A passport is an crucial piece of identification. Especially for someone who doesn’t live in their home country. Since I’m not a Dutch citizen, it’s important for me to have my American passport ready and up to date. While I do have a Dutch ID card, it’s not the same as having a passport. So when my passport expired in June, I new I had to take action. We had plans to get it renewed before it expired but everything has been closed since March. The only place to renew my passport was at the U.S. Consulate General in Amsterdam. Let’s go through the process of how to get a passport renewal in Amsterdam.
Appointment Only
It can be intimidating to apply for an Adult Passport. Don’t worry! As of now, passport services are by appointment only so get that out of the way first. It’s important you make a physical copy of your appointment confirmation page. An elderly lady ran into trouble while I was in line. She had made an appointment but didn’t have physical confirmation of it. An OK from someone on the phone. When she arrived in line to check in they didn’t have a record of her appointment. I’m not sure what went wrong. But if she had a confirmation page it would have been helped to figure out why she wasn’t on the list.
Preparation
There’s a checklist you should read before the date of your appointment. Make sure you print it out and review the details. It was a good thing we did. Some of the information has changed since the last time I made a passport. Also the only way to receive your new passport is by mail. You need to bring a self addressed envelope and prepaid tracking for it. I also needed to make copies of everything, which was a good idea. The offices ended up needing some of my papers and I was glad to have it ready for them. Make sure you’re prepared because it would be a headache to have to come back again.
Confidence is key
I scared shitless while I was in line. Anxiety is no joke! But if you feel nervous about the process, it will show and you’ll seem a bit suspicious. The best thing you can do is put on your bravest face and do what you need to. Imagine you are your best self, and you’ll feel that way too. If you fake it until you make it, you’ll be fine.
Time to wait
It will take about a month for the new passport. Since I was in last Friday, it’s going to be a while until I see mine. But it’s ok! It’s not like we can travel anywhere anyway! But as I said, having an up to date passport is important to have so I decided to get it done while I could. Who knows if the offices will close up again because of a resurgence in the virus… I wouldn’t want to run into that issue!
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