Renewing US Passport

Wow, thank you Mary!   
I'm a fan of you tube too, (I'm learning how to make curtains at the moment!  ) but I would never have thought of looking there for practice tests!

Can I just say I'm glad I'm not the only one stressing about that test!! I don't know how I'll ever pass it. I've got the special books, have tried to study and get through them but haven't really focused on it. My husband and I watch historical youtube movies and he loves history so he gives me the 'overload' version! He says the questions they are asking are way too difficult and the average Brit wouldn't know a lot of it.  I was terrible at history in high school, I used to sit and draw people in class (I'm an artist now!) I the worst at dates. I need to make a time line and put it up in our hallway so I can think about it whenever I walk by! Sigh...

My husband and I have spent the evening taking the same practice tests online. We do not have the book to practice on since I don't need to take it for a long time yet. My average score over 10 tests is 58% but his are 87% He's taking his US Citizenship test this year and he has aced the practice tests on those with 90%+ and he doesn't have a book for that either. I guess he's just a swot


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A quick update on the Passport renewal. DX has been really good so far, the guy who came rang our bell at 8:30 am and we were still in bed....you know that horrible feeling when you leap out of bed half asleep because you know it's something important!? Arghh!

Anyways, he was great, said he remembered coming out for my visa. Showed me the number on the slip for tracking etc.
I called my credit card company to alert them to the charge but they only put the alert on for 3-4 days. So I just checked my credit card online and it only shows the DX charge. Also on the DX form it says you can only track once the embassy has given them the package for return. So I guess I'll have to check again tomorrow to see if the passport charge has come off, if not I'll have to call the credit card company again to renew the charge alert. I just want to see that charge so I know my passport was done correctly and approved!

It's terribly foggy up here this morning in Northumberland....I'm hoping to get some work done today on my children's book project! Have a great day everyone.
Mary

A quick update on the Passport renewal. DX has been really good so far, the guy who came rang our bell at 8:30 am and we were still in bed....you know that horrible feeling when you leap out of bed half asleep because you know it's something important!? Arghh!

Anyways, he was great, said he remembered coming out for my visa. Showed me the number on the slip for tracking etc.
I called my credit card company to alert them to the charge but they only put the alert on for 3-4 days. So I just checked my credit card online and it only shows the DX charge. Also on the DX form it says you can only track once the embassy has given them the package for return. So I guess I'll have to check again tomorrow to see if the passport charge has come off, if not I'll have to call the credit card company again to renew the charge alert. I just want to see that charge so I know my passport was done correctly and approved!

It's terribly foggy up here this morning in Northumberland....I'm hoping to get some work done today on my children's book project! Have a great day everyone.
Mary

Hi Mary.  I love foggy weather.. lucky you!
Glad you got it sent off OK!
I actually wasn't expecting the charge to come through until they got to it in the pile so was thinking it may be a week or two yet? I don't know! We do have balance alerts on the card in any case so will know when it does (hopefully) appear. Nothing yet.

Oh and husband thanks you for the youtube idea, a nice change of pace . 

Update on my passport renewal. I just got a letter from the US Embassy stating that my passport photo they recieved had been folded and could not be used! They want me to send another, and through DX which of course means paying, but only one way this time.

So is it because I stapled my photo to the application like it specifically said to do?? Was I supposed to put it in an envelope and staple it on like for the VISA application? It said to staple to the application.

Anyone have this happen to them?
Thanks

Update on my passport renewal. I just got a letter from the US Embassy stating that my passport photo they recieved had been folded and could not be used! They want me to send another, and through DX which of course means paying, but only one way this time.

So is it because I stapled my photo to the application like it specifically said to do?? Was I supposed to put it in an envelope and staple it on like for the VISA application? It said to staple to the application.

Anyone have this happen to them?
Thanks

Good lord Mary, they must have been rough with your application. 
We've actually heard nothing at all.  Have they taken your payment yet? I'm half expecting a letter to say our payment has failed even though we called the credit card company to inform them of an unusual charge.

In other news, my husband passed his Life in the UK test today....whoopee!

Hi larrabee, Congratulations to your husband!! I have too much stress to think about that nasty test right now! haha. Did you staple your photo to the application or attach it in an envelope? I called the credit card company twice to extend the alert (they would only keep it on for 4 days). I haven't seen it come off yet, I guess this is holding it up now.

Tomorrow when I'm not so tired, I will check my credit card account, contact DX for the pickup, have my photo ready in an envelope with some cardboard in it!! and then I'll ask the driver when will this get there? Then I'll call the credit card company again.

I called their toll free number for clients outside the US to call and I got charged over £9!!

Hi larrabee, Congratulations to your husband!! I have too much stress to think about that nasty test right now! haha. Did you staple your photo to the application or attach it in an envelope? I called the credit card company twice to extend the alert (they would only keep it on for 4 days). I haven't seen it come off yet, I guess this is holding it up now.

Tomorrow when I'm not so tired, I will check my credit card account, contact DX for the pickup, have my photo ready in an envelope with some cardboard in it!! and then I'll ask the driver when will this get there? Then I'll call the credit card company again.

I called their toll free number for clients outside the US to call and I got charged over £9!!

Thanks Mary!  It's a huge relief to have it out of the way for us but you have plenty of time so no worries! 

I actually didn't notice any written instructions about what to do with the photo but the diagram on the form  looked to me like they wanted the photo stapled to the form.  I was afraid that it would ruin the picture though so I put it in an envelope and stapled the envelope to the form.

I hope you manage to get everything sorted tomorrow. That's so annoying having to essentially go through the whole process twice. 

Hey Mary,

If you have a Skype account it's free to call 1800 numbers on. I call my bank, student loan holder, credit card company all the time. And if you need to call any non 1800 numbers it's only 2.2 cents a minute.

The credit card charge came through on the account alert today.
Looks like it was made on the 11th and just posted now.

So far so good! 

Hi Larrabee, yes I'm happy to say I checked and the charge has gone through on my card too, so even though they're waiting for my new photo it looks like it should go through ok. Whew! I've called DX and they are coming sometime tomorrow to pick up.

@lyonaria , thanks for that about skype. I always used skype to call numbers before but thought I should try the phone in case that's all I can use in the future. Well now I know it just isn't toll free and will have to use skype. Same for when I called an 800 number for Host Gator for my website, I never was charged until the time I used the phone!! Gah! it was so expensive! Skype rules!

You're welcome!

A lot of people don't know how cheap it is and that 1800 numbers are free.

Hi Larrabee, yes I'm happy to say I checked and the charge has gone through on my card too, so even though they're waiting for my new photo it looks like it should go through ok. Whew! I've called DX and they are coming sometime tomorrow to pick up.

Glad you're back on track! 
I hunted out the rest of his photos over the weekend, just in case.....!

You're welcome!

A lot of people don't know how cheap it is and that 1800 numbers are free.

The other great thing about Skype is that you can buy a number from them if you need to receive incoming calls. I think a US phone number is $55/year. It doesn't accept text messages though, just voice calls.
https://www.skype.com/en/features/online-number/