So anyway, the day after talking to the professor in charge of the program, I rushed right out and applied for my Passport. I’ve never traveled overseas, so I never bothered getting one before. That was on May 18th. The clerk at the post office said that passports usually take about 2-3 weeks if I paid extra to have it expedited (another $60) and 4-6 weeks without the expediting. Since I am not leaving till September, I figured why waste the extra money and went with the slower, cheaper option. Strike Two!
Well, that may have been a big mistake. Unbeknownst to me at the time, the Japan folks need my passport information to get me a visa. That can take up to TEN weeks. So here I am three months away from the trip itself and I’m already in a time crunch. I learned this about a DAY after applying for the passport. So I immediately called the passport agency and they say there isn’t anything they can do until the paperwork gets entered into their system, which could take up to three weeks. Finally, this Friday (June 1st), the online tracking system showed me that they finally have entered the paperwork. That was only two weeks to the day since I applied, and they predicted three, so I can’t complain too much about that. Next, I spent the entire weekend trying to get through their incredibly backed-up phone support hotline. Today, Sunday, I finally got through and was able to “upgrade” the application to expedited. Yes, I ended up paying the $60 anyway.
Overall, it looks like I lost two weeks, probably less really, since it would have taken some time to process the thing even if I had chosen expedited from the beginning. The two weeks probably won’t hurt anything in the long run, but it would have been worth the $60 several times over not to have to worry about it. They tell me I should have it in about another two weeks. My professor won’t be happy to hear that, but at this point, I think I’ve done about all that there is that can be done. It’s wait-and-see time. Oh Joy.
Bottom line: if you don’t have a passport, just go with the expedited option regardless of what the clerks tell you or what you think you need. Just do it.
Next time: More applications, essays, and paperwork.
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