A Second Passport

The process for applying can be found on the Travel State Gov website and the criteria that supports you having a second passport is “You need a U.S. passport for urgent travel, and a foreign country delayed your application for a visa or cannot process it in time for your travel.”

1. Airline travel. You will need to have your flight booked.
2. In Person. You will need to go to a U.S. Passport Office in person, by appointment only.
3. < 14 days. Your travel will need to be less than 14 days for you to make an in person appointment.
4. DS-11. You will need to fill out a form DS-11 and bring the additional items needed for the application:
   • Passport Photo. You will need to get new passport photos taken and bring those.
   • Proof of U.S. Citizenship. You can use your existing passport as proof of U.S. Citizenship.
   • Proof of Identity. You can use your driver’s license.
5. Statement. You will need to complete, sign and date a statement as to why you need a second passport. An example is on the Travel State Gov website. We filled one out and brought it, but at our appointment they had us fill out and sign a nearly identical one.

Two Passports, Now What?

The original passport is the one that will receive the residence visa in it. When you apply for your Visa you have a couple decisions to make:

1. Passport with Application. You need to decide whether to leave your passport with the application or keep it with you. Keeping your passport is the best option if you are going to be using a second passport, and you will need to get your original passport back to to the Portuguese consulate or VFS office when you receive the email stating that your visa application has been approved.
2. Passport with Residence Visa. You will need to decide how to retrieve your passport after the residence visa has been applied. At the time of your application, you need to indicate if you want to pick it up in person or receive it via courier. Please note, that your passport cannot be sent to non-U.S. addresses.

If you are outside the U.S. when your visa is approved, you can do a couple things:

1. Return to U.S. You can go back to the U.S. and then courier your passport back to have the residence visa applied to it. The passport with the residence visa will be sent back to you in a few days. Once you receive your passport back, you need to make sure you re-enter Portugal with that passport.
2. Trusted Person. You can leave your passport with a trusted person. That person will need to do 3 things for you:
   • Send your passports to the consulate/VFS to have your residence visa applied.
   • Receive your passport back after the residence visa has applied (will require signature delivery)
   • Send your passport to you via an international courier such as DHL.

In both cases you need to leave the European Schengen zone on your 2nd passport, and then re-enter Portugal on the passport with residence visa in it.