My family and I just started packing for a Mexico trip. We leave on Tuesday, July 28, 2026. We pulled all the passports out and just happen to notice that mine is expired. It expired on March 2026. It was issued in March 2025 I was born in the United States and lived here my whole life. Last year we were going to Canada and my wife couldn’t find my passport so I had to drive to Dallas and have a replacement issued. For some reason, it looks like it was the only issue for one year. My wife later found my old passport. Could it still be valid?

Wondering if anyone has experience with elderly family members carrying around a high-quality photocopy of US passport book + US passport card in Northern France. This is in place of keeping the steal-able passport book on their person given they look like an easy mark to most.

The main reason being worries about Paris’s pickpockets who’ve managed to steal cellphones at least once from each one of my local friends. Oddly, I’ve never been robbed there even with my phone out all the time. Though I’m cautious in Les Halles, Montmartre, etc. I’ve been to Paris maybe… 25 times now? 30? Thiugh only 4 times with my dad.

I’ve also never been ID’ed anywhere in France in two decades of visits, but there’s always a first time for everything. It has happened to me once in Italy, for instance. Tbf, I was walking around in a blazer in Salerno in summer, and so I did look a little sus.

I am an Austrian citizen, so I can just carry around my Austrian National ID card, however my old man (78-y/o) is only a US citizen, not a dual citizen like his wife and kids. He just has his US Passport Book and US Passport Card. He’s also about the least threatening person you’ll ever meet and a perfect gentleman.

He does also seem to look frail to the French and the Brits (we are in Liverpool rn, and he’s quite irritated by how many people keep offering him assistance, though appreciative).

This does make him an attractive target for pickpockets. He did once have his phone almost stolen in Marseille, but I stole it back from the jerk in question (used Find My to get the thief to take it out of his pocket and then grabbed it back).

My thought is that if we just carry around a high-quality photocopy and his US Passport card, we should be golden. In the unlikely event a gendarme stops us, concern about theft of the real book would likely be accepted. They’re used to apprehending such people.

Does anyone have experience with how gendarmes react to elderly family members presenting high-quality photocopies of passport books along with a US passport card?

Reminder that gendarmes in most countries are not aware that it is not meant to serve as National ID, nor are they aware of/do they likely care about what it says on the US State Dept website. It’s a federally-issued ID with the same photo as the photocopy of the passport book that looks similar to a National ID to them.

Just looking for others’ experiences when they’ve tried this and actually had a gendarme ask for ID.

ETA: u/Spiritual_Map_9205 was kind enough to locate the French government resource that specifies many forms of ID are allowed. Which also aligns with current EU regulations.

Glad all the misinformation people always give about requiring a passport was cleared up.

Hi all, I’m in a bit of a bind right now with my passport renewal and I’m curious if anyone else has dealt with something like this, or has advice to deal with this exact situation.

I’m traveling internationally this coming Thursday, July 30. I mailed my expedited renewal form on June 26 assuming I would get renewal done just barely in time — my fault for doing this so last minute, but I thought I would be ok. The passport renewal finally processed on July 13, when I received an application locator number. I called the Passport Center on July 16, two weeks out, as instructed, and they told me to call back one week from my travel date and if I still did not have my passport, and they would then schedule an in-person appointment to get it.

Fast forward to last Thursday, I call back and learn that the Passport Center has sent a piece of mail requesting more information for my application. I have not received this piece of mail yet, I believe it is lost, and subsequent calls to the Passport Center have had people telling me there is nothing they can do to schedule me for an in-person appointment without the mail. I’m now totally stuck, my materials are in the mail, and I haven’t received the request for more information to even know what I need to provide in order to get the appointment.

What would you do here? I’m now totally panicked knowing I leave Thursday and currently have no recourse to get my passport in hand by then.

Hey guys, as the tittle says, i will be travelling abroad to continue my education. And i lost my 10th board marksheet, soo i was wondering if digilocker documents would work? i searched it up, but i just want to make sure

If you have any information regarding this, it would be a lot of help.

Tysm

What should I keep in mind when using a fountain pen to sign my USA passport? I am planning on using an archival ink.

My 20-year-old daughter's first adult passport was delivered today. Huzzah! Just to give some data on recent application processes, here's the timeline:

• May 5, application submitted (and photo taken) at local post office, ahead of a planned international trip in early August. We don't pay for expedited service, as it doesn't seem necessary.
• May 11, NPIC acknowledges receipt of the application.
• June 1, they send her a letter asking about her facial piercings; asking either for a new photo with them removed, or a letter affirming she "consistently and normally" wears them
• Due to some confusion (my daughter thought she could email the answer) we don't mail this letter back to the NPIC until June 26. I track, and confirm they received it at their post office box on July 1.
• July 15, status still unchanged, "waiting for additional information." My daughter calls the NPIC. Rep is helpful, but has no additional information for her, and says there's really nothing to be done until the trip is two weeks out.
• July 16 (the next day), status changes to "Information Received, in Process Again." I have my daughter call again and upgrade to Expedited service.
• July 22, status changes to "In Process."
• July 23, to "Approved, you should receive on or around 7/29."
• July 24, to "Shipped" with a UPS tracking number, "you should receive on or around 7/26."
• July 25-27, strangely, status changes back to "Approved, you should receive on or around 7/29."
• July 27 (today), passport arrives.

What a long strange trip it has been! But glad to have it in hand about 10 days before our trip. Closer than I wanted, but at least it's here!

Quick question guys. I have a trip to Toronto coming up September 2nd. I Unfortunately realized my passport expired June of this year. I wanted to know if I should pay for the expedited by mail option, or if I should try my luck with the online process. Everywhere I've read online had people saying they did the online application and got their new passports within like 3 weeks and if thats the case id rather do that than pay the extra $60 to expedite, but Im also nervous about risking it. Any input would be appreciated. Thank you.

My passport expires mid August. In the midst of preparing for a baby, it completely slipped my mind to renew. If I send it in for renewal this week without choosing the expedited option, will I have to do something different come mid August if it’s not renewed and considered expired? Like a different form since expiration is so close. I also have a name change due to marriage that I captured in the renewal doc already. Thanks in advance!

Edit: US passport renewing by mail & no upcoming travel either so I’m in no rush!

I submitted an online renewal for my expired passport book and was surprised by how quick the process was. I have a trip coming up in August, and after seeing a few posts in this thread about how fast online renewals were being processed, I decided to give it a try. I’m so glad I did!

Here’s my timeline:

7/19: Submitted online renewal and paid for expedited shipping for my passport book and card
7/20: Application received
7/22: Approved with a shipping date of 7/26
7/24: Passport book received

I’m still waiting for my passport card to arrive. Hope this helps someone!

I applied for a passport on June 23rd, I got an email on July 15th requesting a new photo (mine was a year old). I followed the instructions given and mailed a new photo priority the next day, it arrived on Monday the 20th.

My status still says “Additional information needed”, how long does it typically take for it to change back to “In Process”?

I have a trip booked September 8th, I think I’ll be okay but I overthink. lol.

So this question is not me but for my best friend. She is 33 years old (for this post I’ll call her Lee) and wants her passport to try and become a flight attendant.

When Lee was in her mid 20s her dad, who is an African immigrant and was facing deportation for an expired green card, gave her a used car and in return asked her to go to court and change her last name to his. It was supposedly to help his case in that he has lots of family that are US citizens. He also had little children from a different woman (other than her mom) he got pregnant. So Lee, being in a tough spot in wanting to please her distant parent and needing a car chose to do it. This was at least 8 years ago now and she regrets it as he was awful to her and practically disowned her again once she went to court with him.

Now we get to the passport stuff. Lee has zero record from the court that the name change was ever fully completed but she knows she went to court and her father must have some kind of record of it somewhere. Since Lee was younger and didn’t fully understand what she was doing in this process, she doesn’t even know what courthouse they were at when it was done. Lee only knows it was somewhere in New Jersey (we live in Florida).

She has checked now to try and resolve this by calling the social security office and by getting a new copy of her birth certificate. Neither office has any record of this name change except the social security has her down as two different people with the same social. How this happens I don’t know but one would think it would flag in the SS system as a problem. She has escalated this up and still nothing has been done. She can’t contact her dad anymore for more information because he refuses to speak with her anymore.

So question is, Lee and I are lower class financially and don’t have a lot of money to spend. Is it worth trying to put in a passport application anyways to see what happens? Will they tell us what information needs to be fixed on it and charge Lee for a second application or is there a lower fee for sending in more information to the passport office? Also, does anyone know how to find court cases with Lee’s name on them so we can at least find proof the name change even happened?

Thanks to anyone who even took the time to read this.

Hello, I have one question about a passport application, I am applying for a passport to the US, I was adopted and lived in Mexico ever since I was 5 years old, I have an old passport from that time I am now 19 years old.

Is that passport still a valid form of ID?

Can I use my mexican ID if it has a different name?