Renewing Your Passport While Abroad.

The Emergency Passport Hack

I have a confession—I’ve been a fraud for a while now.

Despite the name “Bowtied Passport,” I went 11 months without a passport.
Why? I simply didn’t need it. My passport expired at the beginning of the year, and I simply didn’t need to leave Mexico.

If you want the beach, Mexico has plenty; forests, mountains, jungle, deserts... Everything is here, and I had no need to fly back to the states for business. The problem also persisted—I didn’t want to send my passport to the embassy that I could Uber to and still have to wait upwards of 2 months to get a new one.

Eventually, I figured I don’t want my passport to be expired for more than a year. The rules seem to say that you could have an expired passport for 5 years and not have to get a new one, but I figured 1 year was enough. I didn’t want to get stuck in the position where I have to do the entire process from a different country.
*Being a Mexican resident, I don’t carry a passport around and can travel freely. I figured I would buy a little bit of time and get an emergency passport. Here is the process.

Now, the correct steps to renewing your passport while overseas are as follows:

Contact your country's embassy or consulate immediately. They will guide you through the process of obtaining a new passport, and they may even expedite it. Everything is online—simply search for "passport renewal while abroad." The websites tend to change frequently and can be scattered, but there's essentially a checklist guiding you on how to renew your passport. However, it's a bureaucratic process—you'll need to schedule an appointment. If you have the time to do so, go for it. Alternatively, you can mail your passport and wait for up to 2 months to receive it back.

Gather all necessary documents.

Typically, this includes your old passport, a passport photo, and proof of your travel plans. Check with your embassy or consulate for any additional requirements. Oddly enough, embassies aren't as standardized as one might think. You can find an Office Depot, Office Max, or search on Google Maps for a place to get passport pictures. Alternatively, you can take the picture yourself. Just ensure your background is white and follow all the required directions. Then, have the picture printed at any of the mentioned places.

I took my picture against a flat white wall and had six copies printed for about $2 at an Office Depot.

Allow enough time for the process. Getting a new passport on the same day isn't always possible, so it's crucial to allow sufficient time. I might have been lucky—I spent about 2 hours at the embassy, mostly waiting. Maybe 30 minutes were spent talking to a person, reviewing documents, and paying the fee.

You'll likely need to return to pick up your passport. After completing the process, I was told to return in an hour and a half to collect the passport, which took about 10 minutes. This was amusing because I assumed it would be a quick process—I'd show them my ID, and they'd hand over the passport. I took an Uber to the embassy and asked the driver to wait. I had no idea I'd have to go through security again, then walk to the back office to verify my information one more time. Fortunately, there were only two people in front of me, and the Uber driver was patient enough to wait in front of the embassy, albeit under the watchful eyes of armed guards wondering why he hadn't left.

Now, hypothetically, you could face an emergency that requires you to fly back to the States on short notice. The first thing you'd need is a flight. There are several services like "Dummyticket247" and "Onewayfly" where you can "book" a ticket for $12-15 to obtain a proper PDF document for the specific days you require.

You'll also need to have passport pictures already taken, your expired passport, and the necessary documents listed on the passport renewal website. I recommend having 2-3 copies made. Then, simply show up at the embassy early in the morning. Mention that you don't have an appointment but have all the documents. They should allow you to proceed. If not, this is where your acting skills come in. Explain that you tried to book an appointment, but the available dates were after your flight date. It took me only 5 minutes to convince the person at the embassy entrance to let me in. They might even ask for proof of this "emergency," which can be challenging. You booked a ticket, indicating an emergency, and didn't think to ask the hospital back home to send you a document proving a family member is in the hospital. You don’t need to prove this. Embassies are funded by your taxes; they will let you in, but they also need to follow certain protocols.

Once inside the building, you're just a regular person. You'll stand in line, show your documents, and pay the fee. To get an emergency passport, you pay the regular passport fee. Within a year, you can exchange your emergency passport for a regular one at no additional cost.