Tunisian officials are refusing to renew beneficiary’s passport

[jmalelkamel 5]

Hey guys! So our I-130 has been approved and we are in the process of getting all documents together to submit on the CEAC portal as well as complete the ds-260. My husband, the beneficiary is a Tunisian national who lives in Tunisia and I’m here in the USA. His passport expires in early December of this year. He attempted to renew it back in April but he was told that it was “too far away” from expiration for them to renew it. We waited, and our I-130 was approved in late April. my husband began the process of renewing his passport closer to 6 months before it expires. They kept his passport and finally after going back and forth, being told “it’ll be ready by tomorrow” “oh the one lady who handles this is out sick today, come back tomorrow” “oh it’s not ready today, come back tomorrow” (you get the idea) they told his aunt today who went to pick it up that they can’t renew it until it’s expired. How does that even make any logical sense?! You can’t even travel most places in the world without having a minimum of 6 months on the passport. It also states on the ds260 to give a passport number of a passport that will be used to enter the US with. So we can’t even fill the ds260 until we get this new passport. My husband and I are frustrated and devastated… Does anyone have any advice?

[OldUser 9,854]

5 minutes ago, jmalelkamel said:

 My husband and I are frustrated and devastated… Does anyone have any advice?

I'm sorry about your husband's situation.

Many countries allow applying for second passport, even if initial one is still valid. Can he go this route?

 

 

[appleblossom 4,386]

9 minutes ago, jmalelkamel said:

So we can’t even fill the ds260 until we get this new passport. 

 

You can. It can be updated at interview, so don't worry about that. 

 

It looks as though Tunis is pretty quick for interviews, so he may have entered the US before his passport expires anyway?

[pushbrk 13,611]

Use the current passport number on the DS 260 and update at interview.  You can also delay at NVC until he has the new passport.

[jmalelkamel 5]

6 hours ago, OldUser said:

I'm sorry about your husband's situation.

Many countries allow applying for second passport, even if initial one is still valid. Can he go this route?

 

 

Thank you ❤️ unfortunately he said he can’t do that in Tunisia, but we’re going to try different places. 

[jmalelkamel 5]

1 hour ago, pushbrk said:

Use the current passport number on the DS 260 and update at interview.  You can also delay at NVC until he has the new passport.

Is this allowed? That’s a giant relief! My husband also wasn’t sure if they’ll give him back his old passport, will that be an issue as long as he brings the updated one? 

[jmalelkamel 5]

6 hours ago, appleblossom said:

 

You can. It can be updated at interview, so don't worry about that. 

 

It looks as though Tunis is pretty quick for interviews, so he may have entered the US before his passport expires anyway?

Thank you so much for the reassurance! Yes, I’ve also seen Tunis is super quick to schedule interviews! It’s a huge blessing. I didn’t know if it would be advisable to enter the US though with only a few weeks left (he doesn’t need 6 months to enter even with the visa?)

[appleblossom 4,386]

21 minutes ago, jmalelkamel said:

 (he doesn’t need 6 months to enter even with the visa?)

 

I think he does if he's from Tunisia - check on the country specific interview guidelines on the usual NVC website though. But if you submit his docs quickly then he's likely to be DQ'ed by July, so he may well still have enough time on it by the time he has his interview. And if not, at least it buys you some more time to get the passport updated.

 

My son had one passport number on his DS-260, and then a new one by his interview. Wasn't an issue at all. Remember that some countries are 2+ years from DQ to interview date, so it's really not unusual to have a different passport number by the time the interview rolls around. 

 

Good luck. 

Edited June 18 by appleblossom

[S2N 288]

Reddit says that there is an office in the ministry of interior (مكتب العلاقات مع المواطن بوزارة الداخلية) that handles same day passports for emergencies.

 

Might be worth contacting them and seeing if they could issue a new passport in the week leading up to the interview if it’ll have less than six months validity.

 

(Edit: mods, sorry for the Arabic but figured giving the specific name in a foreign script would be useful in this case.)

Edited June 18 by S2N

[pushbrk 13,611]

20 hours ago, jmalelkamel said:

Is this allowed? That’s a giant relief! My husband also wasn’t sure if they’ll give him back his old passport, will that be an issue as long as he brings the updated one? 

He only needs one valid passport for the interview, but he must have a valid passport at that time.

[jmalelkamel 5]

5 hours ago, pushbrk said:

He only needs one valid passport for the interview, but he must have a valid passport at that time.

 

19 hours ago, S2N said:

Reddit says that there is an office in the ministry of interior (مكتب العلاقات مع المواطن بوزارة الداخلية) that handles same day passports for emergencies.

 

Might be worth contacting them and seeing if they could issue a new passport in the week leading up to the interview if it’ll have less than six months validity.

 

(Edit: mods, sorry for the Arabic but figured giving the specific name in a foreign script would be useful in this case.)

 

On 6/17/2025 at 7:26 PM, appleblossom said:

 

I think he does if he's from Tunisia - check on the country specific interview guidelines on the usual NVC website though. But if you submit his docs quickly then he's likely to be DQ'ed by July, so he may well still have enough time on it by the time he has his interview. And if not, at least it buys you some more time to get the passport updated.

 

My son had one passport number on his DS-260, and then a new one by his interview. Wasn't an issue at all. Remember that some countries are 2+ years from DQ to interview date, so it's really not unusual to have a different passport number by the time the interview rolls around. 

 

Good luck. 

 

thank you all SO very much for the reassurance and helpful advice!