Russian passport renewal in the US?

[BigRedCat 36]

My wife's Russian passport expired and we are waiting for AOS, anyone know if there is there a way to renew it in the US? I heard of an agency that does it. I think its around $1k to do but she doesn't have any other ID so kind of in a bind. Any advise would be really helpful!  

[millefleur 5,046]

A thousand dollars?? That sounds insane. This is a basic service that any consulate or embassy offers. Why would the price be that steep? Sounds very scammy to me.

 

Edited July 27, 2023 by millefleur

[BigRedCat 36]

Yeah that is what I thought too! I guess it is because there aren't many places offering the service for Russians in the US to do it without going back to Russia. I guess I will check around. 

[millefleur 5,046]

4 minutes ago, BigRedCat said:

Yeah that is what I thought too! I guess it is because there aren't many places offering the service for Russians in the US to do it without going back to Russia. I guess I will check around. 

You should be able to do it via any Russian consulate or embassy in the US, that's one of the reason they even have those here. They have locations in Houston, Washington DC, and New York. There is absolutely no need to go back to Russia.

 

I just did a random search and found someone offering the service for $200, just looks like its slow and can take months:

https://www.russianpassportservice.org/documents/nrp

 

I think if there's a dire need to get it quickly, then going in person to one of the consulates is the best bet. You should try contacting them directly and see what the turnaround time is.

 

[.yana 597]

1 hour ago, BigRedCat said:

I think its around $1k to do but she doesn't have any other ID

Russians have 2 passports:

- Internal 

- Traveler's passport

 

Assuming the one expired and the one she needs is traveler's one (internal means nothing in the US), hopefully she brought her internal one with her as she'll need it to apply for traveler's passport renewal via the service provider above (I've used them twice by the way, they're really good). 

 

I don't know if anything has changed now, but few years ago when I applied for renewal via russian passport services, I had to go to the embassy in-person, there was no other option (many years before that the agency did everything for the applicant but they have since shut that down). So depending on where you live, you'll likely looking at $200 + the cost of travel to the nearest embassy. You can certainly skip the $200 and complete the forms and submit paperwork yourself. I used the agency more recently because it was really hard to make an appointment in the embassy, but the agency could get you in whenever you needed.

[BigRedCat 36]

She was just using the passport as her only ID as we have nothing until she gets her temp green card. We live in Vegas so I guess San Francisco is the closest Embassy although I thought that one closed. It appears they have an option to not travel which is what we would want to do but I dont see a price on that or how that is possible. 

 

Do you mean you used russianpassportservice.org? 

[millefleur 5,046]

2 hours ago, .yana said:

I don't know if anything has changed now, but few years ago when I applied for renewal via russian passport services, I had to go to the embassy in-person, there was no other option (many years before that the agency did everything for the applicant but they have since shut that down).

I'm curious if anything changed after Covid, but I sort of understand why they want people to go in person, with the whole biometric passports and whatnot, they need fingerprints.

 

1 hour ago, BigRedCat said:

We live in Vegas so I guess San Francisco is the closest Embassy although I thought that one closed.

That one closed ages ago sadly along with the Seattle location, during the whole Trump madness when the consulates were shuttered. Now the only ones left are NYC, DC and Houston. 

 

 

[.yana 597]

3 hours ago, BigRedCat said:

She was just using the passport as her only ID as we have nothing until she gets her temp green card. We live in Vegas so I guess San Francisco is the closest Embassy although I thought that one closed. It appears they have an option to not travel which is what we would want to do but I dont see a price on that or how that is possible. 

 

Do you mean you used russianpassportservice.org? 

She has to have 2 passports.

If she only has her expired traveler's passport then she will need to obtain proof of citizenship via the Embassy (not sure about procedure):

"Если заявитель не имеет действующего внутреннего российского паспорта, а срок действия загранпаспорта истек, необходимо предварительно сделать запрос о принадлежности заявителя к российскому гражданству."

" В случае если срок действия загранпаспорта заявителя истёк до подачи заявления на оформление нового загранпаспорта и заявитель не может представить оригинал действующего внутреннего российского паспорта нового образца, то в такой ситуации необходимо пройти проверку принадлежности к российскому гражданству через Посольство России в США."

 

San Francisco consulate is long gone.

Friend had to go to Washington one for passport renewal. Consulate vs embassy situation (one accepts passport renewal application, one doesn't). 

 

Yes, I've used russianpassportservice twice. Last time was in 2018, and they stopped processing all remote appointments by then (before you could grant power of attorney to their agency, and they went in and submitted everything on your behalf, was not an option as of 2018). 

[DaveAndAnastasia 2,092]

On 7/27/2023 at 12:01 PM, BigRedCat said:

My wife's Russian passport expired and we are waiting for AOS, anyone know if there is there a way to renew it in the US? I heard of an agency that does it. I think its around $1k to do but she doesn't have any other ID so kind of in a bind. Any advise would be really helpful!  

To renew a Russian international passport, you're supposed to either need to go to a Russian consulate or embassy in person or the occasionally the embassy has an event in major US cities where they handle passport renewals and a few other things.

 

My wife renewed hers when they came to LA last year (it had expired, but she had her green card and state ID by then and we didn't have plans to go outside the US). Only took about fifteen minutes (then waiting a couple months or so), so we were halfway back to San Diego by lunchtime.

 

Though she got US citizenship a few months later, and her US passport a few months after that, so she probably won't use her new Russian passport until we can reasonably get back to Russia (between a new baby, Covid concerns, financial concerns, and side effects of the war in Ukraine, we haven't been to Russia since she came here in 2019).

Edited July 31, 2023 by DaveAndAnastasia

[millefleur 5,046]

5 minutes ago, DaveAndAnastasia said:

My wife renewed hers when they came to LA last year (it had expired, but she had her green card and state ID by then and we didn't have plans to go outside the US). Only took about fifteen minutes (then waiting a couple months or so), so we were halfway back to San Diego by lunchtime.

Where does one find out about these mobile passport renewal events?

[DaveAndAnastasia 2,092]

5 minutes ago, millefleur said:

Where does one find out about these mobile passport renewal events?

 

I think there's a mailing list or something; I'd need to ask Anastasia. After we skipped one in 2021 we were thinking we'd need to go to Houston or DC until the one we went to was scheduled.

[millefleur 5,046]

13 minutes ago, DaveAndAnastasia said:

I think there's a mailing list or something; I'd need to ask Anastasia. After we skipped one in 2021 we were thinking we'd need to go to Houston or DC until the one we went to was scheduled.

Please let me know if you find out. This is my first time hearing about something like this.

[millefleur 5,046]

Just wanted to post this here in case it's useful for anyone. You can check the processing time of your Russian international passport here:

https://info.midpass.ru/

 

And in case anyone was still wondering, the 3 locations there are confirmed to be Houston, TX, Washington, DC and NYC.

[DaveAndAnastasia 2,092]

On 7/31/2023 at 3:26 PM, millefleur said:

Please let me know if you find out. This is my first time hearing about something like this.

Apparently she saw it on the Russian Embassy in DC's Facebook page, but here's the most recent update and links:

 

https://washington.mid.ru/ru/consular-services/consulate/consul_sessions/?fbclid=IwAR3bj9qHE7OLpdXCr2dSAEWrk7ckBdIDZhk8oMJI1SArp1PYQtFh5D3wR0Q

 

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid0QKSQmJSkgPmez5JqtTf49WNEZ2Fo94VrP6mFY1uBCfsojZEpNUokhT4LvYNC1Tryl&id=100069066524980&mibextid=Nif5oz

[BigRedCat 36]

How does this consulate sessions work? They will be in LA during those dates and were you able to get an appointment or something? My wife has expired Russian Passport and valid internal visa/passport so would she be able to renew her passport at this event? I will gladly drive down to LA if that is the case. Doesnt look like we will have an interview anytime soon for AOS so she needs some kind of ID and with the passport being expired now she has nothing valid.