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It is the decennial-minus-six-months tradition that anyone who travels abroad participates in: passport renewal. For holders of a US passport, it can be particularly onerous, but that’s what they mean when they say that Freedom™ doesn’t come free.
To the credit of the US government, the process has become easier. Just fill out and sign the DS-82 form and make sure it is not the DS-11 form, then give the government $130 in advance, and put all that along with your expiring passport into a registered envelope with another registered envelope inside — for the return journey — to be sent … somewhere. Or, if you happen to be in the vicinity of an embassy, just come on by! Anytime between 10:30 and 12:30 on Monday, Tuesday, or Thursday is fine (local and American holidays excepted).
No need to make an appointment. All it takes to get over the trillion-dollar walls of Fortress America is show the guards out front the proof-of-payment email that anyone could have written.
The dicey part is the p…
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