US Passport Today I actually got up early. For me getting up at 8am is early because I work US west coast hours and I often don't go to sleep till around 4am (6pm CA time). I had to rally because we had an 9:30 appointment at the US embassy to renew our 11 year old son's passport. It had been a busy week (when is it not?) and we all basically forgot about the passport appointment. I was working around 2am when, to my horror, I realized I'd have to hustle and get all the passport paperwork ready ASAP. (Funnily, the website instructions had been fuzzy and when we emailed the embassy for help stating the website was unclear, we were instructed to look on the website...) In any case, we now had an appointment and kind of knew what to bring. I printed and filled out an application form; self-addressed and stamped an envelope for the passport to be mailed to us; and gathered our son's and our passports since both parents have to attend in person with the minor. I worried whether photocopies of our son's birth certificate and the statement from the Finnish population registry would work instead of the requested original documents. My husband would have to take and print the photo in the morning.
Despite the rough last minute scramble, we got the photo done and made it to the Embassy on time. In my opinion, the US Embassy is a bunker-like modern behemoth. It sits by the ocean in prime Helsinki real-estate in Kaivopuisto area. Looking out to the ocean from the embassy one sees the Klippan Restaurant, one of Helsinki's oldest, most traditional restaurants. Looking behind the embassy you see lovely historic Jugend style apartment buildings. Jugend style is late 19th century Art Nouveau architecture style Helsinki is known for; there are apparently 600 such buildings, more than Barcelona. Despite having an appointment, we had to wait an hour outside in the cold fog because of Covid related restrictions on number of people allowed into the Consulate. Once it was our turn , we passed a very thorough security check including a x-ray scan of possessions. We had to even leave our purses and electronics (phones) at the security gate. I suspect the US Embassy has better security than the Finnish president's residence! In the end, the passport paperwork was submitted succesfully. Alltogether the process was similar to what it would have been in the States, except we would have done it at the post office without all the security. In fact, it was probably easier to get the Embassy passport appointment than one at a post office back home.
Finnish Passport
The kids and I are dual citizens and got to also experience the Finnish passport application process this year. We did this in September before we even knew we'd stay for the year. At the time Joel had already gone back to the US. The first step was to obtain passport photos. Except we didn't get actual photos from the photographer, only a code. The photographer submits the photos digitally to passport processing and you just include the photograph code in your application.
To apply, I logged onto an online site. Basically every government process is digitized and applications/forms etc are all done online. The identification for almost everything online happens with your bank online credentials. The process of using the bank credentials is a bit like trying to break into Fort Knox but I guess security is super important given the same credentials apply to your tax dealings, the population registry and officially moving your address (uniquely Finnish concept, another post topic), registering your car etc
So to login with bank credentials, you provide your login id and a password. Then there is a second step during which you get a number sent to your cell phone. You have a keycode list of number pairs from the bank and look up the corresponding number to the one sent to your phone. You only use each keycode number pair once and when you need more numbers you request them from the bank. Once you type on the keycode number you're in.
I submitted the application fully online, using the photographer code, my social security number and my current passport number. For my passport renewal, this is all that was needed. I didn't even need to go in anywhere. 2 days later (!!!) I got a ping on my cell phone letting me know my passport was ready for pick up at the local R-Kioski. R-Kioski is a convenience store kind of like a 7-11 and many of them include post office services. By showing my ID I got the passport from the convenience store clerk without ever having had to deal with papers.
For the kids, getting their first passport was slightly more work. For minors you have to go in person. I couldn't get an appointment with such short notice but thanks to live help via website chat, I found out they also take walk-ins. In Finland you apply for the passport at the police station so off we went. We got there about 20 minutes before closing time and we were the only customers. Joel was already back in the US and ends up that both parents should have been present - or else fill out a consent form. The helpful clerk told me I could just scan the consent form and send it to my husband to sign. I said I had no scanner. She looked at me funny and said "just take a cell phone picture". Duh... obvious I guess for anyone younger than 50! So I did this and called to wake Joel up to print the photo I sent, sign it, and then take another picture and send it to the police station email address. The clerk then took fingerprints and had the kids sign on an electronic signature pad which transferred the signature into the passport book. She also took down our photography codes. By this time the passport office was closing and one of Joel's scans hadn't arrived yet. The clerk told me not to worry, she'd finish the application in the morning. Sure enough the next morning she even called me to confirm she'd completed the application!! And again, 2 days later the passports were ready to be picked up at the R-Kioski.
Wow! I was really impressed with how efficient this all was. Not only was the delivery of the passports lightning fast but everything about the process was streamlined and easy. And I couldn't believe the police station clerk actually thought outside the box and figured out how to overcome the obstacle of my husband being on the other side of the planet and then even called to follow up on progress. We'll see how fast our US paper renewal application will be handled and whether the self-addressed envelope has enough stamps; somehow I doubt the US passports will get to us in 2 days though.
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