Another issue is, in some cases if the passport is damaged, the embassy will not return it to you. I had this happen when my picture page got wet. I was able to fly home with it but was told when arriving home (Canada) by immigration to replace with a new passport as I would not be able to fly out with the current one. I went and had a new one reissued and marked on the paperwork "please return old passport" and was informed this option is not available when passport is deemed damaged. I lost my visas.

I hope this is not the case with you, but just a heads up.

Good luck.