I’ve Come a Long Way (With Passport Stamps to Prove It)

I’ve Come a Long Way (With Passport Stamps to Prove It)

May 18th, 2010 @ 10:50 am by Mrs. Seashell
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Once upon a time I was uber annoyed that my passport was due to expire in April 2010, and our wedding was a mere 5 months later (read: I’m changing my name, so I’d need an entirely new one AGAIN). Seriously? These things expire once every ten years and within 5 months of renewal I’d have to file the paperwork and pay undisclosed amounts of money repeatedly. Ugh. Timing really is everything.

After whining about this to Mr. Seashell, he made a few suggestions:

Let’s get legally married now, crazypants. Since love to get things done, he thought this would appeal to me for many reasons. I could have all my paper work completed, get a shiny new license, update my passport, etc. I considered this briefly, but my romantic side won out. “Then the formal wedding will just be a show. It won’t have meaning! I want our wedding day to be our wedding day.”
Let your passport expire and renew it with your married name. Tempting, but no. First, I’ve heard that it’s much easier to renew a passport than it is to reapply for one. Second, we’re leaving for our honeymoon (abroad) the day after our wedding and I won’t be able to travel with an expired passport. Have fun alone, honey!
Renew your damn passport. Ugh, fine.

I've Come a Long Way (With Passport Stamps to Prove It) : wedding honeymoon legal providence Passpor011 passpor01

(Check me out - 10 years makes a BIG difference.)

And guess what? If you change your name within one year of a renewal there is no fee! So, technically the fact that my passport expired so close to my wedding is actually a GOOD thing. After all my complaining, I’m slightly embarrassed to report that things have worked entirely in my favor. Who’d have thought?

Did you have any unexpected surprises? Inconveniences that were actually convenient?

Tags: honeymoon, legal, providence |

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28 Responses to “I’ve Come a Long Way (With Passport Stamps to Prove It)”

1 2 Last

Member

CorgiTales (message) 9,901 posts, Bee Keeper

wow I’m SO glad that you posted this because I’m in the exact same situation and I too have been whining up a storm! haha. I need to renew my passport in November 2010 and I’m getting married in February 2011. No fee is awesome!

5/18/10 @ 11:04 am (reply)

Member

gibsonkk (message) 227 posts, Helper bee

haha I JUST did this - this week!
Took a month to renew it - We’re going to Ireland in 5 wks, getting married in 8wks, and my passport expired first of this month. Talk about a drag! - I was reassured by the no charge name-change too.

Best part is, they return your old passport. Stamps intact. yea!!

5/18/10 @ 11:05 am (reply)

Bee

Miss Hamster (message) 4,046 posts, Honey bee

Haha wow, hadn’t thought of that - glad the timing worked out though!

5/18/10 @ 11:06 am (reply)

Member

gibsonkk (message) 227 posts, Helper bee

@CorgiTales: haha Hey Corgi! That’s funny you’re in the same boat too. Who knew there were so many of us doing this! Renewing is much quicker, cheaper and easier. At least that’s a good thing!

5/18/10 @ 11:07 am (reply)

Bee

Miss Cardigan (message) 8,645 posts, Bee Keeper

Haha, yup, I was going to mention that you can change it within a year! I JUST applied for my first passport ever (I don’t think we’re going abroad for the honeymoon, but I still needed to have one), and my name will change in about 8 months. It’s going to be a hassle to change it, but at least it will be free!!!

5/18/10 @ 11:08 am (reply)

Member

kvpoe (message) 82 posts, Worker bee

Awesome! Thanks so much for posting this. I probably would have come across it when I got around to changing the ol’ passport, but it’s good to know it won’t be such a burden. I just renewed mine last fall and am getting married this weekend — I’ll only have one trip to Germany and our honeymoon to canada in the latest passport. Sorta lame!

5/18/10 @ 11:10 am (reply)

Member

MJogan (message) 124 posts, Blushing bee

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!! I was whining about the SAME thing when we were looking at honeymoon destinations! I was willing to avoid international travel and let my passport expire!

Thank you so much for that gem about the one year “grace” period! =)

5/18/10 @ 11:12 am (reply)

Member

brittanymichelle (message) 878 posts, Busy bee

if i hadn’t read that list part, i was gonna tell you!! lol, the lady at our passport office told us, so i was glad we didn’t get it like, last year, cause then i would have to pay for a new one!!

5/18/10 @ 11:13 am (reply)

Bee

Mrs. Frozen Yogurt (message) 2,685 posts, Sugar bee

I was in the same boat. I have yet to get a new one after the wedding, but I have a year to do it, so I’ll get to it.

5/18/10 @ 11:25 am (reply)

10.

Bee

Miss Hermit Crab (message) 3,566 posts, Sugar bee

lucky break! good timing!

5/18/10 @ 11:25 am (reply)

11.

Member

Miss Spaghetti (message) 282 posts, Helper bee

This is great news!! Mine expires almost a year after we get married so I, too, could possibly get the fee waived as well!!!! yay!

5/18/10 @ 11:26 am (reply)

12.

Member

tea (message) 7,295 posts, Bee Keeper

i’ve been meaning to reapply for a new passport for awhile now. my last one is so old that i was a mere 6 months old in my picture!

5/18/10 @ 11:28 am (reply)

13.

Bee

Mrs. Perfume (message) 2,253 posts, Buzzing bee

This is exactly what happened with mine. Except mine expired 12.5 months before…which meant that I couldn’t get the free name change! Grr. Glad it worked out for you!

5/18/10 @ 11:40 am (reply)

14.

Member

rachelm1083 (message) 241 posts, Helper bee

the EXACT same thing happened to me. My passport expired this month. I mailed everything in to have it renewed early April and received my brand new passport in about 3 weeks! Also, very excited our marriage will fall within the 1 year mark of “updating time” free for passports! (Now, I just need to make sure I do it!)

5/18/10 @ 12:02 pm (reply)

15.

Member

alivoo01 (message) 2,625 posts, Sugar bee

That’s great the timing is working out for you!

5/18/10 @ 12:08 pm (reply)

16.

Member

Carebear0613 (message) 164 posts, Blushing bee

Oh man I just did that in April and thankfully the lady at the counter told me about the “change your name within one year of a renewal there is no fee”. She even gave me the document to do this.

Glad it all worked out for you…less stress please!

5/18/10 @ 12:42 pm (reply)

17.

Member

ktisthatbees (message) 2,742 posts, Sugar bee

what a great thing to know about passports. I have got a while before mine expires, but I will probably start griping about it 6 months ahead of time.

5/18/10 @ 12:46 pm (reply)

18.

Bee

Miss Frog (message) 505 posts, Busy bee

Lucky girl - I renewed mine for the cruise last year that turned out to be when we got engaged and now I’ll need to renew again…just over a year after - figures!

5/18/10 @ 4:11 pm (reply)

19.