone who has presented themselves with necessary paperwork at a passport agency who has been denied an appointment.

As others suggest, show up before opening time and keep your story short, to the point and truthful. Have all of the forms completed (all are available online and most can be filled out online and printed). Have acceptable photos ready (don't cut corners, use the commercial photo place which is always located within a block of the agency --- it may cost a couple of extra $, but the last thing you need is a cropped corner or whatever).

Remember that the kids' passports require a form signed by both parents or a notarized signature of the absent parent. If you are all together, just stick together.

If you need documents from Germany, have someone go to your house and make sure that they scan PDF's before they overnight them to you. A passport agency may accept the PDF's. But, no reason to chance things.

Even if it takes 2 days to get the original documents from Germany to wherever you are, a Passport Agency can issue replacement passports on the spot (meaning a couple of hours).

As to your situation, I take it that the closest Consulate will issue you a temporary document which constitutes a "passport replacing document." Needless to say, Germany won't --- can't ---- deny you entry, but you do need something to show your air carrier.

Here is a list of all US passport agencies:

https://travel.state.gov/content/pas.../agencies.html

squeakr

And Often1 has given a lot of good suggestions. Sorry this has happened and good luck with your situation.

Alex71

Thank you for all the help, everyone! This is really appreciated!

So for the kids, we will as back-up try to exit on temporary German travel documents, should replacing their American passports be difficult. We will nevertheless call the American consulate in Frankfurt late Sunday night to check what information they have on file. We did report the births of the kids to the consulate, so hopefully, this will have been documented and can be sent to the passport center in LA.

For my wive, we've in the meantime optained a scan of her birth certificate, which her parents still had available. It is, though, as GUWonder pointed out, in a different name. Not sure how to find the marriage certificate at this time. It is filed somewhere in our house, but we wouldn't know how to give instructions on how to find it. We will look into the service wrp96 recommended.

Next steps will be:

Sunday: get passport pictures taken.
Late Sunday night: call American consulate in Frankfurt to optain copies of the kids birth reports, call the citizen office of the city we live in to have info on the kids and my German passports compiled and sent to the German consulate in LA.
Monday Morning 7 am: go to the LA passport center
As soon finished at the passport center: go to the German consulate

The German consulate can issue a document like this:



The cost of getting one issued at a German airport is 8 EUR, so even if there is a surcharge at the consulate, the cost will be minimal.

Alex71

Quick update on our situation:

We called the American consulate in Frankfurt late Sunday night (Monday morning CET) to check if the had any records on the kids or were able to provide any other assistance. The were not very helpful "Nothing we can do from overseas", but did confirmed that they did not see any benefit in worrying about the kids' American passports now, since they will have to enter Germany on German documents anyway.

We arrived at the LA Passport Center shortly before 7 this morning, but did not have any luck there. They did not consider our case an emergency since it did not involve a death in the family and since our flights were still more than three days out. Therefore, they turned my wife away. They did not even accept the forms for lost or stolen passports and made fun of my wife's concern of identity theft. "Someone would have to look exactly like you to use your passport ha ha!"

Our next stop was the German consulate where my daughter and I received consular letters confirming to the airline that our national identity cards are good for travel and admission into Germany. Our son received a travel permit in lieu of passport, which is good for 30 days.

At least, three of the four cases are resolved now. We'll just have to hope the best for my wife's appointment with the San Diego passport center on Thursday. The consulate in San Diego is prepared to support us in my wife's case should we run into continued problems with the American authorities, so that we can all return home together.

Often1

You were turned away at the Passport Agency not for lack of materials, but for lack of an emergency. Once you are at 3 days, you will get help.

Let me go back to one document source. Presumably the necessary documents are sitting in a file back at home or in your office. Is there really no person who lives or works near your home or your office whom you trust to retrieve them? What would you do if there were a fire or a break-in? Isn't there someone with a key?

Once you have a trustworthy person with the documents, a PDF and overnight ought to be relatively easy.