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Mailing a passport for a visa

midtown

By midtown
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midtown

midtown 3348

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Anyone have any input?  Good or bad?  The only way to get a visa into Cambodia is to mail your passport to the embassy in DC or apply in person.   I am not keen on sending my passport and having it possibly getting lost, stolen, damaged etc.   Esp with this trip 3 months out.  No way would I be able to get another one in time. 

 In 2000 I mailed my passport to be renewed and it was lost.   And I had the special green one.   All I eventually got back from the USPS was my application and the torn up envelope.  I'm tempted to just fly to DC for a night and get it done.   

$500 in travel/hotel vs mailing and possibly never seeing it again. 

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52-80

52-80 19271

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11 minutes ago, midtown said:

thank you. I looked and did not see that. I called the embassy and the gentleman said no evisas were available. I wonder if that's legit. Vietnam and Laos both have evisas so I thought it was odd Cambodia didn't

u can also get a visa on arrival at the major airports.  thats was a common path for people since add cambodia to a SEA tour rather than a direct trip.  i got mine at PNH and it was really quick

  • Hook 'Em 1
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Js1

Js1 85631

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They recommend you do not send regular mail.  Why not send it FedEx overnight (less chance of issues) with a FedEx return label/envelope inside for the return? 

I remember doing this for my Indian tourist visa; I dropped it off in Houston but it was returned to me in the mail, but I think they gave me the option to pay for UPS instead of USPS. 

SendByMail/ VISA (embassyofcambodiadc.org)

  • DO NOT use regular mails (not secured/no tracking number).
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LW Goatman

LW Goatman 1125

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20 minutes ago, Js1 said:

They recommend you do not send regular mail.  Why not send it FedEx overnight (less chance of issues) with a FedEx return label/envelope inside for the return? 

I remember doing this for my Indian tourist visa; I dropped it off in Houston but it was returned to me in the mail, but I think they gave me the option to pay for UPS instead of USPS. 

SendByMail/ VISA (embassyofcambodiadc.org)

  • DO NOT use regular mails (not secured/no tracking number).

I just did Fedex overnight on an important item and it took a week, with delays in both shipping stops. Nobody could tell me what was going on and no fucks were given. I wouldn't trust fedex any more than I'd trust the usps on a situation like this. Genuine passports are also gold mines for thieves. 

If it were me, I'd hit up DC, have a nice dinner, see a sight or two, and ensure this didn't derail my trip. 

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Js1

Js1 85631

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1 hour ago, LW Goatman said:

I just did Fedex overnight on an important item and it took a week, with delays in both shipping stops. Nobody could tell me what was going on and no fucks were given. I wouldn't trust fedex any more than I'd trust the usps on a situation like this. Genuine passports are also gold mines for thieves. 

If it were me, I'd hit up DC, have a nice dinner, see a sight or two, and ensure this didn't derail my trip. 

We send FedEx overnight for work and have had minimal issues. Maybe a one day delay but that’s it. We ship stuff all over the country 

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Telegraph_it

Telegraph_it 3360

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13 minutes ago, Sam Lin said:

I've mailed my passport for visas a bunch of times. Wouldn't worry about it.

This. 
 

and pro tip. You can get a second passport while you wait for your primary passport to return with whatever visa you sent it in for. Although if you enter the same country with a different passport and it’s only been a month between visits it does raise some eyebrows. Easily explained though. 
 

I’ve mailed my passport for visas from Saudi Arabia, Russia, India, and Pakistan with no issue. 

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midtown

midtown 3348

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9 hours ago, Telegraph_it said:

You can get a second passport while you wait for your primary passport to return with whatever visa you sent it in for.

Interesting.   I can see how it would be nice to have a back up in case your primary ever got lost or stolen etc.   And I guess some people have them so that your past visas don't get you denied at a secondary country.  

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RDCanecutter

RDCanecutter 26480

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18 hours ago, Mrs Whiggins said:

I've been using Priority (with tracking) and sending certified (signature and return receipt) and haven't had anything go astray, but YMMV. The last one was two months ago though, so I can't say for certain that still holds.

This, or First Class in a sturdy envelope since it'll weigh less than a pound. Cost you about 5 bucks and also pretty sure that includes tracking. 

First Class often rides in the same vehicle as Priority, sometimes in the same box. /ThingsPostalClerksToldMe

I've mailed thousands of passport-sized objects inside the US this way, zero problems.

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956 Worldwide

956 Worldwide 34818

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There’s no way around this for some countries.  You should relax about it.  The one thing I’ll say is to be sure and check and double check the directions because some embassies and consulates will only accept USPS/DHL/UPS, etc. If you use the wrong service they won’t accept it or it will take a lot longer. If they accept a courier service, pay for the tracking and stuff. 

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CleverNickname

CleverNickname 1321

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20 years was in Finland as a student and vaguely recall handing over passport to get Russian visa. Maybe it was just out of sight and hand for a few hours? The US passport people were all "well officially thats dumb and likely illegal to be on Finland without a passport... but hundreds of people do it every day." And then the Russian border control folks didn't even glance our way at the border "check." Russia was fun, though.

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midtown

midtown 3348

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Posted (edited)

I would just rather get it done with an evisa.   With all that is going on with ever changing travel entry requirements etc its one last thing to deal with on the ground.  I also assume all these countries are desperate for tourists so they are kind of waving people through

 

Edited by midtown
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