American Passport & Visa International, Inc

06/16/2026

A quick heads-up for summer, because this one catches families every year: a child's passport is only good for five years, not ten like yours. So the passport you got when your daughter was seven may have quietly expired before she turned twelve. 👀

Two more things parents are often surprised by. Both parents usually have to consent in person for kids under 16, and a child's passport can't be renewed by mail the way adult passports can. Each one is a fresh in-person application.

The good news: none of this is a big deal if you check now. It only becomes stressful when the trip is two weeks out.

So before the summer gets away from you, go dig out the kids' passports and check the dates. If one's expired or about to, give our team a call and we'll help you sort it out fast. (800) 766-0452.

06/02/2026

If you're placing engineers, faculty, technologists, or clinicians into Saudi Arabia, the work visa itself is rarely the bottleneck. What feeds it is.
A Saudi work visa lives or dies on five parallel workstreams, and any one of them can slip the deployment date:

1. QVP (Qualified Visa Program) credential verification through a Saudi-approved body.
2 Apostille of degrees and professional licenses, often issued across multiple U.S. Secretaries of State, plus the U.S. Department of State for federal documents.
3. Medical clearance from pre-approved clinic only. Wrong clinic, redo. Expired results, redo.
4. Police clearance and FBI background check, each with its own turnaround and apostille requirement.
5. Direct submission to the embassy.

One mismatch anywhere in the chain restarts the clock. Salaries are already on the books. Onboarding plans slip.

We've built the playbook over 23 years for Saudi universities, engineering firms, technology companies, and hospitals hiring U.S. professionals. Our specialists coordinate the full chain, pre-validate every document against current KSA policy, and submit directly to the consulate. Expedited consulate processing is typically 1 to 3 business days after submission.

If your team is staging Saudi hires this quarter or next, DM me or call (800) 766-0452. Details at apvi.com/saudi-arabia-visa/work-visa.

Registered with the U.S. Department of State. APVI expedites passports, travel visas, and document authentication — in days, not months.

05/22/2026

If you book or manage international travel, Europe's entry rules changed this year. Two separate systems are getting mixed up, and it's worth five minutes to get them straight.

The first is already live. The Entry/Exit System (EES) became fully operational on April 10, 2026. It replaces the passport stamp with biometric registration: fingerprints and a facial image taken at the Schengen border. Travelers don't apply for anything, but the added step has lengthened processing at some entry points, so build in extra airport buffer.

The second is the one often called the "new EU visa." That's ETIAS, the European Travel Information and Authorisation System, and it isn't a visa. It's a travel authorization for citizens of visa-exempt countries, including the U.S. The EU expects it to launch in the last quarter of 2026. When it does: a short online application, a 20-euro fee (about $23), processing of up to 96 hours, valid three years or until your passport expires.

The part worth flagging to your travelers now: the EU's official guidance is that no action is required yet. So the smart move today isn't to apply. It's to confirm passports are valid well past travel dates, because ETIAS will be tied directly to passport validity.

If your team needs renewals before the rollout, call us before it's urgent: (800) 766-0452.

Happy Memorial Day to everyone marking the long weekend. Safe travels ahead.

05/15/2026

Your passport expires in 7 months. The State Department says you're fine. Most countries say you're not.

Here's the trap.

The U.S. lets you travel on a passport with any remaining validity. So you check your passport, see a 2027 expiration, and book the trip.

The country you're flying into may not agree. The "6-month rule" is enforced by foreign immigration and the airlines themselves, not by the U.S. government. Schengen countries, China, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, and most of Southeast Asia require at least 6 months of validity from the date of entry. Some require 6 months past your return date.

What happens if you don't meet it: the airline denies boarding at the gate. You don't get to argue with immigration at the destination because you never get on the plane.

What to do if you're inside the window:
If your trip is more than 6 weeks out, renew through the State Department's standard channel.
If it's tighter than that, you need either a passport agency appointment with proof of travel, or a registered courier service.
If your trip is in the next 90 days and your passport expires before December, that's our wheelhouse. We've handled the version of this story you're living about a thousand times.

Check your passport tonight. It takes 30 seconds. It saves the trip.