passport renewal blues

Note:Hours of the passport renewal office are 9am to 1pm Eastern

I had been leaving messages on EXT 6 for the past week or two.

Yesterday, was told to call back and speak to A on ext 39. Left a message again. No call back. Today: 11:30am EDT No answer on ext 39. Pressed 0 for operator and asked to speak to a person since i had been leaving messages and had not heard back.

She transferred me to a gentleman who happened to be courteous When was it issued? If it was issued more than 10yrs ago, you need to replace it. In addition he indicates that they should have sent me a letter telling me what extra information i needed to have sent in. (I received no such letter in the past 2 months) He tells me that he will transfer me to ext 45 so i could speak with Sara (not her real name), who will let me know whether they have my passport. In order to replace it i would need

  • 2 passport photos (with name written on the back of it)
  • PT1 form (can be downloaded online here)
  • Money order to cover replacement (50$ or 70$)

He then transfers me to ext 45.
Hello Sara?
“Yes??” – well Sara must have a rather deep voice because it seems to me like its a man.Oh well, as long as he/she can sort it out, i dont care what octave the voice is in. I proceed to give my name and specifics of my situation.
Sara:When did you send the passport in?
Me: July 19th. (I will admit that i did not have the post office routing number with me or the exact date that the embassy received the passport- They did receive it though. I had checked the usps website afew days after priority mailing the passport.
Sara: So we would have received it around July 20 something?
Me:Yes yes.
Sara: Give me your number and i will check on that and call you back.
Me: Sure, sure. May i have your name again?
sara: (hesitantly) “Sara”
Me: O.k well thank you and have a good day.

Tune in tomorrow to see if ’sara’ calls me back about my passport and whether he/she will sound different this time.If he/she does not call me by 10:30EDT, You bet i will be calling again. This time, i will have the routing number from usps and the exact date my passport reached the embassy.

Moral of the day:
Rather obvious but if you’ve had your passport for 10yrs you wouldneed a new one, so fill out the paperwork for that instead of the renewal paperwork which is what i mistakenly did. (It still does not excuse the embassy for not calling back or sending me a letter)

-Calling the Kenyan Embassy passport renewal office is a waste of time, do not leave a voice message on ext6 – your call will not be returned.( I think i can categorically state that since my call was not returned in a span of 2 weeks) Press 0 for the operator and indicate that you would like to speak with someone if at all possible.

- Have the routing information of the registered package and check on www.USPS.com website for the precise date that the embassy received your passport. (for those in the US – If you are in a different country, please check if you can track the package online)

-Get the name of the person you are talking to and their title.

-Last but not least dont be shocked that Sara’s voice might have a tinge of baritone.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 28th, 2005 at 8:21 pm and is filed under Older Posts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

9 Responses to “passport renewal blues”

akiey September 29th, 2005 at 1:08 am

I sure hope ‘Sara’ calls back like s/he promsied & gives you good news.
Our
Embassy in DC is just like what DC stands for “Don’t Care”. When I
needed mine renewed I called several times & the less than amicable
way they got me the outdated info didn’t please me.
Flew to DC
& yep! in 15mins I had it renewed & I was back out onto the
sunny street looking for something worth taking pics of:)

Wish you well but let anyone else close to you know that for renewals it’s better to go there in person.

Mshairi September 29th, 2005 at 3:28 am

Pole sana, afroM! Sounds nightmarish…and these are the people meant to assist Kenyans in times of strife!

Guessaurus September 29th, 2005 at 5:43 am

Pole
about that strife – sometimes when you have to deal with our embassies,
you feel like going in there and sorting it out yourself – where do
they get these people?!

Having said that, when I needed my
passport renewed here in London, I went in personally instead of using
the post, coz you know, that can take forever! The Kenyan Embassy in
London has always been helpful to me, might be I am lucky, but most
people complain about dealing with our Embassies.

PS: Has Sara called back and did s/he sound different this time :)

UARIDI September 29th, 2005 at 9:45 am

Pole
girl, it is always thus with governments. (Could not spell the other
word that begins with a b) They are very laid back and your problems
are certainly not theirs.

bankelele September 29th, 2005 at 10:16 am

Pole
sana: we live our lives here dreading ANY contact with a government
office – such as license renewal, tax filing, post office, new ID etc.
At least you have phones there!

Afromusing September 29th, 2005 at 5:07 pm

akiey thanks, come to think of it, my aunt told me to do it in person awhile ago lakini apparently id didnt listen.

Mshairi:
Its definitely a worrying situation, mine is just a simple case of
passport renewal, i cant imagine how other people with more dire
situations are treated.

guess:Enyewe, yani a simple call back or
a letter (to mail a letter is like 37 cents) there is definitely
something wrong with their processes at the embassy in DC. Good to know
london embassy is sawa.. ’sara’ never called back

Uaridi: Thanks, LOL! I want to go home woiyee, if only they could think of homesick and put themselves in our shoes..

Bankelele:
Pole sana, i remember reading about your ordeal with bureaucracies at
home. Enyewe atleast we have phones…i will continue bugging them and
see what comes of this.

Paulo April 24th, 2006 at 9:21 am

The website for the kenya embassy in the US (www.kenyaembassy.com) is inaccessible. Anyone knows how to get the passport renewal forms in the US?

Judy July 6th, 2006 at 5:10 am

Hello, I’ve just come across this blogg while googling the kenyan embassy. I also need to have my pp renewed,, actually, i need a new one as current one is full and also need to have married name on new pp. So, i called london office and was told by a very very nice lady NOT TO SEND MY PASSPORT TO ANY KENYAN OFFICE IF I CAN GO TO KENYA AND HAVE IT DONE THERE.. REASON: BECAUSE THEY GET LOST (RATHER, THEY ARE SELLING LIKE HOT CAKES ESPECIALLY IF YOU HAVE OVERSEAS VISA OR PERMANENT STAYS. thats my case, so dilema is we’ve had to cancel our summer holidays and will go home (to kenya) to renew it. PS: i still think of home as kenya even though i’m married and settled in europe. nyumbani ni nyumbani. So, to all you ladies and gents wishing to have your pp’s renewed etc, its better to go home and have it done there. I also happen to know afew kenyans with Uk permanent residence who sent their pp’s to kenya embassy and they never got them back., so each to their own but advice from a good lady at kenyan high commission in london is DO NOT SEND YOUR PP TO THE EMBASSIES.. CHANCES ARE YOU WON’T GET IT BACK.

njenga August 14th, 2006 at 6:48 am

i have been to the kenyan embassy before and its high time the clerks working there realised that we are not living in the kitu kidogo regime. The last time we were there with a freind of mine we got a shock when the man manning the reception commented to us that i quote HATA SISI HUKULA. JUST BECAUSE WE HAD ENTERED FIVE MINUTES BEFORE THEY SHUT THE DOORS.
ANYWAY THEY NEED TO HAVE GOOD CUSTOMER CARE ATTITUDE AND COURTESY. ITS ONLY WHEN YOU LEAVE THE BUILDING THAT YOU REALISE YOU ARE IN LONDON .
SOMEONE NEEEDS TO ACT NOW AND GIVE CUSTOMERS THE RIGHT SERVICE .WE SHOULD NOT BE TAKEN BACK TO THE ERA OF WHO KNOWS WHO WHERE TO BE ASSURED OF ANY ASSISTANCE.
ASANTE SANA NA MNIUEYE RADHI.

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