About to Expire
Anthony's US passport is about to expire, so we need to renew it at the US Consulate in Osaka. Hopefully the trip goes better than last time I had to go there.
We've got all the paperwork ready, but for a while had trouble finding his birth certificate. Eventually, I had to make contingency plans and check to see how to get a copy (from the State of California), and was shocked to find that it takes, on average, three months to get one!
However, that's nothing compared to how long it takes to get a simple copy of a marriage certificate:
I'd never believe these ridiculous wait times for simple copies of documents already in the State's computers, except that it's right there on the California Department of Public Health web site, a screen capture of which is at right.
Wow, our tax dollars at work.
Luckily, we found our copy and so we should be all set.
We're on a roll.... Fumie and I both renewed our driver's licences yesterday in a smooth but time-consuming wasted day.
Here's a picture of seven-month-old Anthony during a breezy moment at home, not long after getting his current passport.
In California, if you go directly to the county website where the birth, marriage, etc took place, that will speed things up considerably. By mail, Santa Clara county recorder states they need 15 to 20 workdays.
http://www.sccgov.org/portal/site/rec
If you can actually to into the county recorder’s office, you can usually (most counties) have it in about 15 minutes. L.A. county takes about 3 days after you go in – unless you are in a big rush and they are feeling particularly benevolent that day (We realized we’d lost Marty’s, and he was going to Canada in 3 days at a time when that was all you needed – they had it for me in about 2 hours!)
Oh, and make sure you check the County Recorder’s site – the department of Vital Statistics for each county usually takes longer, and only has the prior year or two.
You know, even though you found Anthony’s birth certificate, it may be a good idea to write for a few more copies to have, just in case.
That’s all good to know, thanks. We have half a dozen copies; it was just a matter of finding them after having moved from The States and not really organized very well. —Jeffrey
ummm I would fuzz out the passport number…
you never know how leaving it out there on the net can backfire on ya…
Oh… as for those long wait times, it’s much faster to get the records from the County instead of the state…