I got my new passport delivered to my door, today, a full week earlier than I was expecting it. Since 2001, embassies outside the U.S. cannot issue permanent passports and must forward applications back to the States for processing.
When I applied at the U.S. embassy here (giving them the emergency passport issued at the AIT in Taipei), they told me it would take around two weeks. That was last Tuesday. This morning, I get a phone call from the delivery service confirming I was home and able to pay the delivery fee and sign for it.
Yay! I am no longer “undocumented.” Now, I just have to go through the process of getting my visa and ARC reissued, so I will be truly “legalized.”
I’ve never been so happy to see a little blue booklet. I am considering having it surgically attached to my body.
The following should be taken as a quick handy guide on ‘what not to do when you are traveling to a small island nation that no longer has official diplomatic relations with your native land.’ (Or, really, when you go anywhere.)
- Decide that you like the snazzy black leather passport holder so much that you not only put your passport in it, but you use those cute little extra pockets to store all of your other identification. (For example, your ARC card it was a major pain in the ass to get, and the Korean driver’s license you have had barely a month.)
- Leave that passport holder zipped in the side pocket of your carry-on bag and then carelessly leave said bag locked in your room at the five-star hotel in Taipei where you and your hubby are currently shacking, recklessly disregarding for approximately 8-12 hours, the combination safe in the closet. The one that looks identical to the programmable, lockable steel boxes you have used to store your passports and other valubles during previous overseas journeys.
- Go out with your husband to a nice dinner, return, and then also go to sleep without thoroughly checking through your luggage.
- Wake up the next morning, look over at your carry-on back on the floor and think, ‘Hmmm…I don’t remember leaving my trip itinerary and cute little Mandarin phrase card the car-service driver gave me out on the nightstand. When did I do that?’
- Upon closer inspection of the carry-on bag, realize that it’s contents are slightly altered since the last time you looked. One, the side-pocket is open; and two, it is missing the passport holder, passport, and your identification.
Honestly, I think I would have prefered someone take all my cash and use my credit cards to buy a year’s worth of porn, guns, and cigarettes at the nearest market. I don’t think it would have made the trip start off quite so downhill.
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