Passport Issues! Visiting the US Embassy in Singapore

FYI it's not Secret Service that guards the embassy; it's outsourced external security and Marine Service Guards in that booth.

Personally had family passport issues while on a layover in Singapore, and this embassy wasn't too helpful. Bangkok and Manila embassies were awesome, though.

Given your situation, I would have added pages too. I don't want to disappoint you even further but the US state dept started charging adding visa pages back in 2010. It used to be free.

I got a new passport back in 2012 and since I knew there may be a possibility of even increasing the fees, I just added more pages (2 sets) in my passport for one lump sum of $82. It helps since I plan to visit more yellow fever vaccination required countries (got vaccinated back in 2010)... and pretty much most of those countries require a one-page visa for US passport holders.

A Singaporean I met there said the locals are ticked off about how much space that embassy actually takes, considering how sparse land is in S'pore. The other embassies are a fraction of the size. I would have to agree with some posts here, as they are not helpful at all there ...the HK consulate was much more helpful. I think this embassy is just a handy dandy CIA listening post for Asia 🙂

the last time I added pages, it was free. my passport doesn't expire for another 3 years, but I plan to renew before my next year rather than add more pages. there's a non-standard 52-page version, which is the same price as the standard 28-page version.

I have a question that may come across as snarky, but I definitely don't mean it that way.

From the post, sounds like you have to make 2 separate trips to the embassy, and possibly wait twice and ride the cab twice. I'm curious how you decided betweem paying the various expedited fees before you leave, vs spending time on your vacation running errands, which would cut into valuable in country time, and potentially have more chance for unforeseen circumstances (like the holiday closure)

@mangoceviche

As Joey says above, the fee for additional passport pages started in 2010, so yeah, previously we didn't have to pay that. USD 82 strikes me as absurdly high.

I got the 52-page version when I renewed my passport a few years ago as well, and I didn't even ask for it. I'm presuming that whomever processed it thought it would make more sense since my previous passport had so many inserts. I was very pleased that they did that for me without my asking.

@Ben - I had to add pages to my passport a few years ago too, and I decided to do it at an embassy as well. Even expedited, there's still a possibility that you won't have the passport in time for departure. If that happens, you'll either be stuck at home or pay even more money to change your itinerary.

I knew that it'd take time out of my trip, but these things made it worthwhile for me, and I'd imagine that they apply to others too:
1. Embassies and consulates are located in major cities, so chances are that you've been there already, played tourist before, and won't be missing anything.

2. Since you're on vacation, you have flexibility in your schedule, meaning that you can avoid rush hour and lunchtime traffic for embassy visits.

3. You probably have friends/family all over the place, but you'd most likely only be able to see them in the off work hours. So, by going to the embassy in the day, you're not missing out on those visits.

You can also request that an "emergency" EPDP passport be issued immediately on-site and have it converted to a regular passport when you return home. This costs the same as having a new passport issued and an emergency doesn't need to actually exist.

@LoneTree - the "E" in EPDP really does stand for "Emergency", not "Eenconvenience" or "Eh, I don't feel like waiting for a regular passport."

@Ben --

Your question is a good one, and Tennen's reply basically summarizes our thinking. A few more thoughts:

1. This is a month-long trip. It's supposed to be somewhat of an experiment in 'living' in a foreign country, not just being a tourist. So part of living is doing errands. Believe it or not, one of our favorite things to do on trips is to go grocery shopping!

2. Given that we didn't discover the issue until a few days prior to departure, I don't think that expediting was even an option. Or it would have been really close!

3. It didn't actually take much time out of the day. We were in and out of the embassy within 30 minutes and on our way to Jurong Bird park (to be a tourist!) If we hadn't had a reason to get up and moving, we would have probably just been slower out of the hotel room.

4. Tennen's point about being flexible avoiding peak time is very true. Interestingly, we also met a friend of ours (who was in SG on a business trip and thus working all day) for dinner that night. So it didn't interfere with that at all.

5. I think that it's a bit of a civic (?) experience to visit an embassy. Despite visiting dozens of countries, I had never been to one before. Seems like something everyone should do once. (And obviously I don't know much about Embassy's as I thought they were protected by the Secret Service.... so I still have a lot to learn.)

6. And as Tennen points out, this was our 4th or 5th trip to Singapore, so we didn't feel a huge need to run around and see things. Mostly this was a 'decompression stop' at the start of our trip before continuing on to new places.

Thanks for the question!

Very interesting comments about the helpfulness of the US Embassy in SG. Obviously adding extra pages is a simple routine request, and it went just fine for us. And as I said, this was my first embassy visit, so I have nothing to compare it to.

And to everyone pointing out that 'extra pages used to be free'..... thanks. Why am I always too late for the good ol' days???? 🙂

Interesting post, thanks. I must say I'd never dreamt that embassies offered this sort of service - I'd only ever heard of emergency passports to replace lost/stolen ones when abroad! I find it disappointing that between the EU and Global Entry I hardly have any stamps in my passport now, but at least it means I'm unlikely to have a page issue!

Laughed at the 26th Dec comment, this has always been a holiday in the UK, we call it Boxing Day - perhaps it's our export to you given that Black Friday seems to have been exported to us, despite us not having any Thanksgiving holiday over here!

Also you can get a same day passport if you live near one of the US processing centers. I was traveling internationally a lot right around the time my passport was due to expire and could not afford to part with it for 2 or 3 weeks so I simply made an appointment at the local processing center, showed up with my itinerary for next day/really soon travel (can be an award reservation or fully refundable ticket, etc...) and asked for same day service. I believe there was an extra fee involved but I did avoid round trip FedEx fees so it probably netted out even.

And yes I did request extra pages.

@some guy-

As someone who issues EPDPs we leave it up to the applicant to decide that they need a temporary passport. As long as you need one for whatever reason, we'll issue it. Not being near the embassy/consulate long enough to receive the full validity version is legitimate.

Back in 2009 I had extra pages added when it was free at the London embassy, and they only made me wait about 15 minutes, and I had no appointment either!

I just renewed the passport, and received the 52 page version, as well as an extra 24 pages (they apparently won't add 48 pages to the 52 page book). I preferred this as any time without the passport is inconvenient. Thar said, I sent it off the Friday before thanksgiving and received it back the Monday after thanksgiving. I've found November and December to be very fast turnaround times over the years.

We also synchronized our kids and my wife with the same month, and mine expires about 6 months later which is convenient, though they don't join me as much as your family does.

Final note, when the new passports come out in the next year or two, extra pages will no longer be a thing, and it's been rumored that they will stop adding pages to existing passports as well when that happens.

It's true, starting in 2016, you will no longer be able to add pages to passports. That's because the new redesigned passport will already be 52 pages instead of the standard 28 pages. You can read about the announcement here: http://www.latimes.com/travel/deals/la-tr-spot-20140921-story.html

A couple of other notes: U.S. Embassies are guard by the brave men and women of the U.S. Marine Corps, not the Secret Service (which guards the President and other dignitaries). Also contrary to popular belief and Hollywood, U.S. embassies and consulates abroad are NOT sovereign U.S. soil.

Enjoy the rest of your trip!

Good to know. Thanks!

Just encountered this situation myself on a multi-destination RTW (errr, US N. Asia via Europe in biz for 90K, thank you very much). Planned a visit to the US Embassy to add pages upon arrival in PEK via online appointment in advance. Seamless and took less than 30 minutes. Staff was great and experience was much less painful than I anticipated.

FYI if you're a U.S citizen traveling abroad and need assistance with your passport or other travel documents, or any other assistance from a U.S embassy in any country, first contact your member of congress. All elected members of congress have caseworkers for immigration issues faced by their constituents at home and abroad. Explain the problem you're facing and they will help you secure an appointment ASAP or try to assist from home. We help our constituents in San Francisco with travel problems abroad all the time. Congressional inquiries are given priority by U.S diplomatic posts abroad.

@melmotion--as a consular officer, I would suggest reconsidering before reaching out to your elected members of congress to assist with routine services, as it can slow down the process by up to a week. As stated by previous respondents, if you are in the position of needing "assistance with your passport" (EPDP, extra pages, whatever), particularly if you have imminent travel, you will find the ACS section of nearly every Embassy/Consulate to be very responsive, as the author of the article experienced.

When I say that it can slow down the process by up to a week, I don't want it to be misconstrued as intentional--it's the nature of the paper chase: Day ONE: you write, call, or fax your congressperson, day TWO: a staffer draws up a letter of inquiry to send to the Embassy and sends it through their internal clearance process, day THREE or FOUR: the letter gets emailed, day FIVE: the embassy (who is half a world away) draws up a response and goes through their internal clearance process, day SIX, the response is sent, day SEVEN: your elected representative comes across the response while checking their mail and hands it off to a staffer to reply to your initial inquiry. The response is generally the same as the advice given here: please have Mr. Smith make an appointment or come by the Embassy. These days also do not account for weekends or holidays, which draws it out even longer. It's far easier to just make the appointment or visit the embassy or consulate yourself.

One additional note: replacing a minor's passport is $80 application fee plus $25 execution fee (per http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/passports/information/fees.html#minor_passport) for a total of $105. An adult renewal is $110 (no execution fee unless you lose it).

Safe travels!

24 countries by age 3 and will unfortunately remember zero.