USVI-On-Line

Yeah but before that he said:

Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2009 10:11 am Post subject:

Hmmm...was planning a day boat trip to the BVI's and I am a little concerned now. The problem is I am worried if I renew now (even expedited), I may not get my passport back before I leave on the 27th. I know "they" say expedited gets your passport back in 2-3 weeks, but "they" dont have any accountability if they are wrong!

Ok -- Just got an email from Josh at Lion in Da Sun:

"As for the soon-to-be expired passport, it would not be a problem for you. The British and US customs agents will notice it and give the captain a stern look and say to have you get it renewed right away and that they are not required to accept it but they will. (Because you can technically stay up to one month on a temporary visa you have the potential to outstay your passport)."

I think I am going to roll the dice with the soon-to-be expired passport, rather than run risk of not getting it back from the Passport Office in time. Lets keep the fingers crossed!

Thanks everyone!

Eric

Eric,

If you live near one of the passport authority offices (which I believe you said you do), you should be able to get a passport in person pretty quickly, if that would ease your mind. I know that when I worked for a Congressman (although this was pre-9/11), people who had to travel out of the country unexpectedly would often schedule a layover where they could go to pick up their expedited passport en route to their foreign destination.

It should explain how to do this somewhere on the State Dept's Web site. Or your Congressional representative has someone in his or her office who works on helping constituents get passports. Might be worth a call with this concern to see what they have to say.

The good thing about a charter is that the captain gets everyone through customs. I just wouldn't want to be left behind.

My daughter was refused admittance onto a plane bound for Costa Rica because her passport was due to expire right after she got back. After some research I called THE Passport office in Boston (we live in Southern Maine) and was able to get her an appointment to renew her passport on the following business day since she had a plane ticket for the following day. (original flight reservation-Sat./ appt.-Mon./ revised reservation-Tues.) She got her new passport after a 2 hr. wait. and flew out on Tues. It all depended on having a reservation that was soon. And yes it cost extra, of course.