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 US State Department first began to issue second valid passports to deal with the issue of US citizens being denied entry to certain Middle East countries like Iran or Syria because they had Israeli entry stamps in their passport. The secondary passports were issued for just a short two year period, long enough for travelers to complete their travels in the Middle East. The State Department also allows travelers with conflicting travel plans to acquire a second valid passport. For instance, if you need to be in Paris for a business meeting at the same time you need to have your passport at the Consulate General of Brazil to get a visa for your next trip, you are eligible to get a limited validity second valid passport. As it turns out, second valid passports have become far more popular with people whose jobs require constant international travel than with travelers who want to visit restrictive Middle Eastern nations.

Because many countries enforce the “six month rule,” meaning you need to have a minimum of six months validity on your passport when you enter, limited validity passports have an even shorter lifespan. A two year passport would need to be renewed every 18 months!

In late May, US Passport Agencies began to issue second valid passports valid for four years. The Passport Agency in San Francisco lead the way, but we are now seeing four year passports coming out of all of the Passport Agencies we visit. Today, June 2, the State Department has made an official announcement that second valid passports will now be issued with four year validity.

Ready to apply for a second passport? We’re ready to help!

The post Second Valid Passports with Four Years Validity appeared first on G3Passports.