Jamaican Passport Renewal

Guest Post by : Tina

Hey guys what's up ? I finally received my Jamaican Passport in the mail via Fedex Express. They said it would take 4-6 weeks but it seemed longer. I received mine in about 4 weeks, which would be today Wednesday May 4, 2011. They shipped it out yesterday and it reached today so they kept my passport for weeks and weeks in Jamaica before actually shipping it out. Photos are below. 

On the left is my NEW PASSPORT, on the right is my OLD PASSPORT.

NEW ME on the left, OLD ME on the right. I was younger in the photo on the right, when I look back I don't really like it that much. I now have a mature look.

Closer view. NEW PASSPORT on the left, OLD PASSPORT on the right.

To get your passport renewed you will need to follow the steps below.

There are only 3 places in America where you can go to renew your Jamaican Passport. There located in New York City, Miami and Chicago. Here are the locations/information :

General Consulate of Jamaica in New York City

767 Third Ave, 2nd Floor

New York, NY 10017-2993

Tel : (212)935-9000

Fax : (212)935-7507

Office Hours : Monday-Friday 9:00 am - 5:00 pm

Website : www.congenjamaica-ny.org

Consulate of Jamaica in Miami

Ingraham Bldg

25 S.E. Second Ave, Miami FL 33131

Tel : (305)374-8431

Fax :(305)577-4970

Website : www.jamaicancgmiami.org

Jamaica Consulate in Chicago

4655 South Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive

Suite 201

Chicago, Illinois 60653

(773)373-8988

Website : www.jamaicanconsulatechicago.org

If you don't live near you can mail or fax to them. Faxing would be the best if you can't make it to any of the offices but it's best that you try your best to make it in person to avoid any complications because sometimes they can be so picky about how they want the photo. I will explain more about that as I explain the steps.

1) Before you mail, fax or go to any of the offices MAKE SURE that you prepare the following : 

- $110

- Expired Passport

- Birth Certificate

- 2 Identical Photographs(Non-colored) which ONE should be NOTARIZED(I will explain more about this.)

These below are NOT necessary to bring if your not married, ever been adopted or divorced.

- Marriage Certificate(if your married)

- Adoption Register(if you were adopted)

- Divorce Judgement(if you were divored)

If you were born abroad and NOT in Jamaica in addition to the Birth Certificate these are what you would need :

- Certificate of Naturalization

- Letter of Certificate of  of Citizenship

- Certificate of Registration

If you are a MINOR(under 18) it will be harder to renew your passport by yourself so you will need your parents with you plus all the documents I mentioned above.

HOW TO TAKE YOUR PASSPORT PHOTO

The Jamaican Consulates are VERY STRICT on what types of photos they accept. 

2) When you go to a photo store or a pharmacy to take photos you will need to make sure that the photographer edits your photo without the SHADOW in the back of your photo. When he takes your photo there will be a DARK SHADOW behind you but you probably won't notice it but this is a VERY BIG ISSUE for the Consulates of Jamaica, if you send or bring in that photo with the shadow un-edited they will reject it and tell you to re-take it. If you have long hair put your hair in a ponytail and if you have bangs comb it back out of your hair. Also if you wear glasses take it off, medicine glasses or any glasses are unaccepted by the Consulates of Jamaica, they would not accept it. The background of the photo should be completely white and your face/head position should be facing forward not leaning or anything like that. 

The photo should be similar to these below.

Get Your Passport Photo NOTARIZED for FREE

3) One of the two passport photos MUST be notarized. To get your passport photo notarized you can notarize it at the consulate general but if you want to follow my way which is FREE you can stop by the bank(any bank) and notarize it there. You can also have a school official notarize it if your still in school but the easiest ways are the bank or at the consulate general however I don't know if they charge a fee, I went to Bank of America across the street from the New York City Consulate of Jamaica and got one of my photos notarized.

Filling Out the Application Form 

Perfecting your SIGNATURE ~ Put An Interesting JOB OCCUPATION

4) You can either PRINT THE FORM which is online at there websites or you can receive it when you go into the office.
Here is the link to print the form online : http://www.congenjamaica-ny.org/Assets/pdf/JamaicaPassportApplicationForm.pdf
When filling out the passport renewel application form be sure to sign your signatures exactly same when your filling out the signature boxes. There very picky so they will want it to be almost exact. Now for the Job Occupation MAKE SURE to put your job your currently doing or if your not in a job put something interesting. Avoid putting construction worker. I saw a guy lie and put that, he made it up on the spot but is it really awesome to be remembered on your passport a construction worker ? LOL The passport will last 10 years so make it worthwhile.

You Get To Keep Your Old Passport

You will get to keep your old passport so no worries. They will just copy it and stamp CANCELED all over it but it's easily removable to remove canceled, they will use ink but it's not permanent ink.

HOW TO TRACK YOUR PASSPORT

You will not receive a tracking number so if you would like to track your package you will have to 

Go to www.fedex.com 

Then go to Track by Reference this is the link to the page : https://www.fedex.com/AltRefTracking

Leave the Account no. space blank and follow the photo I edited, enter whatever mentioned in the photo then click Track.

That's it ! Good luck on your journey to renewing your Jamaican passport !

Credits for this post :

Written by Tina http://www.supaxkawaii.com

Have any questions ? Ask Tina email her supaxkawaii @ live.com or call her 1(213)2937127