Can anyone walk me through getting a passport????

[dreamscometrue]

Hi there:
We will be going on our first cruise in July 2006 and I'll need passports for myself and DD and DS. DH already has one from business travel. I want to take care of the leg work now before the summer is over so that the kids will be with me and to avoid what may become a mad rush since passports will become a hot commodity after the 1st of the new year.
I think I read that there is a place to get the forms online. What next?? What about photos??
Any insight would be appreciated!!!
Have a great night!!!

 

[pppiglet]

If you want it to be quick and easy, download the forms online, fill them out and then take them to your local post office that does passport pictures also.(check online for this also. We were there 30mins tops. If you want to save a few $ then get the pictures done at Sam's or Costco. Personally I just wanted it done and over with, with no running around. We got them in 20 days.

 

[CM_Mom]

Here's the official US passport site. It will answer all your questions. It will even tell which locations you can go near you, their hours and whether they can take your pictures. http://travel.state.gov/passport/passport_1738.html

Be sure to check out the rules for Minors under 14 as they are different than for adults.

 

[Rence]

Everything you need is right here:

http://travel.state.gov/passport/passport_1738.html

Make sure you have official government issued birth certificates for everyone.

Get passport photos

Download and fill out the forms.

Find the nearest office that takes passport applications and the hours they accept applications (search is at the site above)

Bring everything and everyone to the office (don't forget the check book)

That's it.

 

[Laurabearz]

You will also need a marriage cert. too. if you changed your name.

I need to mail out my request for ours so I can get the ball rolling on our passports!

 

[Regina]

You will also need a marriage cert. too. if you changed your name.

I need to mail out my request for ours so I can get the ball rolling on our passports!

I didn't need a marriage certficate when I got mine earlier this year. My birth certificate and driver's license were fine.

 

[BabyBird]

Don't forget to make sure that there are enough checks IN the check book. When DH and I went we had to have two checks for each passport, one for the State Dept and one for the USPS.

It was very easy and we even went on a Saturday. Ours were back within five weeks.

 

[Laurabearz]

I didn't need a marriage certficate when I got mine earlier this year. My birth certificate and driver's license were fine.

Really???? I couldnt find anything on the US passport site, so I called and the lady on the phone told me I needed a copy of the marriage cert. Hmmmmm SHould I chance it?? I have everything all filled out on the passport forms... just need pictures.

Thoughts??

Maybe I should start a new thread... hmmmmm

 

[tvguy]

1) Get passport pictures taken

2) Make sure you have an ORIGINAL of your CERTIFIED birth certificate. Not a photocopy of an original, not a card, not a mini birth certificate. It will either have a raised seal (that must still be detectable), or be printed on watermark or raised ink paper. It must show where and when you were born, and who your parents are.

3) Download the forms or get them from the Passport office which is normally where Passport offices are, and fill them out.

4) Bring a driver's license or other photo id with you if over age 18.

5) Find your closest passport office, and CHECK what hours they do passports, and IF they require an appointment.

6) Bring enough money or checks to pay the State Department for the Passport, and a seperate payment to the Post Office for their processing fee.

 

[ameejason]

According to the gov site you can take your own pics. They have specific requirements but if you want to save the time and money...take a look.

Jason

 

[whome?]

I have a passport that expired about 20 years ago! I know I have to get a new one (as opposed to a renewal), does anyone know if I can bring the old one in lieu of a birthcertificate (can you tell I'm having trouble finding the BC?).

 

[Eeyorefan12]

Really???? I couldnt find anything on the US passport site, so I called and the lady on the phone told me I needed a copy of the marriage cert. Hmmmmm SHould I chance it?? I have everything all filled out on the passport forms... just need pictures./QUOTE]

You do not need a marriage certificate unless you were very recently married and have not changed your name on your drivers license and social security card. Even then, you could just keep everything in your maiden name, if you were in a hurry...but would then have to get a whole new passport eventually. Much easier and cheaper to change the other two!

The problem I ran into was that when my DD was adopted 7 years ago, we thought the attorney had taken care of her social security name change. We got a letter from the U.S. just this year after we'd filed our taxes about it...they withheld some of our refund until her name worked with what they had on file. I have a feeling that we've JUST gotten around to matching names with social security numbers at the federal level. Yikes! Anyway, the correction was a quick one in person and it took only about 10 days to get her new card.

CB

P.S. Laurabearz, I just re-read your original message and I wasn't clear if you were talking about a new or renewed passport. You DO need a marriage certificate on a renewal, according to the passport site. The info I offered is only for a new one.

 

[fantazmickb]

All good info listed by others. I downlaoded the form, went to Walgreen's to have the passport photos taken ahead of time, called and made an appointment at the US Post Office Passport issuing location. Be prepared it could take the entire time they tell you it could take which for me was 8 weeks.

 

[nzdisneymom]

Don't forget to make sure that there are enough checks IN the check book. When DH and I went we had to have two checks for each passport, one for the State Dept and one for the USPS.

Ah - good to know! We're in the process of getting our applications together. Our AAA office does passport photos so we're going to get them done there next week (free for Platinum members), and then call the USPS about getting the applications submitted. We did the forms online and printed them out - so much easier than handwriting everything in.

 

[ReneeQ]

We ordered our passports last week. Had the pictures done at Walgreen's for $6.99 each. They were $15 each at the post office. I didn't want the hassle of getting the pictures the exact size needed, so didn't bother doing them myself.

One thing I haven't seen mentioned, they KEPT our original birth certificates and attached them to our applications. He told us the birth certificates would be returned to us with our passports. It made me a little nervous. I don't know why I thought to do this, but before we went, I ran copies of our birth certificates. So, in the unlikely event we need them before we get them back, I've at least got COPIES. And, should they NOT come back to us with the passports, I've at least got all the info (county born in, etc) in the event I need to order new original birth certificates.

Also, on the passport website there is a link called "if you would like to fill out the DS-11 form online click here." It's the third thing from the bottom in the center white section of the page.

http://travel.state.gov/passport/forms/ds11/ds11_842.html

If you click that, it opens a form and you can type in all your info. Then at the end you click "create form" and everything will already be entered, so you can print the completed form. Then you don't have to fill it out by hand. Just DO NOT sign it until you get to the post office, or wherever you are getting your passport.

 

[din]

I did not see this in the thread..

Very important!!! If you are applying for a minor both parents have to be there. If both cannot be there, you have to complete a form and have it notarized as to why the other parent cannot make it. At least that was the rule 6 months ago when I applied for a new passport for my DS.

 

[JayCee32]

I've been married for 5 years and needed my marriage certificate to change my passport. You send the original passport and they make the changes on your original passport on the last page. My picture and everything else stayed the same...they sent my same bent passport to me

 

[PrincessTToo]

One more thing. It says in the documentation that:

A Delayed Birth Certificate filed more than one year after your birth may be acceptable if it:

Listed the documentation used to create it and Signed by the attending physician or midwife, or, lists an affidavit signed by the parents, or shows early public records.


I was adopted by my stepfather when I was 11. So my birth certificate is dated 11 years after my birth. I ended up having to get documentation from the state where I was born in order to get my passport. This was 8 years ago and it took six weeks just to find out that I needed the additional documentation. The guy that took the original paperwork didn't say a thing about my birth certificate date. Argggh. I still remember sweating bullets waiting for my passport while counting down to my first trip to Europe.

 

[BWVPam]

We did this a few weeks ago for both kids. Since both parents have to be present, we figured we better do before school starts on a day where both hubby and I were off. We had to right 2 individual checks to the state department (one for each passport) and then 1 check to Post Office. We had our photos done at Walgreens. I had everything filled out and we were done at the Post Office in 15 minutes. Just waiting on the passports now to come.Good idea to do now. Lady at post office said they are expecting a busy season as the Dec. 31 deadline approches for new passport rules.

 

[Jsme]

So I can download the forms, have the pictures made, take the birth certificates and plenty of checks to the postoffice?

Oh this is puts me in a bind. I would be better off doing this before the kids and I go back to school but I have to have my birth certificate for our September cruise. I was adopted and I have to get my BC out of Raleigh. I have to order it and it takes several weeks to process.