Our passports don't expire until January, 2017. However, due to the fact that many countries won't accept a passport within six months of expiration and that we will be starting our permanent residency process in May, it seemed wise to go ahead and renew them early.
We had new pictures taken on Monday--why is it that the photos are always SO bad! Our appointments at the US Embassy were yesterday morning. Given the traffic, even though we left an hour early, we just barely arrived on time. Once there, I remembered that the appointment allows them to control the number of people who enter, but it's not a guaranteed time.
Entry to the embassy requires passing through a metal detector, having all of your possessions screened (like at the airport) and "checking" all electronic devices in the secure lobby. There were about 30 people sitting in the waiting area after we passed through security. At the first window, they confirm your citizenship, take payment for the service you are requesting (passport renewals are $110) and give you a number for the next step. I'm not sure how long we waited before we were called back to the window to submit our renewal form and hand over our passport pictures. After that came the long wait (almost 2 hours.) Stephen passed the time playing cards with Margarita, a 10-year old girl who was waiting with her mom.
About 11:00 p.m., they called us back to the window and told us that everything was approved and our new passports would be ready to pick up on March 9. In the meantime, they returned our old passports in case we had to travel before the new ones come in. All in all, more efficient than mailing them in so it was worth the time investment.
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