US Passport Renewal at AIT - Anyone try lately?

How do we know that’s what they would say?

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Source? It’s not logical to assume you need a passport if you have permanent residency since a passport is principally a document used to pass ports. For example, the US doesn’t require a valid passport for green card holders:

“The US government does not require that permanent residents maintain valid passports, so a green card holder with an expired passport will be able to work, renew an expiring green card, and even re-enter the US after a trip abroad”.

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That’s why the system of printing your passport number on your ARC/APRC in Taiwan is wack. The ARC/APRC is local national ID that needs no reference to your passport.

I guess we don’t because no one would try it. You can get a fast answer by calling the NIA, but I’m pretty sure it will be the same.

It seems pretty logical, but again, call the NIA. I’m sure there’s a law that covers it one way or the other.

I’m planning on getting a money order at MegaBank too. Did you just do it using NT$ from your account, or can you give them US$ in cash?

You’re not asking me, but I paid in NT at ChinaTrust, but they had to do the usual paperwork when converting currency. At a guess, you can pay in USD.

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I hope that’s the case. It would be a lot simpler. I hate wasting time at banks.

I did have to come back the next day, which I hated.

WTF?!? That’s ridiculous.

Yeah, but that was ChinaTrust. Maybe Megabank can do it while you’re there.

I used NT.

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According to AIT’s website, adult passports are now mail-in renewal only.

That’s fine and all, but where does one find an ID machine which prints 2 x 2 inch photos? The standard Taiwan “2 inch” size is not square.

Lots of photo machines do it. The same size is needed to US visa applications or something. I don’t know which ones exactly, but I’ve always found one. Check hospitals and government offices. They’re randomly scattered among MRT stations.
Photo printing shops usually take ID photos and can print that size.

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If the machine is larger than 2", just cut it. Or just print out a regular old photo that meets the requirements and cut it to the right size. I’ve done our passport photos at home multiple times.

That’s what I did about a year ago. Just needed proof of applying for my new passport and was given my old and cancelled out ARC with an official ARC on a paper form that was valid for a few months.
Then when I got my new passport I took it in and they issued the new ARC with what would have been it’s original date.
Immigration was very nice about it. Seemed to be routine. No fines or anything.

Be advised:

How long it takes to get a U.S. passport

As of March 24, travelers waited 10 to 13 weeks for processing of a routine passport application, the State Department said. (A traditional passport — a passport book — costs $130 to renew; there’s an additional $35 acceptance fee for first-time applicants.) Even an expedited application, which costs an extra $60 plus delivery fees, still takes seven to nine weeks.

For those who apply by mail, the delay will be longer. It might take up to four additional weeks for an office to receive and then mail back a new passport,** according to the State Department — meaning the total processing time may be more than four months for a routine application.

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Most photo print shops print on 4x6” photo paper. I usually just have someone take a photo of my face in front of a white wall (plenty of those around…) and crop it down to show the correct amount of my face for the ID. Then copy and paste the photo so you can have SIX 2” squares of your face for whatever the cost of a 4x6 print is

@Aikaili Can you or anyone help me with this issue…which maybe has only become an issue in the last year or two.

I’m attempting to renew my US passport via AIT and they only allow renewal by mail. One of the steps required is to make payment on pay.gov and then provide the proof of payment along with the rest of the application materials.

My problem is that the pay.gov site will not allow me to select Taiwan (or ROC or China or PRC) to make payment. They only allow people in certain jurisdictions to do so and apparently Taiwan isn’t one of them. So now what?

I’ve emailed AIT but they’ve been slow to respond to my previous emails. I’ve also emailed the pay.gov help desk. But who knows how long a reply will take so I’m hoping someone else has encountered this issue and knows what to do. Thanks!

Can’t help with that but I find a bit surprising that it’s not secure. Maybe they don’t make it secure so anyone with the most minimal security anywhere in the world can still access the site.

Are you saying that in your research, a person without a credit card or tool to pay on the website cannot renew their passport in Taiwan?