School Asking us to DHL Them our passports
School Asking us to DHL Them our passports
Today I received an email from my new school. They are asking me to DHL my passport to them so they can get my work visa stamped into it. This sounds very suspicious to me. I didn't find this job through Search or ISS. I'm afraid this is a scam. Has anyone heard of such a thing? Help!
Response
Could be a scam, but its an actual thing. The reality is on such tight schedules sending your passport overnight to the IS and having someone from the office walk it to whatever office is responsible for issuing visas could be done in a day (or even hours) with an IS having the right connections and relationships, and then overnight it back to you could get the whole thing done in days as opposed to many days using the conventional method of sending you documents and having you apply at a consulate or embassy with your passport. Its probably less coin for them as well, as OS visa services tend to be high compared to the cost of the visa application itself. Thats the problem/issue, embassies are notoriously slow and unaccommodating, and an IS just isnt that important that an embassy/consulate is unlikely to prioritize the application.
It could be a scam, but the probabilities are low. Sure there are criminal things you can do with a foreign passport, but since everything's electronic now once a modern passport is reported as compromised you cant use it for much (faking your age basically if the photo is a reasonably close similarity). You couldnt travel on it accept for maybe a domestic flight, you couldnt use it at ports of entry. You couldnt rent a vehicle with it, or use it to obtain a loan or anything (maybe cash a cheque). Sure someone could pretend to be you, but to what end and benefit? All the worst things amount to your cost and inconvenience of replacing it.
If you dont though, youre likely going to loose the job and its the end of August so what are your other options?
It could be a scam, but the probabilities are low. Sure there are criminal things you can do with a foreign passport, but since everything's electronic now once a modern passport is reported as compromised you cant use it for much (faking your age basically if the photo is a reasonably close similarity). You couldnt travel on it accept for maybe a domestic flight, you couldnt use it at ports of entry. You couldnt rent a vehicle with it, or use it to obtain a loan or anything (maybe cash a cheque). Sure someone could pretend to be you, but to what end and benefit? All the worst things amount to your cost and inconvenience of replacing it.
If you dont though, youre likely going to loose the job and its the end of August so what are your other options?
Re: School Asking us to DHL Them our passports
It depends, and would very much depend on the school and/or the country.
If the school is prepared to cover the cost of an overnight DHL to them and back to you, then it might, just, be OK. But one thing you learn quickly when you live overseas is just how vital passports are and how you really need to know where they are at any time.
If the school is prepared to cover the cost of an overnight DHL to them and back to you, then it might, just, be OK. But one thing you learn quickly when you live overseas is just how vital passports are and how you really need to know where they are at any time.
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bobstayshaky
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Re: School Asking us to DHL Them our passports
You couldn't use it at ports of entry and couldn't travel on it, possibly with the exception of domestic flights. It couldn't be used to rent a car, get a loan, or do anything else (but you could pay a check). Yes, someone could pose as you, but for what purpose and advantage? The worst-case scenario adds up to the expense and hassle of having to replace it.