FW: [Dixielandjazz] Problems for travelling musicians

[Bill Gunter]

Hi all,

Stephen Heist wrote:

>About the embassy thing, I just renewed my US passport at the consulate
>here in Montreal.  Saw a LONG line of people waiting outside in the cold to
>get visas.  Fortunately, when the guard stopped me and asked if I was a US
>citizen and I said yes, they let me right in!  Sort of unfair, I thought.
>BUT the incredible thing was, I got my passport renewed and in my hands in
>ONE week!  Try THAT in the US!!!

I'd like to report on my experience with getting a passport in Switzerland.

On a trip to Ascona a year or so ago I lost my passport right at the Zurich 
airport just after I cleared customs.  I stupidly left it on a counter as I 
was getting some Swiss francs at an ATM machine.

Didn't discover the loss until I was on the other side of the country down 
on the Italian border.

Now the U.S. Embassy is located in Berne - a three hour plus train ride from 
Ascona. Anyway, early the next morning I took the train to Berne and got 
into the Embassy at about two thirty in the afternoon. I was able to bypass 
the long line of non-US citizens and get right in.

There I was informed that I needed the following (which I didn't have):

1. A copy of a police report recording the loss.
2. Two specially sized photographs of me to put in my replacement passport
3. 50 Bucks cash (they didn't take Visa or ATM cards).

That meant a bus ride back to the tran station where I found a police 
station. Took about an hour but I finally got the police report. I also 
found one of those automatic photo booths which took passport sized photos 
in one minute. Next to the photo booth was an ATM machine where I was able 
to get the equivalent of 50 American dollars.

By this time it was approaching 5 pm and I just knew I'd be in Berne 
overnight and I was starting to wonder where I was gonna spend the night.

I returned to the Embassy just before 5 and had to wait another half hour 
before I was able to see and Embassy officer. I then turned in the police 
report, the photos and the cash and sat down to wait. At about 6 pm the 
officer came out with my replacement passport in hand which was good for (I 
think) about three months.  I also got instructions and a form to fill out 
in order to get a regular passport after I returned home.

I then went back to the train station and my train left at about 7 pm and I 
arrived back in Ascona at a little after 10 pm that same night!!

Did you get that - I travelled across the country and back and got a 
temporary replacement passport in ONE DAY!!

Object lesson: Always carry two passport sized photos of yourself when you 
travel abroad and be SURE to file a police report as soon as you discover 
your passport is missing. Also, have cash on hand (at least the equivalent 
of fifty U.S. bucks).

Respectfully submitted,

Bill "I'll never lose my passport again!" Gunter
jazzboard at hotmail.com