Adding pages to a U.S. passport when it's full

As i have tried to call the American consulate here in Munich and was about 10 mins on the phone trying to dial through the different options I still ended up not knowing what I wanted to know, I ask you guys now.
Here is my question: My boss's passport (US Citizen) is full and there has already been pages added twice. How many times can you add pages to a passport? Where exactly do I have to go (The consulate's address is Königinstrasse 5, I guess) and how long do you think it takes? Do I need any special documentation or his his passport enough? Can I go there or does he have to go there himself in person?

He must do it himself. Lazy bosses!!!

is there a way (like eg an autorization from him) that I can go there? Do you know that for sure or are you assuming?

that's amazingly lazy

hi. i just did a quick search and there is absolutely nothing on the american embassy's website here regarding the addition of pages to an existing passport. however, on this page, which is the us embassy site for seoul korea, there is a bit about renewing in the mail, and there is a link to an application for an amendment of a passport. my gut tells me the rules are the same everywhere, but...anyway, they make a 48 page passport - perhaps he should get one of them, that is if he doesn't have one already.

know these links are a bit obtuse, but am hoping they might lead you in the right direction.

good luck!

p.s. why do you folks think he is being lazy? maybe he's busy.

That's not lazy, that's being the boss. Most have very little time to do such things, which is why secretaries exist.

Yes, this location is where you can have new pages added. A friend of mine had pages added to hers before she could get her residence permit and work permit(they said she needed two consecutive pages blank).

I say this because a passport is a personal thing and has nothing to do with work. If you show up with someone elses passport and a piece of paper claiming that you have authorization to be in possession of it, they are just going to laugh at you. They will also most likely confiscate the passport right there on the spot to boot and then interagate the hell out of you for having a American passport that does not belong to you. I hear that the cavity searches are rather fun.

I don't think so. If they'll let you trust the postal service with it, why not another person?

@ eurovol, very good point!

i am of the school of thought that believes the assistant or secretary should do whatever makes her boss' job easier...within bounds of course.

That's true, as I find out when I got my renewal. Also, it has to be two consecutive pages in "open book" layout - they will not put them on each side of a single page. So they ended up skipping a side when they stuck mine on.

IPJ: When I replaced my passport - the postal office made me take an oath and sign a document that I was the real applicant.

Just saw this and haven't read through it all, but I just did this last week.

Goto the office early (they close at 11am)... get the strip search, get the form on the wall, fill it out, hand it to the nice lady behind the bullet proof glass, wait 45-90 minutes (bring a book or something) and you get it back with 26 pages added... no charge.

I'd suggest going at 8am as there are probably less people.

With all the new post 9/11 stuff I would be willing to bet money you can't have someone else do it for you (but that is not a valid answer).

Technically, the postal service is government so it is from the governments hands to yours. When I got my passport I actually had to go to the Postmaster at the local branch to pick it up.
Also, it is actually illegal to open mail not addressed to you for similar logic. In the states, your mail box is federal property as well. Blowing up mailboxes with M-80s is not destruction of private property but of government property.

eurovol, did you have to pick it up from the post office in the states or here? in the states, mine came through regular first class mail.

Mine didn't. I had to go to the Rockville, Md main branch to sign for it. That was 9 years ago and I will have to have it updated next year.

@anabi: am i to understand that you just had pages added, by going bright and early to the consulate on königinstr?

thanks!

This page explains the postal process and has the relevant forms to complete

http://travel.state.gov/passport/fri/add/add_850.html

Just had this done yesterday:

If want to add extra pages to your US passport, just go to the consulate office during their public hours (currently 1-4pm - better to go earlier than later) get a number for passport. In the meantime fill out a form DS- something (its green and white) and then when your number is called just hand over your app and passport, wait about 30 mins (I went to get some food and came back) and yes you will have 26 wonderful extra pages to travel around with to your delight. Its a really painless procedure.

I believe you can also get this form online and fill it out.

wow, never thought ami or brit passports would get full! Didnt know there were so many countries where you guys need a visa to travel to.

Eh, what do you know about American passports anyway, FNU?

Definitely needed visas for China and when I studied in Spain. But it really got full from going back and forth quite often over 3-4 years to Germany, Italy and the UK and having it needed to be stamped when I returned to the US (I never understood why they stamped it in the US as I am a citizen. But anyway that took the bulk of it. Now I get the lovely honor of the getting a proper visa placed in by the KVR!

thats Mr. FNU please!

Hey I know a FNU when I was in school! We would either call him by his first name twice or call him FNU. I think you guys might be brothers!

hi, so this is kind of along the topic lines. i have to go to the auslanderbehoerde in berlin next week to put in my work permit. BUT i only have one page left in my US passport, basically front and back sides, AND NO time to go during their consulate hours in the morning and sit and wait for new pages. can't take any time off at this point. so my question is, do you folks think that's enough page space?
meaning, i read somewhere on here (long time ago and can't find it) that you need enough space on oppposite pages, as in pages facing each other to get all the behoerde stamps in. someone said, i believe that they don't like putting in the residence permit/work permit stamp on either side of one page, but have to be like in an open book accorss from ea other? does that make sense? anyone can varify that again? i know that currently my stamps are like that, opposite ea other, but may be the behoerde people only did it because back then, 2 years ago i had all kinds of space?!

god, i hope this is not very confusing!! really hope to hear back, thanks!

Well, one of my friends only had two pages left in her passport and they were not facing. When she went to KVR, they rejected her and told her they needed two facing pages. So, she had to go to the Embassy to get the new pages. I do not know how long that takes.

Does anyone know where the link is - I couldn't find it either (I have the same situation coming up in a few months myself).

I did mine in Frankfurt and I don't think it took more than an hour, they do this while you wait. Go early.

Adding pages takes no time, just get to the Embassy/Consulate super early to avoid waiting too long for your number to be called. I had my passport amended in under an hour as well. And the return trip to the KVR was not painful at all. Overall, an extra two hours of my time. Not so bad considering...

don't you hate it when people don't answer the question... as you said, you don't have time to get new pages added...

anyway, in my case, they did not use 2 opposing pages. they used 2 pages next to eachother (i.e. pages 24 and 26). not sure if they will do front and back of a single page though (i.e. pages 24 and 25). Also, I got mine in Munich. not sure about the Berlin staff.

Yes, you absolutley need two free pages that face one another. Considering it is for work, I think it would be important for your employer to allow you to get this done. And if you are fancy enough, you can get one of your assistants to do it for you me thinks.
Also did you receive a temporary resident permit? (some flimsy piece of colored paper) If so, it should be valid for at least 6 months. If you don't have ANY time in the next six months, then yea, ya *might * have a problem.

Berlin US Consulate hours:
8:30 am until 12:00 noon, Monday through Friday. Closed on American and German holidays

And the Berlin version of the KVR is open early from 7AM on Mondays and Tuesdays, 10AM on Thursdays.

hi, thanks for all the replies, you guys. well, yeah as chicago so nicely noticed, i don't have much time in the morning to do this, even wait an hour. actually the wait is not the only problem, getting to the US consulate from where i live is about 45 min -hour each freakin' way. well, anyways, looks like i have to do it though, somehow, as i don't want to chance it. damn it. it already took me a month to get an appointment with the auslanderbehoerde, so i have to get it right in one sitting. yeah, it's not like in munich where you go and get a number and go in the same day(if it's still like that over on good old poccistr), and there isn't one single KVR building with the buergeramt and auslanderamt and all that fun stuff rolled into one. you do the anmeldung in one, job permit, residence permit in another part of town...anyways, thanks again!

Two pages for the German Aufenthaltstitel. Every entry into the US gets a stamp (1/4 page). Every entry into Britain -- even when only in transit and never "landing" -- gets a stamp. Turkey charges €10 for a "visa" for any 90-day period. Together with a honking big stamp, it covers half a page. Iceland stamps you if you're coming in from outside the EU. China has a full-page visa; you need a new one each time you enter the country. And so on. And so on. And so on.

woof.

I'm so confused... my Aufenhaltstitel takes up a single page... and is opposite the page where they stamped my passport the last time I came into germany (two weeks before applying for the permit). It's not like there weren't lots of other pages to use --these are the first two things in my new (name changed) passport.

yes, the Aufenthaltstitel takes up only one page, you are right. I finally got mine the other day, and the work permit stamped all into one...only one page was needed. However, they were about to make a big deal of the fact that i ONLY had one free page left, and for some reason they could not use it, it was the last one, p.24 I think. I did not understand the explanation too well, but the beamte guy was nice enough and said that with my permition he would use one of the visa pages, so I would not have to reschedule the damn termin, just for the lack of pages. Basically he used a page that has some czhec stamps on it from last fall...all in all, a very quick trip that was.

long story short, do i have to get more pages into the US passport? yes, for future travel. can you get a residence permit/job permit stamp if you are out of pages in your passport? yes, if you get a nice beamte.

I just wanted to update this thread as it's a bit out of date.

In the KVR last week I was informed that two facing pages were required for my new visa. I did not have them. However because I was renewing my visa they reused the second page by manually crossing out the previous visa number and writing the new one in. Not typical and not something you should plan on.

Regarding extra pages in a US passport:
You can get extra pages added a maximum of two times. You can fill out form DS-4085 online, then print it out and bring it in with you. Only the last page is the actual form, the rest is instructions. If your address is in Germany, then use it. Many people in the consulate waiting area asked if a German address was ok - of course it is and of course it doesn't matter since you'll be waiting for the extra pages anyway.
It took me about an hour and I did not need to wait in line or take a number, there was a very helpful guy who dealt with everyone who walked in the door. Bring a book, or watch CNN loop stories a few times on the TV.

Regarding a second passport:
Applying for a second passport is not mentioned on all US embassy websites, but Switzerland's mentions the procedure which I overheard mentioned by an employee at the Munich consulate today. According to the website a second passport is very exceptional, but the guy at the consulate mentioned it as if it were no big deal.