Margo out of lurking Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Several of you might know DeEtta from other hs boards, or from her blog. They were to leave yesterday for their tour in Japan, but their van was stolen in Seattle--complete with all their luggage and passports. Someone's attempted to use their credit cards, but no leads on the van or possessions. Her dh will leave tomorrow, and the family will have to stay here for months waiting new birth certificates for replacement passports. It was covered on Seattle news tonight. This family is requesting prayer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loupelou Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 That's terrible. I am glad that they are okay. Praying that they are able to be together again swiftly!:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalanamak Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 (edited) What a disaster! Now I know why my mother sometimes slept with the passports cuddled in a death-grip. Edited July 7, 2009 by kalanamak Verb! Forgot the verb! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Mungo Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 It will probably not take months to get replacement birth certificates and passports. We had birth certificates packed by mistake during one move and most of them we were able to get sent overnight-express, I had them the next morning. Even for our kids who were born in Germany we were able to get them in a week. They should be able to travel to Japan on military passports which they should be able to get immediately at their base. They will just need to go ahead and re-apply for tourist passports in order to travel (at least this is how it worked when we lived overseas). If they pay for expedited serve they should have new tourist passports in 2-3 weeks. This is a terrible thing to have happen and would be a huge burden, especially during a move. It is so hard to fly alone, overseas with small kids. Keeping the family in my thoughts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hillary in KS Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 It will probably not take months to get replacement birth certificates and passports. We had birth certificates packed by mistake during one move and most of them we were able to get sent overnight-express, I had them the next morning. Even for our kids who were born in Germany we were able to get them in a week. They should be able to travel to Japan on military passports which they should be able to get immediately at their base. They will just need to go ahead and re-apply for tourist passports in order to travel (at least this is how it worked when we lived overseas). If they pay for expedited serve they should have new tourist passports in 2-3 weeks. Wow! Tell me how you got the birth certificates within a week. I have to submit certified copies of birth certificates to the state here (as part of homeschooling paperwork). Last year it took 4 weeks to get certified copies. This year I'm being told to expect waits of 4-6 weeks. I'd love to know how to get them in less than a week! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Mungo Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 (edited) Wow! Tell me how you got the birth certificates within a week. I have to submit certified copies of birth certificates to the state here (as part of homeschooling paperwork). Last year it took 4 weeks to get certified copies. This year I'm being told to expect waits of 4-6 weeks. I'd love to know how to get them in less than a week! Thanks! From the states or certificates of birth abroad? With the states I just called the county records place and paid extra (it was not cheap, I think it was around $30 but sometimes you do what you gotta do) to have it overnighted to me. With the consular reports, again, I paid the extra $20/copy or whatever it was to have it expedited. However, we did it in February. I imagine the turnaround time is longer in the summer and fall due to traveling, school records and such. Is the same state asking for certified birth certificates *every* year? I'd complain *high* up if that was the case. That would be a pretty penny. What state are you in? eta: What state/s do you need birth certificates from? I'll help you find the info. Edited July 7, 2009 by Mrs Mungo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
i.love.lucy Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 If they had scans of their passports could all this be avoided? Before we traveled to Mexico last year I scanned all our passports into an email that I could access anywhere (Yahoo). But I am thinking this would be for identity purposes and not as a means of replacing them? Just curious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Mungo Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 (edited) If they had scans of their passports could all this be avoided? Before we traveled to Mexico last year I scanned all our passports into an email that I could access anywhere (Yahoo). But I am thinking this would be for identity purposes and not as a means of replacing them? Just curious. If your passport is lost or stolen you have to physically go to the passport office to get a new one. I think the scans are usually to help you get back *into* the US through the local embassy (eta: you get an emergency passport that is good for a limited time in that case). In this case the family is *leaving* the country which is completely different. Edited July 7, 2009 by Mrs Mungo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonshineLearner Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 I don't know what group I remember her from. I would have loved to look at her blog! I feel really bad for them, how awful to be separated. On a happier note, things can be expedited, and so hopefully they'll be able to meet up with him quickly!! We have passports for my daughter and a passport card....in case she loses one of them.... She'll carry the card and keep the passport in the safe... Carrie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathy in MD Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Wow! Tell me how you got the birth certificates within a week. I have to submit certified copies of birth certificates to the state here (as part of homeschooling paperwork). Last year it took 4 weeks to get certified copies. This year I'm being told to expect waits of 4-6 weeks. I'd love to know how to get them in less than a week! Thanks! It's simple. Explain why you need them expedited and select the right states to be born in, married in or lived in. IN and MD are good states. Even though we needed special seals and stamps for an international adoption, they had fast turn arounds. One day for MD because I could drive to the gov't offices with the check and 4 days for IN because I needed to mail a check immediately before April 15th. I won't name the bad state we had to deal with, but dh was never allowed to belittle my homestate again. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Mungo Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 It's simple. Explain why you need them expedited and select the right states to be born in, married in or lived in. IN and MD are good states. Even though we needed special seals and stamps for an international adoption, they had fast turn arounds. One day for MD because I could drive to the gov't offices with the check and 4 days for IN because I needed to mail a check immediately before April 15th. I won't name the bad state we had to deal with, but dh was never allowed to belittle my homestate again. :D This is true. Some states are easier than others. I've only dealt with Oklahoma, Texas and California. My other two were born overseas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hillary in KS Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Hm. I have to deal with Idaho and Wisconsin. I'll give the offices a call tomorrow and see if there's a way to expedite them. We live in Nebraska. We have to send certified copies in to the state the first year you homeschool. After that you can send photocopies. But because of the wording there was a little bit of a discrepancy as to whether or not they needed to be certified *every* year. So I'm getting certified copies to have as back-ups. (I should have them, anyway.) But the deadline for reporting is August 1st. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Margo out of lurking Posted July 7, 2009 Author Share Posted July 7, 2009 Shortly after the news stories ran last night, the van was found--empty of all belongings. But they are thankful for the van... Meanwhile, DeEtta's applied for new certified birth certificates. It does not appear that any are being expedited overnight. (They are an AF family, and the certs. will come from at least three different states.) Whatever has to occur to get the new (replacement? whatever the wording is) passports is expected to take about six weeks. Mike will be leaving this morning for Japan. The family (also thanks to the news story) has been offered housing at McChord but may stay with family in a neighboring state for now. Thank you so much for praying. This will be tough for them to be separated at this point, so unexpectedly. The youngest kids are having the hardest time, since they've already been traveling for the past month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelingChris Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 I know them from way back. I will be praying for a good resolution. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TraceyS/FL Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 I"m glad they have the van back. But the rest can definitely be sped up if you throw money at it. Especially at the passport office - they tell you on the website how to speed it up. Last time we needed copies of stuff from CA we ordered them online on a friday afternoon, AFTER their deadline, and they showed up in FL by 9am monday. $20 extra. (this was this year) Hopefully someone is helping her that is familiar with speeding things up - it's got to be hard to be geared up for a move, then NOT move. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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