Secure Acapulco Delivery for 2-kilo passport? Fedex, DHL or ...?
December 3, 2013 5:39 AM Subscribe
My mother, who is getting on in years, lives in Acapulco and needs to apply for a Taiwan visitor visa (not a landing visa, which is automatic for US citizens). The problem is finding a secure way to send the passport to either Mexico City or Houston. Fedex has no office in Acapulco. DHL does have an office there, but their unhelpful web pages do not inspire confidence, and my inquiry about "prepaid envelopes" and pickup options to "mail a US passport" was answered with a slightly brain-dead request: "we need ur document weight and ur document outer package size." Seriously, has the US (or any other country) ever isssued an A3-size 2-kilo passports?
My question: Is there any QUICK & SECURE way (avoiding DHL if possible) to send a passport plus a prepaid return envelope from Acapulco to Mexico City or Houston, Texas? Note that I am not in Mexico: I need to find a quick and easy solution for my Mom, who cannot get around easily.
Best answer: FedEx seems to have several authorized shipping centers in Acapulco - I just did a quick search for locations near Acapulco, MX via their Find Locations Near feature on their website. Did you try that already?
posted by hapax_legomenon at 6:15 AM on December 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by hapax_legomenon at 6:15 AM on December 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I recommend highly that you send it to Houston.
If you must send things into Mexico, FEDEX is the only carrier that is able to do so reliably, in my experience. It was really expensive though.
It was a never-ending source of hilarity and sorrow how incredibly often things just disappear into the ether if you ship things across the border. Either way was a total crapshoot, except for FEDEX. But you pay the premium for it, definitely.
posted by hobo gitano de queretaro at 9:13 AM on December 3, 2013
If you must send things into Mexico, FEDEX is the only carrier that is able to do so reliably, in my experience. It was really expensive though.
It was a never-ending source of hilarity and sorrow how incredibly often things just disappear into the ether if you ship things across the border. Either way was a total crapshoot, except for FEDEX. But you pay the premium for it, definitely.
posted by hobo gitano de queretaro at 9:13 AM on December 3, 2013
Thirding FedEx. She should go to any Multipack office (the website is pretty crappy, I know). That company was bought by FedEx. They apparently also offer home pickup if she can't go herself.
posted by clearlydemon at 11:47 AM on December 3, 2013
posted by clearlydemon at 11:47 AM on December 3, 2013
Also, in case you can't use FedEx for some reason, the U.S. Embassy in Mexico uses DHL to ship visas and passports. I received mine and had no problems at all.
posted by clearlydemon at 11:50 AM on December 3, 2013
posted by clearlydemon at 11:50 AM on December 3, 2013
Response by poster: Thanks for your help. I appreciate Hobo Gitano's "crapshoot" comment. I have trouble understanding how the Mexican postal service can be so unreliable. I once sent myself (from Taipei to Acapulco) a box of 20 handwritten notebooks (my own writing in Chinese), but I was asked to pay customs duty! Fortunately my Spanish was good enough to convince the head of the ACA post office that I was a legitimate scholar, so the customs duty was waived. An entire box of precious documents and photos I sent at almost the same time completely disappeared, however. :-((
posted by juifenasie at 3:45 AM on February 3, 2014
posted by juifenasie at 3:45 AM on February 3, 2014
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posted by juifenasie at 5:42 AM on December 3, 2013