Friday, February 4, 2011

Passport to Limbo

Our passports expire in April of this year, so I decided it was time to renew them. When we renewed them the last time in 2001, I used the "renew by mail" process, which worked great so I decided to try it again. This time, it was not so great…

I filled out the forms, and we went to the local UPS Store which offered passport photos. Rich and I smiled, had our pictures taken. We enclosed our old passports, photos, forms and checks in the padded, manila envelopes as suggested by the website. I paid to have both envelopes sent with signature confirmation, again as suggested by the website. Hooray, off they went, we just had to wait.

A week later I checked the US Postal Service website. Rich's envelope had been received at the passport facility in Philadelphia, PA. My envelope had not even been received at the Oakland postal facility, the first stop after leaving the UPS Store. I check the passport website and Rich's check had been cashed. No such luck for mine.

So we went back to the UPS Store to see if the package was still there. The proprietor said that it had been sent. I asked if he could just take a look to confirm. He pointed to a pile on the floor behind the counter and to a cabinet. All envelopes are put in the US Mail carton inside this cabinet he said and then opened the cabinet. There were two letters but no carton. He then went to the back to look for the US Mail carton. I was feeling a little suspicious since obviously whatever the process was, it was not being followed.

The next stop was the US Postal office here in Emeryville. The person behind the counter took my information to her supervisor. After a short period, the supervisor came out and told us that the envelope had not been logged in at the mail handling facility in Oakland. Apparently the first thing that happens when a package is received at the handling facility is it is scan into the system. Somehow, my envelope had not been scanned. She never used the word, lost, but said it might turn up later. She asked if I had check at the place where I mailed it. Yes, sadly.

My passport is in Limbo. The UPS Store claims it was picked up, the US Postal service claims they never got it.

I called the passport office to report the missing passport. Since I no longer have my passport, I can not use the "renew by mail" process. I need to re-apply. In order to re-apply, I need a certified copy of my birth certificate, which is in the safety deposit box in Seattle, plus new passport photos, etc.

Aside from the inconvenience (read HASSLE), I am sorry that my passport is missing. I remember the face of the customs officer in Milan, Italy, when he looked through my passport and saw the stamp from Niue. My passport had a lot of sentimental value and now it is in Limbo, and I can't get it back.

In other countries, you learn to go with the flow, to take you time, to be patient. Living in the US, you come to expect the systems to work and it is frustrating when it does not. I think I am ready to leave now but of course, I can't. I don't have a passport.