A UK woman got a bit of a surprise when she opened the envelope containing her new passport. According to the Manchester Evening News, the document she received had her name…but her husband’s face!
Terence and Marilyn Walker apparently sent off their passport renewal applications at the same time. His was processed correctly, but hers came back with the wrong passport photo. Instead of her passport photo, the passport agency had placed a photo of her husband.
Mrs. Walker told the Manchester Evening News, “I was flabbergasted. I thought I had picked up my husband’s passport by accident and then I saw it. I couldn’t believe they would make such a simple mistake.”
She has been asked to redo her passport application and provide new passport pictures.
Although this happened across the pond, the US Department of State occasionally makes mistakes and printing errors as well.
To fix a printing error on a US passport, complete passport form DS-5504. Send it in with evidence of the mistake (a copy of your birth certificate, marriage certificate or perhaps a court order, depending on what needs to be corrected.)
The US Department of State corrects printing errors free of charge. You can use this form to correct an error at any time while the passport is valid, although if it is due to expire in the next year you may wish to go ahead and apply for a passport renewal.
The US Department of State does not charge for correcting printing errors, and passports that need to be corrected are given priority, so processing times are about the same for correcting errors as they are for the government’s expedited service. You can expect to wait about 3 weeks to get your new passport back in the mail.
If you need your passport corrected more quickly, you have two options: Make an appointment at a US passport agency office, or use a private passport expediting company. For many people, the extra fee paid to the expediting company is worth it because it they don’t have to take time off work or travel to a Regional Passport Agency office, which could easily be quite expensive if you don’t have one nearby.
RushMyPassport will hand-deliver your paperwork to the Department of State, cutting processing times to as little as 24 hours.