Adding pages to passport
 

Anyone know how long it takes to process a DS-19 to get pages added to a US passport?

I did it two years ago and it took two weeks.

A friend of mine had it done in one day at the office at DFW airport a few years ago, so you might call them if you are in a hurry and see if that is still their policy. As I recall, it was free.

I needed pages added to my passport and went to the Passport Office in Chicago. They graciously charged me a $60 fee for same-day service. If you send it in, it's free, but to some that is not an option.

Thanks for the quick responses!

Any suggestions for mailing options? Certified mail? Registered mail?

As has been posted by everyone in the know the last twenty or so times this subject has come up on FT (and I am not berating you for not using the search feature as there is none right now!), if you can do it when abroad. It is free, and is done in a few minutes as opposed to doing it in the US, and possibly waiting days.

Second to hfly's recommendation...do it abroad at a US Embassy or Consulate. It will cost you nothing and will take under 15 minutes. I've done it in both Shanghai and Guangzhou so far.

Yes, I was surprised by this. I had room only for a few more stamps last week when I called the consulate in Athens to ask about it. In and out in 20 mins, and free.
Before I left for Greece, I checked with the service we use to get quick visas, and they quoted me over $200 with all the fees, etc, and the fastest turnaround still would take close to a week.

I'm running out of pages myself. I'm wondering if it wouldn't just be better to get a new passport (and asking for extra pages in that one), rather than trying to wait. I have about 17 months left on my current passport. It will be May before I have enough time that I could send in a renewal.

And $60 doesn't sound too gracious to me, just for adding pages. (Domestically-same day)

I wish I'd known about the overseas embassies trick! I just added pages a couple of weeks ago, and since I only had about a 3 week gap between trips, paid the $60 expedited fee. I sent it Fed Ex but did not arrange for return. Still, I got it back in about 6 days.

I had pages added two weeks ago at the American Consulate in Hong Kong. No charge and I was on my way in about 15 minutes.

Mine expires in about 15 months. So can I renew it any time between now and then? Can the embassy or consulate issue a new passport, or can they only add pages to existing passports?

I got a passport application at the Post Office the other day, and didn't see anything about how soon you could renew it. It does say the passport has to have been issued in the last 15 years.

I've got some travels where they take up a whole page (Indonesia puts a big visa sticker), but I'm sure I'll be fine for a couple of months.

I don't have the answer about whether an embassy can issue a new one.

That's largely been phased out for Americans.

I ran out of pages in my passport. My passport had an expiry date of April 2007. One option was to get new pages added. The second option was to get a brand new passport. I went with option 2, so that I would not have to go through the whole process again in 2007 - and who knows where I will be then to have a new passport issued! The brand new passport has a 10 year life. I went to the San Francisco passport agency, showed them my int'l travel ticket, paid them around $115, and picked up my new passport the following afternoon.