The last time I traveled out of the country was in 2006. Needless to say, quite a bit has changed since then. First, I didn't need to have a passport to travel to St. Lucia and there was no world-wide pandemic.
In mid-September, my husband and I traveled to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic to celebrate his birthday. It was intended to be a surprise for him but it was full of surprises for OTHER reasons! Here are some things you need to know before traveling out of the country:
1) Everyone is trying to leave the U.S.! When countries started to open back up again and the United States eased some of its travel restrictions abroad, everybody was trying to get away after being cooped up in their own little bubbles for so long. Passport offices were swamped with appointments causing longer than usual delays in receiving service.
2) You need a passport. This goes without saying---but it's important to know that if you don't have one, it could take weeks just to get an appointment at your local post office or passport center. We started the process in early June and was unable to get an appointment until mid July. Then we were told it could take up to 16 weeks to receive our passports, provided everything was in order. Getting them in 16 weeks would've meant we would have to cancel our trip.
New passport application fee: $110
Execution fee: $35
Picture fee: $25 (Walmart can do it for a cheaper price)
3) Sign up for an Expedited Passport: This is only necessary if you need the passport in a hurry but then there's no 100 percent guarantee that if will arrive in time if your trip is less than six weeks away. You will pay an extra $60/person. We were told paying extra would shave off about 2-4 weeks for expected arrival time. That was cutting it EXTREMELY CLOSE for us but we paid the extra fees.
4) Make sure all of your documentation matches: Documentation you will need to present are your driver's license, your birth certificate, and social security card. Your passport is supposed to reflect what's on your driver's license. I had a problem because my DL still shows my maiden name but I was initially told that wouldn't be a problem because I had my marriage license to show I was legally married. THAT TURNED OUT NOT TO BE TRUE!!!
5) What to do when there's a DELAY: My squeaky clean husband received his passport in about two weeks (the first week of August), while I was still trying to understand why we didn't receive them at the same time. If you are married, I've learned it's not unusual to receive them separately but I was still in a panic. Then two weeks before we were scheduled to leave I received an email from the Passport Office in New Hampshire telling me my passport application wasn't approved because the documentation didn't match. I was also told I would receive an email with follow up instructions on how to resolve the problem. Long story short, the email never came less than 10 days before we were scheduled to leave so I went to another passport office to figure out what to do. They advised me to get my Congressmen involved which I certainly did. While I will admit I do not care for the politics of Senator Thom Tillis, I will publicly say he came through for me and made it happen. The Friday before we were supposed to leave, I received my passport. (I also believe God's divine intervention had more to do with it).
"Be vigilant in hope. Be patient in trouble but keep on praying." (Romans 12:12)
6) Know important dates: On the passport application, you will be asked about your parents birthdates and where they were born. You will also be asked about your divorce date (if applicable). My husband and I both had some challenges in getting this information.
7) Don't try to hide information from the State Department: What I mean by that is don't omit any other names you may have used over the years. Even though I hyphenate my name, I am tied to a social security number so the government can easily find out information if I omit it. Omitting information could put you a a no fly zone list.
8) Stay in touch with your travel agent or the airline for updated information: Because of COVID and the Delta Variant, the rules for traveling may change. Just like with "fake news" there is a lot of conflicting information out there. For example, we initially thought we would have to be tested just to get on the American Airlines flight but that was not the case. I did learn, however, that Delta was requiring their passengers to be tested before they travel to Italy.
In my next post, I'll share information on what happens once you get to the airport and arrive in a new country.
