BajaNomad

Renewing US passport at Los Cabos consular agency

jedge42 - 1-26-2020 at 09:42 AM

Need to renew my US passport within the next year and the Los Cabos consular agency is the closest place. Has anyone used that agency (for passports or anything else) recently? Based on the text on the US State Dept pages, it would seem that it is (maybe?) only partly staffed or something?

As I understand it, when renewing in a foreign country, you can retain your valid passport while the renewal is in process, then go to the agency to pick up the new one, bringing the old to invalidate it at that time. Anyone have experience with this? In Los Cabos?

gracias!

jake

chippy - 1-26-2020 at 10:11 AM

I have never used Cabos consular agency but I have used both Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara to renew my US passport. You need to go online and make an appt. first thing. A call to the office during their business hours wouldn´t hurt.

jedge42 - 1-26-2020 at 10:36 AM

Quote: Originally posted by chippy  
I have never used Cabos consular agency but I have used both Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara to renew my US passport. You need to go online and make an appt. first thing. A call to the office during their business hours wouldn´t hurt.


Thanks for the reply ... I have some time, since the passports are still valid for a year ... when you did it at Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara, were you able to keep your existing passport while the renewal took place?

jake

chippy - 1-26-2020 at 10:56 AM

I really don't remember but I think yes?:?:

[Edited on 1-26-2020 by chippy]

bajalinda - 1-26-2020 at 01:59 PM

I renewed my passport at the Los Cabos consular office 1 year ago. You have to make an appointment to go and submit your application. When the new passport is ready you can pick it up any time. You should call the consulate to be sure this is still how it works. I think the turn-around time was about 3 to 4 weeks. When you call, they will tell you what forms you need to download and fill out before your appointment, how much it costs, how you can pay, and anything else you need to bring with you. I kept my existing passport during the renewal.

jedge42 - 1-26-2020 at 02:13 PM

Quote: Originally posted by bajalinda  
I renewed my passport at the Los Cabos consular office 1 year ago. You have to make an appointment to go and submit your application. When the new passport is ready you can pick it up any time. You should call the consulate to be sure this is still how it works. I think the turn-around time was about 3 to 4 weeks. When you call, they will tell you what forms you need to download and fill out before your appointment, how much it costs, how you can pay, and anything else you need to bring with you. I kept my existing passport during the renewal.


Great info, thanks!

jake

BajaBlanca - 1-27-2020 at 07:20 AM

Boy, I had no idea one could renew in Los Cabos.

bill erhardt - 1-27-2020 at 08:05 AM

I, too, renewed my passport through the office at Los Cabos a couple of years ago. I also found the staff there helpful and the process straightforward with two minor hitches. First, the passport photos I had taken in Loreto were found wanting and I had to get new ones from a photo shop in San Jose. And second, I had assumed that the new passport would be sent to me as it would be if the application were completed online. Not so, at least at that time they did not send out new passports. I signed a release to a friend in San Jose who picked up the new passport and sent it to me via DHL. Otherwise it would have been a long days drive from Loreto and back, or parts of two, to get the finished product.

bajalinda - 1-27-2020 at 10:35 AM

I asked the staff when we could see a consular office in La Paz. (It was a long drive for me, too.) They said they had no knowledge of any such plans any time soon.
I also found the staff to be very helpful and in good spirits given that my appointment fell right in the middle of the gov't shutdown. I thought my appt might be cancelled, but they were open.