Thicker Than Your Average | She Got A Fatty

Depending on how familiar you are with current slang among the hip hop generation, you might have the wrong idea about this post from reading the title. I do, in fact, have a fatty, and I am talking about my passport. 

Effective January 1, 2016, the United States Government no longer accepts applications to add pages to ones passport. This is a big deal, because, when you apply for a visa to visit other countries, many require that you have at least 4-5 blank pages in your passport upon application. Since they no longer add pages, a mere $82 fee, you would be required to apply for a passport renewal ($110).

This presented a few issues in addition to the higher fee.

• You must take new passport photos
• If you have visas from other countries that do not expire yet, you will need to carry 2 passports
• The processing time may be longer. 

I have been fortunate enough to have many stamps and several visas in my passport, and I was quickly approaching the end of my book when I got my application in on December 29, 2015 and amazingly, I already received my fatter (pages added) passport. Those couple of weeks were the longest amount of time I spent without my passport in years. I am happy to have my dear friend back. 

Fatty

Let the exploring continue!

~JE 

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