What Are Second Valid Passports?

Second valid passports are limited-validity US passports that are issued to qualified applicants. They are valid for four years instead of ten.

Your second valid passport won’t be a copy of your primary (ten years) passport. It will have a different passport number and a different photograph.

How Can Frequent Travelers Qualify for Second Valid Passports?

In order to apply for a second valid passport, you’ll need to be in one of the following travel situations:

• You need to apply for a visa for a future trip, but you need your passport for other international travel. For instance, you might have a business trip to Brazil planned for the beginning of June, but other business trips to France and Switzerland in April and May. You’ll need a passport for your trips to Europe, at the same time that your passport needs to be at a Brazilian consulate getting a Brazil visa! A second valid passport will let you travel and get visas at the same time.
• You have Israel stamps in your passport, and you plan to visit a country that won’t allow you to enter if your passport has those markings. For instance, you might be planning to tour Iran, but your passport has stamps from last year’s trip to Jerusalem. You can get a second valid passport to use for your Iran trip.

Other Advantages of Second Valid Passports for Jetsetters

It’s pretty cool that a second valid passport will let you keep traveling while you are getting visas. But there are other advantages of second valid passports for globetrotters!

• Extra pages. Now that the government won’t add pages to valid passports any longer, blank passport pages are a valuable commodity to frequent travelers. If you have two passports, that means you automatically have twice as many blank passport pages to fill!
• Protection against passport loss or theft. If one of your passports is lost or stolen, you still have another valid passport for emergency travel purposes. Your other passport will also be a valuable proof of your identity and citizenship to help you replace your lost passport.

Before you jet off on your next trip, contact G3 to get your second valid passport!

The post Second Valid Passports – A Jetsetter’s Best Friend appeared first on G3Passports.

The State Department has indicated that they are discontinuing this service as part of a series of measures to enhance the security of US passports, and to bring US passport procedures in line with those of most other nations.

Blank visa pages are required by most countries for the placement of entry stamps upon arrival. Many countries that require visas for US citizens will insist that applicants have two blank pages side by side, so that the visa can be placed on one page and the entry and departure stamps made on the adjacent page. Foreign governments are not supposed to utilize the “Amendment/Endorsement” pages at the back of US passports, as these are reserved for State Department use only.

After December 31, 2015, US citizens who run out of blank visa pages will be required to renew their passport, regardless of how much validity time remains on the passport. G3 recommends that frequent travelers should request the “non-standard” 52 page passport book when renewing their passport. The larger “non-standard” book has nearly twice as many blank passport pages as the standard 28 page passport book. There is no additional fee for the larger passport book.

The post State Department Ending Additional Passport Pages Service appeared first on G3Passports.