Applying for passports

[Conservative Hippie]

We are applying for passports on Friday (DH and I will be renewing, the kids getting passports for the first time). I'm really nervous that I'm not going to have the right documents or something is going to go wrong! I'm really late in doing this - our cruise is about 10 weeks away, and I meant to do it in February, but pretty much at least one person in the family was sick the entire month.

We're going to get photos at Walgreen's first, and I have 1) our expired passports, 2) marriage certificate to document my name change, 3) both kids' birth certificates. I am going to print out all the forms and fill them out ahead of time. I'm mostly nervous that the BCs are not "official" enough copies. Both of my kids have BCs from the State of Florida Office of Vital Statistics, but DD's from 2007 has less information on it than DS's from 2010. For example, DS's has his birth weight and time of birth, and DD's does not. DS's also has the address of the birth center on it, and DD's does not. Is it possible they just changed the format between 2007 and 2010? I am positive I didn't do anything different to get a different kind of BC for DS.

 

[MichelleinMaine]

As long as the BC are originals (with a raised seal) from the state, you should be fine. My DS has a BC the size of a wallet card- with only his name, town of birth, date of birth and parents names. We had no trouble getting his passport with it.

Just clarifying that both parents will be going to apply, right?
And you and DH can just mail yours in- don't need to do in person for renewals (unless it's changed in the last year or so).

 

[disneyfreakk]

Wait, you have to take your marriage cert. too?? I did not know that.

 

[Conservative Hippie]

We are all going. DH could do his by mail easily, and I might be able to do mine by mail, but I do have to change my name (I got my passport when I was 15), and I have to have my marriage certificate to do that. But since we all have to go anyway for the kids' passport, we will just do our's in person, too.

Hey, what should we wear in our passport photos? Matching WDW tees??

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

As long as the BC are originals (with a raised seal) from the state, you should be fine. My DS has a BC the size of a wallet card- with only his name, town of birth, date of birth and parents names. We had no trouble getting his passport with it.

Just clarifying that both parents will be going to apply, right?
And you and DH can just mail yours in- don't need to do in person for renewals (unless it's changed in the last year or so).

Both parents need to go in to apply? Is that required? I need to get DD17 and DD12 their passports before our cruise in September. Their Dad will be in town in 2 weeks to get them for Spring Break - do I need to take him with us to give permission to get passports for the kids if I have physical custody?

 

[MichelleinMaine]

Both parents need to go in to apply? Is that required? I need to get DD17 and DD12 their passports before our cruise in September. Their Dad will be in town in 2 weeks to get them for Spring Break - do I need to take him with us to give permission to get passports for the kids if I have physical custody?

Here's the info from the passport agency-

http://travel.state.gov/passport/get/minors/minors_834.html#step7minor

Looks like it depends on if you have sole custody (and then there is a form that needs to be filled out- of course!)

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

Here's the info from the passport agency-

http://travel.state.gov/passport/get/minors/minors_834.html#step7minor

Looks like it depends on if you have sole custody (and then there is a form that needs to be filled out- of course!)

Thanks. It hadn't even occurred to me that I wouldn't be able to just go in and get them but I can understand why now that it was brought up. I'll check out the info to make sure we have all of the paperwork we need before applying.

 

[MichelleinMaine]

Thanks. It hadn't even occurred to me that I wouldn't be able to just go in and get them but I can understand why now that it was brought up. I'll check out the info to make sure we have all of the paperwork we need before applying.

An FYI, you may want to carry the paperwork with you when you travel as well. I took DS into Canada and DH was not in the car. (He was with my dad in another car behind us.) The Canadian officials went to great lengths to verify his identity before we were allowed to go through. (Which, like you said- is good, but be prepared to prove you have authority to take them out of the country without him.)

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

An FYI, you may want to carry the paperwork with you when you travel as well. I took DS into Canada and DH was not in the car. (He was with my dad in another car behind us.) The Canadian officials went to great lengths to verify his identity before we were allowed to go through. (Which, like you said- is good, but be prepared to prove you have authority to take them out of the country without him.)

I know when the kids and I cruised back in 2002 I had to bring a notarized letter from him that I had permission to take the children out of the country - and we were still married then! Thanks for the reminder to do that again. Better safe than sorry.

Since the oldest is 17, it doesn't look like she needs parental permission anyway but I'll drag ex-DH with me to get DD12's passport when he is in town. We're still good friends so he won't mind.

 

[NotUrsula]

Technically, the kids paperwork isn't a renewal; for kids they insist on seeing every single bit of paperwork as if they had never seen it before, and you have to pay the same fee as if they hadn't had them previously.

You only need thier dad for the younger one's application, the older one will be applying as an adult this time.

 

[shortbun]

OP-When did your (DH and YOU) passports expire? They may be too old to renew. Make sure you fill out the correct forms and have the right fees in mind. If you got yours at age 15, you might have to get a new one instead of renewal anyway.

 

[manning]

OP-When did your (DH and YOU) passports expire? They may be too old to renew. Make sure you fill out the correct forms and have the right fees in mind. If you got yours at age 15, you might have to get a new one instead of renewal anyway.

If too old then you have to apply in person but can use old passport as ID. IE show up at post office and present application.

 

[Pooh Crew]

Actually, we just applied for ours, so I can tell you what we were told. The passport agent said that the requirements had changed (as have the forms) in the last two weeks.

Birth certificates: you will need the "long form" for both children. This is the form with the time of birth on it. You can get a long form certified copy through your county office or even sometimes through the city in which your child was born. Two of my five did not have the long form, so we had to go get those before we could apply for passports.

Minor children will require both parents to sign in front of the agent or provide proof of sole custody.

Not sure about name changes, but call to make sure you have everything you need before going.

Our office was turning people away left and right because of the new requirements. Good luck!

 

[taitai]

Actually, both parents do not have to be there. If one parent can't make it, then they can just download a form, fill it out and have it notarized and you can submit that with everything else. All three of my children have gotten passports and have gotten them renewed and my DH was NEVER around. He just submitted the notarized form.

One thing to remember, you need a separate form for each child. So, it isn't just one form for everyone. One for each.

I think the best deal in passport photos is costco.

Have a great trip.

 

[SondraC]

Actually, both parents do not have to be there. If one parent can't make it, then they can just download a form, fill it out and have it notarized and you can submit that with everything else. All three of my children have gotten passports and have gotten them renewed and my DH was NEVER around. He just submitted the notarized form.

One thing to remember, you need a separate form for each child. So, it isn't just one form for everyone. One for each.

I think the best deal in passport photos is costco.

Have a great trip.

So true, both parents do not have to be there. I know with my step daughter that wouldn't have been possible, one parent lives in L.A., and the other lives in Pittsburgh.

 

[Pooh Crew]

So true, both parents do not have to be there. I know with my step daughter that wouldn't have been possible, one parent lives in L.A., and the other lives in Pittsburgh.

Sorry, I was in a hurry and misspoke. You are correct that both parents do not have to be there, but you will have to have the other parent's permission on a form that must be notarized...just like the pp wrote. I guess what I "thought" I was typing was that you had to have both parents' permission.

One of the groups in there with us had a teen son that the step father was trying to get a passport for and I thought he was going to fight the agent who was telling him that she needed the bio dad's signature.

It seemed to be pretty straight forward for us. I used my drivers license and birth cert for myself, dh had to provide his drivers license to sign for the kids, and we needed the long form birth certs for all the kids. That was all. We did not need our marriage license.

 

[bumbershoot]

OP, you have to do it in person anyway because your last passport was issued when you were under 16.

And I think you'll be paying the NEW passport price, not the renewal because of that.



FWIW, an *adult* passport can be expired for right up to 15 years and you can still renew...I did it last year! Love that 5 year grace period there.



This is the info about new passport reqs as of April 1 of this year.

If I were you I would call the FL registrar's office and ask about the differences. If the one with less info turns out to not be official, get a new one asap. Should just be a matter of getting to the registrar's office with some money (unless they make you order it through vitalchek).


And yep, with kids...it's best to have both parents there...if you can't, then a notarized "permission slip" of the filled out form...if not that, then court order..if not that, then more info more info more info.

 

[Ephany]

When you get the photos taken, make sure no one has anything on their head like sunglasses or a headband. The guy at Walgreens didn't tell us that when we had DD's picture taken and the post office passport lady wouldn't accept the photos. We had to have her picture retaken there in order to apply that day.

 

[mom2boys]

An FYI, you may want to carry the paperwork with you when you travel as well. I took DS into Canada and DH was not in the car. (He was with my dad in another car behind us.) The Canadian officials went to great lengths to verify his identity before we were allowed to go through. (Which, like you said- is good, but be prepared to prove you have authority to take them out of the country without him.)

Good point. I took my son to Canada without DH. Son was 12 or 13. I had a certified letter from DH stating I could take my son across the border. The border patrol agent still asked my son some questions. I don't even think my son realized the agent was "quizzing" him.

 

[ChristmasElf]

We are applying for passports on Friday (DH and I will be renewing, the kids getting passports for the first time). I'm really nervous that I'm not going to have the right documents or something is going to go wrong! I'm really late in doing this - our cruise is about 10 weeks away, and I meant to do it in February, but pretty much at least one person in the family was sick the entire month.

We're going to get photos at Walgreen's first, and I have 1) our expired passports, 2) marriage certificate to document my name change, 3) both kids' birth certificates. I am going to print out all the forms and fill them out ahead of time. I'm mostly nervous that the BCs are not "official" enough copies. Both of my kids have BCs from the State of Florida Office of Vital Statistics, but DD's from 2007 has less information on it than DS's from 2010. For example, DS's has his birth weight and time of birth, and DD's does not. DS's also has the address of the birth center on it, and DD's does not. Is it possible they just changed the format between 2007 and 2010? I am positive I didn't do anything different to get a different kind of BC for DS.

Florida has 2 kinds of Birth certificates. One is approx 8 1/2X 11 and the other is 5X8 or so. I happened to have asked for both when I went to pick up a copy for my son.
You have everything you need. A drivers license will be needed as well.

Adults are $110
Childrens are $80 (both parents have to be there or you will need a notorized letter from the other parent)

You write a seperate check for each passport and then there will be a seperate charge to the post office which is paid seperately.
The post office will look at all the docs, attach the pictures, and take the application along with the original birth certificate and send them off for you.
Approx 4-6 weeks later, you will receive the passport in the mail. The Birth Certs will arrive seperately.