Have you done a lot of overseas traveling this year? Check the back
of your passport: if you are down to 2-4 blank visa pages, it's time to
get more.
Although your passport itself is valid for 10 years, you will still
have a hard time traveling with it if you run out of visa pages. Many
countries require travelers to have 2-4 blank visa pages free for entry
and exit stamps. If your passport doesn't have enough pages, they may
not let you in and your trip could be ruined. Also, your airline may
require you to have a minimum number of blank pages in your passport
before they will let you on board the flight.
How do you know how many blank pages are enough? If you aren't sure,
contact your airline and the embassy of the country you plan to visit.
To avoid problems, it is best to go ahead and get pages added once you
have four or fewer blank pages remaining.
If you need more visa pages for your US passport, here's what you need to do to get them:
Fill out an official Request for Extra Visa Pages , Form DS-4085.
Mail the form in with your valid US Passport. The Department of State
will add the pages to your passport book and then mail it back to you.
Traditionally, adding visa pages to a passport has been free of
charge, but that could change. You may also need to pay an expediting
fee and fees for overnight shipping if you are in a hurry. Check the US Department of State's website for the most current fee information.
If you're a true international road warrior, you may need to get a new passport
altogether. If that's the case, fill out passport renewal form DS-82
and send it in with your old passport plus the appropriate fees. If
you've grown attached, you can request that the Department of State
cancel the old one and send it back for you to keep as a souvenir.
Author:
Alison Kroulek
