Oh, a tricky question. One to which I want to scream the answer "No!" to, but can't. I actually have mailed my passport before. Twice. The first time was when my passport got so full that I needed to request for more pages (yes! every travellers dream) since it was not going to expire for a couple of years but I had nowhere to put another visa. This service was free (to my delight) and provided by the government, but I had to mail it for the additional pages. There was no place, no agency, for me to visit. That made me nervous, especially because it was not too long after Hurricane Katrina and I believe I had to send it to New Orleans. But, all went well and I, rather quickly, received my new-and-improved passport. Well, not really improved because they did not put the pages in straight so the middle section always stuck out a little at the bottom. That was always annoying.
The second time I mailed my passport was to the Brazilian consulate (in Miami) because I needed a new Brazilian tourist visa. I was less worried/nervous that time since I had previously sent off my passport into never-ever-land (AKA Louisiana) for the additional pages. My passport was again returned safe and sound to me in the SASE I had sent my passport with - visa and all. I again sighed in relief.
Now it's E's turn. Yes, we have still not renewed his Brazilian passport; but this is not because of me. I am a bit OCD with paperwork and if it had been just my responsibility, it would have been sent off already. But it's not. I guess he's not in a hurry since our trip is not until July; it must seem long off to him. However, I cannot apply for residency until he has his passport because we have to present valid passports at the time I apply. So, let's get on it!
Now we thought the visiting consulate would be in central Florida last weekend since that's what we were told in Miami when we were there last month. But this is not the case. Thanks a lot to whoever told me that lie.
As a result, I've been reading about our options on passport renewal - do so personally in the consulate, do so by mail, or visit a "travelling" consulate when they are in your area. The quickest and safest way is go to the consulate and renew in person (because if you make a mistake there is someone to give you immediate feedback for you to correct it OR photocopy/sign anything missing). But the next best option is by mail. It's only supposed to take an additional 10 days for you to get the new passport and you don't have to pay for gas, drive back and forth to Miami, or miss work to make the visit. So it's easy. BUT, if you are missing something (which would delay process) or (God forbid) something is lost in the mail, then well, you can pretty much say you are sh*t out of luck. Forget the "travelling" consulates option, their time for passport renewal is 2 months. Who has time for that? Not me, I'm moving to Brazil.
So of course it makes me nervous to mail E's passport (and other important documents), but I guess that's the best option now. It'll save us time and money and once it's sent off we won't have to do anything more, just wait. We just have to make sure that we send it express mail - both there and back.
Do I cross my fingers or hold my breath?
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