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Ah—The glamour of foreign ports-of-call! The intrigue of chatting with strangers on the Orient Express! The envy to be stirred among all of your stay-at-home friends! Who can resist the lure of wanderlust when the travel bug bites?!
Don’t start packing your suitcases just yet, though. Chances are that many of those exotic locations on your to-do list require a valid passport and/or visa to enter and exit.
Whether you’re a first time globetrotter or have a well worn passport that has long expired, the procedures for application or renewal are fairly simple. In addition to the following nutshell of procedures and fees for U.S. citizens, you can obtain published guidelines and current forms at most post offices, travel agencies, or through the Consumer Information Center located in Pueblo, CO 81009. The National Passport Information Center also maintains a 24-hour hotline at (900) 225-5674 at the cost of 35 cents per minute, which is billed to the caller’s phone.
First-Timers
If you are applying for a passport for the first time, you will be required to appear in person. (The post office or courthouse where you initially picked up your forms is usually the easiest place to do this.) It is also mandatory to apply in person if you possessed a prior passport which has subsequently been lost, stolen, damaged, expired over 15 years ago, or was issued to you when you were still a minor.
The following items will need to be brought with you and presented:
A completed (but not signed) Application (DSP 11);
Proof of US citizenship (i.e., a certified birth certificate);
Proof of current identity (valid driver’s license, government or military ID);
Two identical 2” x 2” photos (a number of copy services such as Kinko’s are equipped to do passport photos).
It is critical that the requested proofs of identity and citizenship be originals and not xerox copies. Certified birth certificates can be obtained by contacting the Office of Vital Statistics in the state in which you were born. Do plan ahead, of course, in making this request, as the processing time in particularly large cities can be 3-6 weeks.
After signing the application in the presence of the authorized agent and providing your Social Security number, the fee for a new passport is $60 for an adult and $40 for children under the age of 16. Although it typically takes a few weeks to process a new passport, expedited requests can be handled for an additional fee of $35, which is payable at the time of application. An adult passport is good for 10 years from the date of issue; children’s passports are good for 5 years.
Of special note to parents with children under the age of 13 is recent legislation which was enacted to curb international abductions. Under this new law, either both parents must be present in person to sign the child’s application, or the missing parent must complete an authorization which grants permission for the young person in question to be taken out of the country.
Renewing a Passport
Passport renewals can conveniently be processed by mail, provided that the expiring passport is still in the holder’s possession and the holder has not changed names in the interim through marriage, divorce, adoption, or other legal means. In the event of the latter conditions, the applicant would need to present the requisite documents in person.
This, of course, presents an interesting complication for brides planning to marry in a foreign country and take their husband’s last name. Because the new, married name is not legally recognized prior to the ceremony and departure, she must first acquire a passport in her own name, then apply for a replacement after their return to the U.S. Should she decide to keep the passport in her home name, however, it is wise to pack a copy of the marriage license on future, out-of the-country trips. While two different surnames within a married couple is much more common today than it used to be, keep in mind that not all countries smile favorably on this practice and may, in fact, question the pair’s marital status in the event of an unanticipated separation or accident.
To renew a passport by mail, you will need an Application (DSP-82); two identical 2” x 2” photos, a $40 processing fee, and your expired passport. Not to worry about relinquishing it, however—it will be returned to you along with the new one issued! Everything should be placed in a padded envelope and mailed to: National Passport Center, P.O. Box 371971, Pittsburgh, PA 15250-7971. In the event that you are using an expedited service such as FedEx or a courier who will not deliver to a P.O. box, your local post office will have information on where the package can be sent for processing.
As with any important document, your passport should be kept in a safe, secure place when not in use.
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