stupidzbu

I have run out of spots for passport control to stamp. I have 2 years left on the passport and went to the post office to inquire about getting pages added.

The lady said adding pages costs $80 now and getting a new one good for a decade is $110. Plus, there is a 52 page passport vs the traditional 20 some odd page one.

My only concern are some valid visas in the current passport. I am assuming they keep the old passport and those visas become null? is that correct?

MidTierStatus

They should mark the old passport as cancelled and give it back to you so you can use the valid visas.

muji

I, too, would have thought that visas in an expired passport would lose their validity, but this might not be the case. Each country may well handle this differently, but the U.S. allows for one to have the required visa (to enter the U.S. as a foreign national) in an expired passport: "QUESTION: My old passport has already expired. My visa to travel to the United States is still valid but in my expired passport. Do I need to apply for a new visa with my new passport? ANSWER: No. If your visa is still valid you can travel to the United States with your two passports, as long as the visa is valid, not damaged, and is the appropriate type of visa required for your principal purpose of travel..."
source:http://travel.state.gov/visa/questio...ns_1253.html#7

minhaoxue

and this is the key. The US allows people with a valid US visa to use that visa along with a valid passport for entry. Other countries? Suggest OP to contact the consulate of those Coutries.

cordelli

It depends on the country, but some examples in past posts (another option, depending on the country, is you may be able to transfer the visa to the new passport)

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/india...-passport.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/brazi...-passport.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...-passport.html

and many others.

Unless you are going someplace in the next two years that will not accept a visa in an expired passport, to me it's a total no brainer, renew the passport and get the larger one when you do.

Christopher

Most countries will accept a still-valid visa in an expired passport – as a rule, those that will not will use a different turn of phrase on the visa itself (e.g. "valid within the validity of this passport" or "valid until 25 December 2015 or until expiry of the passport, whichever is the sooner" or some such thing). But the only way of knowing for sure is by asking the relevant authority (consulate or embassy) of the country that issued the visa. You might want to get confirmation in writing/by e-mail to have with you at airline check-in too.

Some countries (the USA being one of them, incidentally), while accepting a valid visa in an expired passport, insist that the visa itself should not have been damaged (e.g. by having had the corner cut off or holes punched through the middle of it when the passport itself was cancelled).

deniah

are you traveling internationally any time soon?

if their agents will find a spot to stamp -- and ive never seen them care much for spacing or overlapping stamps -- you should be able to get extension pages at a US embassy for (1) cheaper or free and (2) way faster

last time i did this in munich it was a 5 minute process and gratis

stupidzbu

Interesting...

I am going to Italy in August and Uruguay/Argentina in December....

What exactly did you ask for? I mean, what was your justification to get it done at the embassy?

FLLDL

adding pages to a US passport is still easy but is now very pricey, rules changed not to long ago.

ORDMD80

While you can get additional pages at an embassy, you will still pay the same fees there as you would back home.

hfly

Most experienced travellers would never get additional pages in the US, time consuming, and would always get them in missions abroad where they could be had in minutes or hours at the very worst. The addition of an $82 fee does somewhat change the calculations, however again it is down to time. if you travel infrequently and do not mind doing the paperwork, and the wait, then go and get a new passport, if you constantly travel and do not want the hassle, then just get the new pages and pay for them.

As for visas, as long as they are valid, without qualifications, they are valid. Regarding the "big" countries for US citizens:

Brazil - Vaild
India - Valid
China - Visas are generally not issued for more than a year and they rarely if ever will issue them past the expiration date of your passport.
Russia - Almost the same as the Chinese.
Turkey - Valid, however as the average US traveler simply does a 3 month VOA it is immaterial.
Indonesia - Almost the same as Turkey but generally with shorter validities.

deniah

you are a citizen and need more pages - no justification necessary

even if the fees are now the same, i find dealing with them is much easier than dealing with local government workers

hfly

DoS workers can be just as slow as your local workers.

MissyH

Just wanted to add that many countries that require tourist visa for US citizens
are quite happy to move the visas from your old/expired passport to a new
US passport! No reason not to.... because they usually charge you the visa
fee again! ^ I did that a couple of times, but only because it was somewhat of
a hassle to carry two passports.

GUWonder

The fees for additional page supplements are now the same whether done in the US or done outside of the US at a consulate/embassy.

Personally, I would ordinarily rather have additional pages inserted into my passports than get renewal passports because: (a) my circumstances are such that I would ordinarily be paying expedite fees and spending more time for renewal passports (than going the page supplement insert paths); and (b) my preferences include that of (i) not having to also carry around more expired US passports with still valid visas and/or other inserts in them or (ii) not getting some of the foreign government-applied items reapplied in a new passport sooner rather than later.