So we have 2 kids with both US and Dutch passports and 1 kid with no last name, or a passport which refers to him as First Name: _ _ _ Last Name: Duuk Poppe. Very practical all.
Eelco and I have our Indian Visa's in our Dutch passports - of which we now both carry 2 or 3 at all times as our origional visa's are in expired passports, the visa extensions in new or 2nd passports and then we need our new primary passports sometimes also if we can only get a visum on arrival with enough time left on our passports (2nd passports are only valid 2 years). Or because our previous entries where on another passport.
Rick & Kaat have their visa's for India in their US passports - because they applied for it in the US and as they had no visa for the US in their Dutch passport they could not get an Indian visa applied for in the US in the Dutch ones....you still following? Their visa's our linke dto ours, but despite our being only valid for a year, theirs are valid till 2017 - although not really, as the real validity is linked to the registration paperwork completed annually here in India, and that date is linked to our visa end date - or the expiry of your passport.
Rick's Dutch passport was coming up to 4.5 years - and as that is the one that gets us in and out easily in most places in Asia (visa upon entry if 6 months left on passport), we had that easily enough renewed on our last stay in The Hague. But his US passport also needed renewal..... which is the one with the Indian visa, and he can not stay in India beyond 2 months before the passport expires meaning Rick only has registration paperwork up till May this year.
With all the travel we do, first priority was to figure out when we would have a long enough window of no travel to do the passport renewal. Then we had to find out what to do. Fortunately passport renewals for US citizens can be done entirely via couriered paperwork etc to the consulate in Chennai........except if you are a minor and your parents are not US citizens. Then you have to show up in Person.
And so I filled out a bunch of papers, as Eelco and I both being able to go with Rick to Chennai for the day was never going to happen, and Eelco and Rick went to Chennai for the day. All was pretty smooth and easy, not too much paperwork to provide and by now we know how to get a good car service there etc etc. So a nice daddy & son day in Chennai and 3 weeks later we had a new passport delivered by mail - in good America style in lots of very official looking envelopes with lots of seals etc.
Waiting around w Papa in Chennai
Then comes the issue of the recognition of the new passport by the registration office and the extension of the registration to November (our visa end date). After many very unclear an 'lost in translation' style e-mails it appears to become apparent that we cannot extend Rick's registration to November until much closer to the currently expiry date (within a 2 week window probably - that appears to be the magic number with Visa things here). Then we were told to still go to the FRRO - the registration office - to get the new passport listed. That is a full day out, of waiting and lingering etc. So we were not too keen to go twice. Could we travel with the old passport & the new passport and the current registration - possibly, quite likely, we think so......but 'would be better to do the needful and get the new passport registered'.
We opted not to. Crazy schedules for work between now and our next trip out. We'll take the chance and just bring all our paperwork to the airport, smile, be polite & patient and deal with it there. Surely with minimal 2-3 passports for Eelco, 2-3 for me, 1-2 for Kaat, 2-3 for Rick and 1 for Duuk + 3 birth certificates + 5 registration forms + 5 filled out departure/customs forms we will have enough paperwork even by Indian standards??!?!
Next task - is it or is it not possible to get Duuk a passport with a last name whilst we are living abroad......
No comments:
Post a Comment