hey YouTube Alex here and in today's video I've got some bad news for you my US Passport renewal was rejected today's video I'm going to discuss am I going to get deported am I going to be blacklisted and
sent back home to the United States stay tuned to find out you'll notice that my face is shaved I think it's the first time my chin has seen sunlight in Years anyway I wish today's video video wasn't a
little bit stressful but it is I tried to renew my US Passport and I got a letter in the mail with my old passport in it I got this letter I'll read this letter at least until I get
bored and then we'll go from there so it's got a little sticky note on it RTS dear applicant Alexander and my last name this refers to your application for a US passport which you mailed to the Embassy we're
returning your application because then they've got all these check boxes down here where they indicate the reason for the rejection of your renewal application and it is checked at the bottom your passport photo needs to be and where
it's checked again a high resolution photo that is not blurry grainy or pixelated next a clear image of your face do not use filters commonly used on social media this is a photo I tried to use you can
see it's blurry so what does this mean am I getting deported from the Philippines am I getting sent out of the Philippines am I no longer welcome here will I have to go home to the us stay tuned
until next time to find out no I'm just kidding I'm not going to do that to you guys so essentially what happened was I went to get a passport photo and I'm not going to name the business I
don't want to throw them under the bus but I went to get it done and what's required of the photo is that it's 2 in by 2 in well they gave me a photo that was 2 inches up
and down and 1 in side to side and so that photo would not qualify for the renewal so I took it back and I wasn't paying attention they took a photograph of the old photo and then expanded it
right they didn't take a new photo I just said whatever I'm sure it'll be fine and I sent it in that turned out to be a mistake if you are going to get your passport photo done make sure
that you use a fresh photo that's 2 in x 2 in don't allow them to oh it's fine no it's not fine it will get rejected you will have to do what I'm going to have to do and
I'll tell you the solution later in the video but everything else I did was just fine I filled out the paperwork properly I used the proper lettering I gave them all the information I even sent sent in my
old passport and I was excited on stream this morning thinking that my new passport would arrive I'd go to my Visa service that I work with here in dumag they would go to Manila to transfer my old visa
extension information to my new passport everything would be fine well that's not going to work and so now because I don't want another delay because I don't want to lapse further into being an overstate I'm not yet overstaying
but technically I will be overstaying uh very slightly I'm going to go ahead and do the renewal in person have them send it to my apartment in dagate and then go back to my Visa service provider to help
me do the extension now I'm not super worried about it this is technically a very shortterm overstay plus I have a valid reason here right it's not because I'm willfully trying to be disobedient but because I have to
renew my passport and from what I've heard your authorization will not be granted for extension if you're less than 6 months up for Renewal now some people have asked me why didn't you just go to Manila and do
this in person there's a few reasons for that one I like do meete I actually really like living here um two Manila is very busy everybody I hear that lives in Manila tells me look it's a major city
it's going to be busy it's going to be fast-paced you're going to be on the go you've got public transportation you've got lots of people living Liv there for work it's the most densely populated city in the world
so it's not just a walk in the park it's actually stressful plus the time it's time I have to focus on getting things done as opposed to vlogging uh plus the cost I have to pay for the flight
to Manila I have to pay for accommodation in manila manila ain't cheap it's definitely one of the more expensive cities in Southeast Asia and so I thought I'll save the money I'll save the time and I'll just stay
here I'll do it by mail to turns out I made a mistake there and so I'm going to go in person I'm trying to sort out now with some of my friends whether it's advisable for me to go
to the subbu consulate which is fully booked out all their appointments are booked out but I am asking for some leeway considering the circumstances I don't want to be in overstay any longer than I absolutely have to considering
the circumstances of needing to renew my passport and so I'll figure out can I do it at the consul at anyway even though I'm not able to get employment or should I go ahead and make the trip up
to Manila and that would save me some hassle as well by being able to just get the transfer of the visa extension from the old passport to the new passport in person rather than having to go with my
friends at the Visa service provider it's a little bit stressful there will be some stress until I get this passport renewal done and the Visa stamp transferred for me I want to follow the rules I want to do
everything by the book in retrospect I should have just gone and done it in person in Manila but that's a lot of work so I thought I'll save myself some time turns out I'm not saving myself some time
and I am going to pay both in time and money now to square this away so uh no I don't expect to be deported no I do not expect to be in trouble for this I am doing everything
I can in good faith to sort this out it's a rare circumstance we only have to renew every 10 years as Americans and plus there's a great relationship between the US and the Philippines I don't expect this to
be a major issue but it is worth pointing out you want to be proactive about this you want to be more proactive than I was when you're encountering this type of situation and try to do it in person
if you can make a little vacation that's what I'm going to turn this into little vacation up to Manila or to SAU based on where I can go Manila does have open appointments so I can do it up
there but I know more people in to be honest with you I have more friends in Sabu I have a lot more familiarity with Sabu one of the ladies I'm interested in also lives in the Sabu area so
I'd be able to go see her if I pick Sabu over Manila and I've been around Sabu I know my way around the city somewhat I'm looking forward to going to Sabu but I'll go to Manila if I
have to I'll do whatever it is that I need to do to be in compliance with the rules and I'm looking forward to it I mean it's going to be a chance for me to get out of the
city for a while take a little bit of a break I see it as an opportunity to mix it up I actually last left dumag in November so it's been a couple of months since I've gotten out of
town and I'll get to meet people I've known online like John Smo and also Wang and hopefully some other folks as well that I know through the internet and through mutual friends but people I haven't got to meet
yet I am looking forward to some time in a big city if you didn't know I am a big city guy I am missing the big city life at times here in dagate and the faster Pace the more
options not looking forward to the big city prices but you know it is what it is I'm not moving up there longterm for right now uh but it should provide some great opportunities to collaborate drop a note in
the comments if you're in one of those two cities and you want to meet up or send me an email I have my email in the description of the video I was last in SAU about 5 years ago
and I was last in Manila about 5 months ago so this should be interesting I'll have a chance to get this sorted out and then enjoy some time with friends and yeah I apologize for not making this a
Walkin talk style but I needed to be totally focused on the camera for this one to relay this information to you all I last got my passport about 10 years ago I was actually getting prepared for a study
abroad and I had to expedite the service fortunately it wasn't as backed up in the US as it is now I've heard some people were waiting like 3 and 4 months to get their passport renewed in the US
right now if you've had to do that also let us know but yeah I'm not like I said not super worried about it and I'm just going to be moving forward on this as fast and efficiently as I
can I'll be sure to provide updates whether it be on stream or on a follow-up video I did want to let everybody know overstate is the most common reason that foreigners end up in jail here in the Philippines
it's not something that people should be doing or trying to do or thinking they're going to get away with like I said for everybody that gets in trouble here that's the most common reason and it's easily avoided right
it's easily avoided I know they'll be asking me why I overstayed and for good reason that's a fair question I'll let them know hey I just needed to do my passport renewal and should be totally fine I'm sure
I won't be the first Foreigner that comes in there that's an oversay due to that reason let me know what you think down in the comments if have you had to do a passport renewal overseas I know my
buddy just did his in Southeast Asia it worked out without a hitch it always helps to generate interesting discussions when we share our experiences next subscribe to the channel down below if you want to see more content like
this and finally give us a thumbs up if you want to see this content shared with more people like yourselves and we'll talk to you soon thanks so much everybody
