Passport question

[vicocala]

Today I received my passports that will expire in June back from the State Department. I have already received my replacement passports. I have a question or two about the old ones.

 

1) Why do they send you the old ones back? You have just received your new ones good for the next ten years, so why give you something back that is about to expire?

 

2) What should be done with the old ones? Save them, destroy them, use them as coasters?

 

Thanks in advance. Just curious on the point of them sending them back and if it is so important that I get it, should I destroy it?

[sparks1093]

Today I received my passports that will expire in June back from the State Department. I have already received my replacement passports. I have a question or two about the old ones.

 

1) Why do they send you the old ones back? You have just received your new ones good for the next ten years, so why give you something back that is about to expire?

 

2) What should be done with the old ones? Save them, destroy them, use them as coasters?

 

Thanks in advance. Just curious on the point of them sending them back and if it is so important that I get it, should I destroy it?

 

Many like to keep them as souveniers but they are still proof of citizenship even after they expire so you should keep them in a safe place. If you wish to destroy them you can.

[Philob]

Today I received my passports that will expire in June back from the State Department. I have already received my replacement passports. I have a question or two about the old ones.

 

1) Why do they send you the old ones back? You have just received your new ones good for the next ten years, so why give you something back that is about to expire?

 

2) What should be done with the old ones? Save them, destroy them, use them as coasters?

 

Thanks in advance. Just curious on the point of them sending them back and if it is so important that I get it, should I destroy it?

 

Your old ones should have a bunch holes punched in them, rendering them useless.

 

They don't want it, so they send it back to you.

 

You can keep them for the memories, which a lot of people do, or best to destroy them if you don't want them.

Edited April 24, 2015 by Philob

[AlaskaAtLast]

Not sure why they send them back except maybe people like to keep them as a reminder of travels they took (especially back when they actually stamped passports more). However, the old one they sent back is invalid once you have the new one. The old one should have a hole punched in it that tells them it's been replaced by a newer one.

[cliffd64]

Some people consider the stamps like souvenirs.

[vicocala]

Yup, I didn't notice at first but they did come back with two holes punched where they electronically read them. Thanks for the quick responses! Mine was only stamped in 2006 in Quintana Roo (Mexico-Cancun and Cozemel) and in Miami. Both were from airline flights. They were never stamped on a cruise interestingly enough. I guess governments trust cruiselines more than airlines. :D

[Philob]

Many like to keep them as souveniers but they are still proof of citizenship even after they expire so you should keep them in a safe place. If you wish to destroy them you can.

 

When my Dad applied for social security he had to prove that he was working in the 40's. The only thing he had was a photo id card from the shipyard from Vallejo, CA during WW2. That was enough to get him his max.

 

Since then he drilled it into all of us to keep our gov't IDs, valid or not, since you never know...

[yj_eugene]

Many like to keep them as souveniers but they are still proof of citizenship even after they expire so you should keep them in a safe place.

 

Exactly. I lost my passport once, but was able to get a replacement quickly by sending in an expired one I still had as the proof of citizenship and identity along with my application. Now I keep a couple of expired ones in our safe deposit box just for this purpose.

[Medtech2]

Today I received my passports that will expire in June back from the State Department. I have already received my replacement passports. I have a question or two about the old ones.

 

1) Why do they send you the old ones back? You have just received your new ones good for the next ten years, so why give you something back that is about to expire?

 

2) What should be done with the old ones? Save them, destroy them, use them as coasters?

 

Thanks in advance. Just curious on the point of them sending them back and if it is so important that I get it, should I destroy it?

My parents got my first passport when I was 10 years old. I am 54 now and still have it, plus all my old Air Force dependent ID's. Take little space and gives me a record of my life history. I am also a bit tribally superstitious about anything with a photo--i just can't throw it away. It would be like killing a part of the person. Hence I have boxes and boxes of horrible shots of my kids growing up, from back when you had to develop the film to see how the shot came out.

 

Man! Do I love digital cameras!!

[HeidiHo]

I believe there was a time when you could use an expired passport for a cruise as long as it wasn't expired for more than 10 years. that was a long time ago though.

[bluesea777]

We have a tin box full of old expired passports.

 

I'm on #6 now. We travel by air a lot, so our passports - old and new - are full of stamps from various countries. Also, I was an expat brat and during my boarding school days I travelled to visit my parents wherever they lived at the time.

 

In addition, we are British UK passport holders so we have hundreds of US stamps in all passports.

 

They are valuable assets ... and souvenirs ... to us. I have all my parents' passports also.

Edited April 25, 2015 by bluesea777

[phantomII]

Keep it. In ten years when your new one expires you can use the old one as proof of citizenship to get a new one.

[phantomII]

Keep it. In ten years when your new one expires you can use the old one as proof of citizenship to get a new one. In fact anytime you have to prove citizenship, ie getting a new job, you can use your expired passport.

[emcelh]

Yup, I didn't notice at first but they did come back with two holes punched where they electronically read them. Thanks for the quick responses! Mine was only stamped in 2006 in Quintana Roo (Mexico-Cancun and Cozemel) and in Miami. Both were from airline flights. They were never stamped on a cruise interestingly enough. I guess governments trust cruiselines more than airlines. :D

 

If you want stamps in your passport when you're cruising there's usually somewhere in each port where you can go. We've done it a couple of times but usually the time it takes to find the place then get there isn't worth it. Just my opinion.

[cherylandtk]

...Just curious on the point of them sending them back and if it is so important that I get it, should I destroy it?

LBNL, for some travelers the old passports contain unexpired visas that might be needed on future trips. In that case one needs to bring the current passport along with the old passport to show the valid visa.