US Consulate passport update (July 9, 2015)

As many of you may or may not know my office has been taking US passport renewals personally to the consulate in Guadalajara due to the payment issue as they cannot accept cash when they visit Chapala so people have not been able to turn in their renewals to the consulate when they visit the area.

When I went today they said that they will probably not come in August due to their inability to provide services as there is no way for them to receive payment after CI Bank stopped issuing US Dollar checks and they cannot accept cash or credit cards when they visit the Chapala area.

As the issue of how they can receive payment is not resolved there is doubt about when future visits will resume until the issue is resolved.

People who have passports expiring soon will need to go personally to the consulate to present their renewal or have our office do it and you or we can pay cash in US Dollars or Mexican pesos (if you go personally you can pay by credit card).

Then the next issue is receiving the passport. Previously we had turned in renewals and had them flagged to be brought to Chapala / Ajijic on the next visit. As the "next" visit has not been defined people will need to personally pick up their passports at the US Consulate in Guadalajara, pay for Fedex to deliver it to their home, or contact the consulate and authorize me to pick it up when I do my weekly visit there.

Today they were quoting turn around times of 6 to 8 weeks but also said that most come back in 3 to 4 weeks.

People were asking about emergency passports and that is by appointment only and only for life and death matters so please plan your travel accordingly.