jerry90210 , this is a little off topic, but do you hold a Mexican residency permit? If not, you might want to take a look at this recent article:

https://www.mexperience.com/changes-...isitor-permit/

("Changes to Time Allowed in Mexico Using a Visitor Permit

"The way visitors are admitted to Mexico is changing in regard to the amount of time granted to stay under auspice of a visitor permit (FMM).")

Yes you can book a ticket whenever you want. The thing is I am not sure exactly which day I was going to book for departure which is why I didn't book it yet. Yes I know booking it earlier gets you a lower fare. Yes I know you can't request an urgent appointment more than 14 days before the departure date.


Well I would like to know from a few people who did the urgent appointment if they got the passport on the same day or not and if so, what time was their appointment. Yes I know it might just be a few examples but I like that information. Now say 2 people had appointments at 8:30am and say they had to come back a few days later. Then if that's the case, then most likely not going to get it same day so I might do the appointment hours later as I don't like early appointments... though that probably might mean I get my passport later 1 day than someone with an appointment earlier. Yes I want to know if getting an appointment early in the morning increases the chance of getting the passport the same day. Because if it does at all, then I will choose an early time appointment. The thing is I know there are a lot of people who do urgent appointment so curious what their experience was like. I would like to know from people who did urgent appointment recently... like in the last few months at the most. Someone doing it last year would not be that good example to compare it to now probably as things change. Like if several people here mention yes I did urgent passport in NYC few months ago, then that information would be important.


Yes I know I should get my passport photos as soon as I can. I would do this once I have an appointment scheduled. I'm in the NYC area but wanted to know if it's a good idea to just go to a photo place that does photos or go to a CVS, Walgreens or Fedex etc. My concern with the CVS or Walgreens is how would I know for sure the photos I take will be accepted. Will the employee at Walgreens look at your photo tell you it's acceptable? That is my issue here. The other thing is could you take many photos and then they show it to you and you choose which one you want? That is another important thing. FedEx site does seem to say it has technology to determine if your photo will be acceptable... correct? If so, at least Fedex seems better for that though say CVS or Walgreens? But it seems going to a photo place that does photos for passports seems to be the safest option since they can tell if the photos will be good or not? That is what I did a while back but that place I went to is too far away.

This is a general thread covering the entire United States. It is highly unlikely that there will be any FlyerTalkers reading it who have recent experience getting an urgent appointment at the NYC passport office. :idea:

Life involves uncertainty and we need to make decisions accordingly. :star:

I can certainly attest to the uncertainty factor, you never know what will get thrown at you. I recently had a regular passport appointment booked at my local post office a month prior to that for a minor and the morning of the appointment received a call that all appointments for that day were canceled since the person who processes them was out.

I don't know why nobody else could do it and they did not allow me to rebook for the following day or in the next few days over the phone and insisted I need to rebook online. Well, that entailed booking another month out. Good thing I'm not planning to travel with that minor for another few months and was planning the renewal accordingly. If I did then I'd be super frustrated, but would be making decisions accordingly if I couldn't wait another month for a regular appt.

Both CVS and Walgreens claim to use technology to ensure compliance with government requirements for passport photos:

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...ee3afff284.png
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...314f5d7ad8.png

If passport photos from CVS, FedEx Office, or Walgreens were regularly being rejected by the Passport Agency, I expect that we would have heard about that here on FlyerTalk.

I don't know whether it's an option where you live, but in some parts of the country, libraries and county clerk's offices can process passport applications. :idea:

Listen, guv spelled it out best for you. Unless someone knows a DoS person who is currently assigned to and working at the facility, no one on Earth can tell you with 100% certainty whether you are going to get it the same day, I believe that all possible permutations have already been answered several times on this thread. Regarding plane tickets, pretty much every permutation has been answered as has every possible passport picture scenario. As guv said, every single person t hat has read and answers this thread understands and understands again and again what you want to know, and has answered with the greatest degree possible of certainty possible. You are dealing with a government bureaucratic function, one that until very recently was extremely backed up due to the Covid backlog, and one that for all we know could lose have its employees due to DOGE cuts. Also, I do not believe that in the history of this office, anyone has ever asked for their passports to be mailed as that would negate the purpose, wouldn't it?

I’ve read the next couple of responses and completely agree with them. On that front my last two passports were acquired using some form of emergency / last minute reasons (on the edge of the intention of the program) I’ve had the required photos (from Walgreens) and an international ticket (refundable) in hand , but I believe that living near a passport office helped.
Multiple administrations between then and now but with the same bureaucracy. So, show up, be persistent and calm and have a positive mental state.
So have faith and good luck.

Okay so I'm not sure why this wasn't mentioned earlier but you could take a passport photo at the post office at USPS? I read you can actually do that but you have to get an appointment for it? I'm close to a USPS post office and it would seem this would be the best option? But I"m not going to send the passport by USPS. So USPS would work? It seems to cost $15 so basically similar to what Walgreens and CVS and Fedex charges but it seems better to do it with USPS?


Has anyone done passport photos at USPS? Seems like that is the best option since it would be rare for them to make a mistake while taking a photo and giving it to you? Any experiences with this?

Before you even consider using the USPS for your passport photos, use the USPS scheduling engine to see how long the waiting time is for an appointment at a post office near you which offers photo service. If the waiting time is two weeks or more, then that obviously won't work for you.

I'm not sure why you think that a USPS employee is any more competent than a CVS, FedEx Office, or Walgreens employee at taking a passport photo. I certainly would not make that assumption, but frankly I think you will be fine no matter which of those places you use to take a passport photo. This isn't exactly rocket science.

There are stand alone local stores too that do passport photos and are perfectly competent as well. I have several kids who've had passports since they're infants and until they're 16 we need to renew every 5 years and sometimes, especially when they were younger, they weren't in their most cooperative state when taking the pictures. Nevertheless, I've never once had a passport photo rejected from that store and I've done this quite a number of times to date. The people in the store I use seem to know what they're doing and the pictures have always been accepted - so what if they're not good enough to go into their high school year books but it works to let us travel for the next 5 years and nobody cares.

For an adult I don't see that there should be any issue just doing it anywhere that advertises they do passport photos - just pick the most convenient place that will get it done and get it over with.

FWIW, we once had photos taken at the USPS office where we had an appointment and they were rejected.

There are many on-line places where you can upload a photo and download an image for free that can be printed at any 1hr photo place (CVS, Walgreens, etc.) for 30c or so. :eek:ne of those sites is this one (I have zero connection other than having used it to download a 4x6 sheet of pix). But there are a lot (most/all of which offer paid services too). I've had good luck printing passport pix like this.

I thought taking passport photos at post office would be better since well lot of people would take the photo there and then mail it in with USPS. So the USPS person would make less mistakes if any. That was my thought. I checked and the few USPS close to me doesn't seem to have appointments for few weeks so it isn't going to work.


Well the last time I had my passport photos taken, it was a photo shop that did passport photos so those are obviously the best. But the one I went to a while back is to far for me.


I want to get it done at a place where the passport photo is good and acceptable. The last thing I want is to bring it to an appointment and then they tell me the photo isn't going to work. That is why I want to make sure the photo is good so that is why I'm asking which place is the best to do it. I don't think me uploading a photo and downloading it for free and paying 30 cents or so is a good idea. Does anyone know how do you make sure the photo they give you is will work for sure? Thus I want to know it works for sure before going to an appointment.

Nobody can guarantee you any photo from any particular place is going to work. The online do-it-yourself things have guides to adjust photos so they are acceptable. I've used them many many times and they work. The people at passport picture shops have done it many times too, at many times the price. Those should work too. You have plenty of options and have been given lots of good advice here. N:pw is the time to start using some of that advice.

As you've been told several times in various threads, there is no 100% guarantee that:

1. your carry-on bag would not have to be checked;

2. you would be approved for a credit card with low income;

3. you would not be required to show a physical credit card when you check in for a JetBlue flight from Mexico;

4. you would be able to receive your passport on the same day that you go to the Passport Agency; and

5. your passport photo would be accepted.

You are asking for certainty in an uncertain world.

One of the things you can do is print out the Passport Agency's guidelines for passport photos, take that printout to wherever you choose to get your passport photos, and then compare the photos to the guidelines before you leave the store. This won't guarantee anything, but it should minimize the risk that your photo will be rejected.

Passport Agency photo guidelines here:

https://travel.state.gov/content/tra...ly/photos.html

Have you purchased your ticket back to CUN yet?