clicky: passport status

[Deleted]

I realize that the rates of having a passport will be much higher here, but I'm just curious. 

[Deleted]

I got my first passport when I was 14. I'm currently on my 4th passport.

The first one expired, the second one was a renewal, the 3rd one was to change to my married name and was stolen when our home was broken into in 2011 and I'm on my 4th one which is a replacement for the 3rd stolen one.

[frlcb]

I've had one since I was young, 5 maybe? Both my kids have had their since they were babies, applied for them both at 2 weeks old, and they are both dual US-UK citizens. Lucky them Dh is going to be a dual UK-US hopefully this year.

[frlcb]

Oh and most of mine have expired but one was stolen. It had most of my stamps in it, sob.

[GilliC]

My first was when I was 14. Since becoming an adult I have never actually had a passport expire. I had one lost (by the import company, so probably stolen) in China after two years, and then after six more years (and two sets of additional pages), I changed back to my maiden name. Now I have nine more years to go!

[mcfelix]

@frlocb - that is so sad about losing your passport with all the stamps.

I am on my third passport. I got my first one before going on a school trip to Germany and Austria when I was 13 or 14. I got my next one before studying abroad in Italy, and then my current one when the previous expired. Unfortunately, I don't use it as much as I would like!!

[emilyinchile]

I've had both of mine for over 16 years. ETA: I got my first passport when I was 6 weeks old-ish, I think both US and UK, since I moved from the US to England at that age.

[wanderlustfoodie]

Got my first passport as a teenager. Over 16 years.

[osumelissa]

I only got a passport about 8 years ago for our HM. Now I use it a lot since I have more disposable income to spend on travel

[mdgirl]

I'm on my 3rd and very much looking forward to my 4th in 2018 so I won't have to look at my hideous pictures ever again. I swear for the next one I'm getting my hair and makeup done and having an actual photographer take it. I'm only half kidding.

[Deleted]

I have had a passport since I was 15. I don't even know how many I have had. I replaced mine last year because I was I was out of pages and tired of explaining my name was amended on the back page. It only had about a year left on it anyway.

[Wanderista]

Mine needs to be renewed. I need to get on that, but it'll be my 3rd passport.

[Deleted]

I've had my passport for about 20 years - but I got my first passport when I was about 22. I got it late, but it makes sense since my parents did get their first passport until they were 60 (now they love to travel and have travelled extensively in retirement).

[anna7602]

I have had a passport since I was a baby. Otherwise, how was my family supposed to make a quick escape if the Russians invaded?

[cransplash]

I have had a passport since I was a baby too.

[agnes]

I applied for my first passport on Saturday.

[wise_rita]

I didn't get one until I was 19, then didn't use it until I was 20.

My dream in life is to give my kids 3 passports. Not sure if it'll happen, but it would be a dream come true.

[daisypaloma]

I emigrated to the US as a teen, so I've had one for a while. I renewed 5 years ago.

[Shreddingbetty]

I got my own personal passport when I was 11 since that is when I traveled to the US without my parents . Prior to that I was just added on my mom's passport. Our Dutch passports are only valid for 5 years. I think I actually let mine expire for 3-4 years while in the US (I had a greencard so it wasn't as big a deal) . I got my US passport in 2007.
DD got her US passport at 2 or 3 months and her Dutch passport at 18 months.

[udscoobychick]

I got mine when I was 17--it's 10 years old, and I need to renew it before we head to the South Pacific in March. I'm having separation anxiety about it--it has all my stamps in it, and it makes me sad to part with it! Too bad you can't keep expired ones for sentimental reasons.

[udscoobychick]

Jan 14, 2014 10:23:27 GMT -5 @mx said:

Jan 14, 2014 9:05:32 GMT -5 udscoobychick said:

I got mine when I was 17--it's 10 years old, and I need to renew it before we head to the South Pacific in March. I'm having separation anxiety about it--it has all my stamps in it, and it makes me sad to part with it! Too bad you can't keep expired ones for sentimental reasons.

If you're American you do keep your expired passport. They send it back to you with a hole punched in the front.

Oooh, that's exciting!  I thought since I had to send it in, I wouldn't get it back!

[G22]

I've had one all my life. Literally. My parents took a trip to Germany/Austria when I was 6months old.

I don't know how many I've had, because as a kids it was updated a lot more often than now. My current one still has my maiden name one it, even though I've been married for 4.5 years. I use it on average once a year, so its not a big deal to fix it until its time to update it again.

[gt7301b]

I got my first passport when I was 10, I think I'm on my 4th passport.

[sushi]

I traveled internationally since I was a little kid, but it was to locations that only required my birth registration card. I didn't need a real passport until I was 18.

I also have a no-fee passport due to being a military spouse overseas.

[wise_rita]

Jan 14, 2014 10:23:27 GMT -5 @mx said:

Jan 14, 2014 9:05:32 GMT -5 udscoobychick said:

I got mine when I was 17--it's 10 years old, and I need to renew it before we head to the South Pacific in March. I'm having separation anxiety about it--it has all my stamps in it, and it makes me sad to part with it! Too bad you can't keep expired ones for sentimental reasons.

If you're American you do keep your expired passport. They send it back to you with a hole punched in the front.

I got my first passport at 18. I'm now on my second and third. The second is a 10 year passport with an Israeli stamp in it. The third is a secondary US passport with 2 years validity without an Israeli stamp. That one is for places like Lebanon and Yemen.

I didn't realize secondary passports had such short shelf lives.

Doesn't Lebanon and Yemen catch on and notice your passport is valid for a super short time?  So obviously you're using a regular length validity passport for Israel.

God, what a PITA.

[GilliC]

Jan 14, 2014 14:25:27 GMT -5 @publius said:

Jan 14, 2014 11:00:57 GMT -5 udscoobychick said:

Oooh, that's exciting!  I thought since I had to send it in, I wouldn't get it back!

They'll punch holes in it so it's obviously invalid and send it back.

Is there a standard way to indicate which pages you don't want holes punched in because the visas are till valid? My last replacement was at the embassy, so they just asked and stuck post-its on those pages. Can you just stick post-its on those pages yourself if you're mailing it in?

[wise_rita]

Jan 15, 2014 8:12:40 GMT -5 @mx said:

Jan 15, 2014 0:00:12 GMT -5 wise_rita said:

Doesn't Lebanon and Yemen catch on and notice your passport is valid for a super short time?  So obviously you're using a regular length validity passport for Israel.

God, what a PITA.

No one has asked (yet). You can also get a replacement book with limited validity if your passport is lost or stolen. I know someone whose lost passport resulted in him getting a series of one year books. When you get a replacement or second passport the duration is at the discretion of the issuing person.

And you can get a second passport if your first passport is out for visas/immigration proceedings for long periods and you still need to travel. I suppose I'd say one of those things if push came to shove.

Could/would they point blank ask you if you've been to Israel before?

And if you said yes, could they deny you entry?  I don't know why you'd have to say yes, though, because there'd be no way for them to track that you had, in fact, been to Israel on a different passport.

[msgeeksout]

I got my first passport last year for my trip to Ireland. That was my first international trip and my second is in May (a Caribbean cruise). Mostly I do domestic travel. Living in Omaha sucks - I have to spend real money just to get to another city to spend even more. And I don't have a job where I travel.

[GilliC]

Jan 15, 2014 10:22:02 GMT -5 @mx said:

Jan 15, 2014 9:00:01 GMT -5 wise_rita said:

Could/would they point blank ask you if you've been to Israel before?

And if you said yes, could they deny you entry?  I don't know why you'd have to say yes, though, because there'd be no way for them to track that you had, in fact, been to Israel on a different passport.

They could, and they could deny me entry, but I would lie if I asked. There is no way they could prove it and I don't think they would care to since they don't want to ruffle the feathers of NGOs by hassling their staff. In a country hostile to NGOs I might be more worried, but I'd probably be lying about my profession as well!

Honestly I never get a lot of questions at immigration anywhere but the US (and Israel). I think the most questioning I have ever recieved outside of those places was in Madagascar where the guy just seemed to want to flirt with me.

Now that I don't travel with my green-card-holding XH I hardly get any questions in the US. I once made it through immigration without even speaking to the border agent. He waved me up, scanned my passport, looked at my customs declaration, stamped stuff, handed it back, and then turned to wave up the next person.

The place I always get the most questions is the UK. I've found that LHR Terminal 5 isn't bad, but I've been grilled the other times I've flown in, and the line takes ages because they spend so long with each person. I had one agent spend two minutes trying to find a previous UK entry stamp in my thick passport before giving up.

[mrsukyankee]

I didn't get my first passport until my late 20s (we were poor growing up and then I went to grad school...sigh). But I also now have two passports - US & UK