U.S. Passport fees going up

[n2mm]

Thanks you. My daughter needs to get 5, so that is a huge increase. She is scrambling to figure out how she can work it out as DH just started a new job and can't take off.

 

[funforfive]

My Husband and I both need to renew...I have all the paperwork done, just need to mail it. Can I mail ours together with one check for both or do I need to send them separately? Anyone know?

 

[Aristomommy]

Thank you!! DH needs to renew his passport for our trip to Europe in August. I will have him work on it this week. I will have to double check the kid's passports too, although I think they are ok.

 

[kent285]

Hmmm....yep, just one example of how all that money is going to be paid back.

 

[Kimberly Hill]

Fees aren't actually going up on March 11th - that's the final day for comments on the proposed fee hike - but you can expect them to go up within a very short time after that date. Here's the official notice from the U.S. Department of State: http://travel.state.gov/passport/get/fees/fees_4734.html

 

[LeslieG]

Did I miss it? I don't see the fee for passport renewal for kids. My kids expire in October.

 

[Kimberly Hill]

whoops, duplicate. Sorry!

 

[cole6179]

My Husband and I both need to renew...I have all the paperwork done, just need to mail it. Can I mail ours together with one check for both or do I need to send them separately? Anyone know?

Hmm....I don't think they can be mailed? We have to actually show up in front of the Post Master in person here since we do not have an agency close. Being federal, I would imagine it the same everywhere?

ETA: Nevermind......missed that it was to renew.....

 

[n2mm]

My Husband and I both need to renew...I have all the paperwork done, just need to mail it. Can I mail ours together with one check for both or do I need to send them separately? Anyone know?

You do need separate checks. Not sure if they can go in the same envelope.

 

[SaraJayne]

OP, thanks for the heads up. We've been dilly dallying around getting our passports for a cruise next year (and possibly Canada this summer) so this is just the push we need to get them done.

Thanks!!

 

[LeslieG]

I've been doing a little checking on what is required to renew a minor's passport. Am I right that they can't be renewed like an adult's? It sounds like you have to go through the whole process again like a new application? It doesn't come right out and say that, but it doesn't list any information about renewing, just that it is for adults. Anyone know for sure how it works? And I also didn't see any information about how far in advance of the expiration date you can renew. If the rates are going up that much, I think I'm going to try to get it done sooner rather than later.

 

[kaseyC]

a passport supersedes almost all other forms of identifications.

This is precisely why I want to get them for my kids although, as I said, we have no plans for travel abroad. It will make flying so much easier as they are starting to ask DS to tell them his name and age, and he's only 7! Also, even if we just wanted to hop over to Niagara Falls for a day, you need it to go to the Canadian side now!

So, it will just simplify things all round. And we are doing two more plane trips this year (Arizona and Florida, but still...)

ITA!! We have also always had passports for children because my DH travels abroad quite often for business. In case, anything happens while he's out of the country... I can just grab the kids, hop on a plane and get to him if needed.

 

[mrsklamc]

Note that the much cheaper passport card is valid for cruises originating in the US as well as for land entry into Canada and Mexico.

Now, if you were on a cruise, and got hurt, and they wanted to airlift you back to the US, well...the passport card won't do it. I've heard it said that if there were a medical emergency the US embassy wherever you were could pull strings and get you back in, but that's just hearsay.

 

[ziggystardust]

i need to renew mine, even printed out all the documents. Need to make sure I send them in this week.

thanks for the post

 

[MrsPete]

Two things, though. The dollar is (probably) worth more now than it will be a year from now.

Also, spending $100 for a passport she won't need for a year - so, effective use years = nine - breaks down to $11.11 per year. Paying $135 a year from now, making the passport worthwhile for its full ten years, breaks down to $13.50 per year. AND, as additional support for getting it now... a passport supersedes almost all other forms of identifications. For example, to prove one is a U.S. citizen when being hired by a new employer, a passport can be used alone; a driver's license can be used in combination with a raised-seal birth certificate (examples only; it's a "one from column A" or "one from column B plus one from column C"-type thing)

I'm going to disagree on the $11.11/year thing. It's not fair to count all the time that it just sits in your safe doing nothing for you. I'd say that if you use your passport three times in that ten years, at today's prices that's something like $35 per use. That's pretty expensive. On the other hand, my husband travels frequently for business, and he uses his multiple times each year; his is well worth the cost.

Also, the passport doesn't superceed all other forms of identification. It's a good item, but not the be-all, end-all. For example, I was at the DMV (ugh, on my birthday, I'd foolishly waited to get my license renewed and was stuck waiting) and I overheard a loud conversation in which a teenager was sent away because his passport WAS NOT ENOUGH to serve as ID for his driver's license (or permit or whatever else he was getting). What'd they insist upon? A social security card. Yes, I know that doesn't make sense, but it's true.

When my own daughter went to get her learner's permit recently, we checked the ID options carefully and she ended up taking along her birth certificate, her Social Security card, an official school report card, and her passport. We'd heard how fussy they are at the DMV, and we chose to take pretty much everything we had. Which one did the DMV folks not even choose to glance at? The passport. Seriously, they were more interested in the school report card.

Personally, I think the whole passport system is a mess. I'd be in favor of a national driver's license -- something that all adults could keep on their person, same as we all have a driver's license now. Easy to carry, difficult to damage. Our new licenses have several holograms embedded in them, making them more difficult for casual criminals to fake. And if everyone across America had THE SAME ID, it'd be easier for law enforcement officers to spot fakes.

 

[MrsPete]

Note that the much cheaper passport card is valid for cruises originating in the US as well as for land entry into Canada and Mexico.

Now, if you were on a cruise, and got hurt, and they wanted to airlift you back to the US, well...the passport card won't do it. I've heard it said that if there were a medical emergency the US embassy wherever you were could pull strings and get you back in, but that's just hearsay.

These passport cards are a pretty good deal for the casual traveler. If we didn't already have passports and we were JUST looking at cruises, etc., this is the direction I'd go.

 

[4Seasons]

I've been doing a little checking on what is required to renew a minor's passport. Am I right that they can't be renewed like an adult's? It sounds like you have to go through the whole process again like a new application? It doesn't come right out and say that, but it doesn't list any information about renewing, just that it is for adults. Anyone know for sure how it works? And I also didn't see any information about how far in advance of the expiration date you can renew. If the rates are going up that much, I think I'm going to try to get it done sooner rather than later.

That is correct, you still need to fill out the DS-11 to renew and both parents will need to be present at the appointment. We just did our kids' renewals a week ago. Also even when a child is over 16 but the last time they got a passport is when they were under 16 (as in my dd's case) we still have to be present for this renewal. However her new passport is now considered an adult one and is good for 10 years.
I'm not sure how far in advance they will let you renew, but let me give you this tip. I thought it would be a fairly simple process to go to the Post Office and get them done (thus we really waited until the last minute). WELL upon calling our local PO's, we went thru FOUR before we could get it done! First one (closest) the person who does them will be out for 3 MONTHS so they aren't doing them at all, 2nd location they couldn't get us an appointment for weeks, 3rd also could not get an appt. for weeks, 4th was walk in so we went FIRST THING on a Friday morning (making our kids late for school), only to find the ONE person who does the passports was extremely late getting in to work. Thankfully we got there early and there was only 1 person in line ahead of us (who ended up getting mad and leaving about 10 minutes before the processor decided to show up, which was good for us) but if we had literally arrived just a few minutes later we would have been there for HOURS because several people walked in right behind us.
So don't make the mistake of taking for granted you can just walk in and get it done quickly.

 

[funforfive]

You do need separate checks. Not sure if they can go in the same envelope.

Thanks...I'll just mail them separately to be safe

 

[bumbershoot]

The local Consular Agent refused, four times, to accept the application for processing. Technically she only refused to accept every form of payment listed on the application. Won't even take good old US dollars cash.

That's pretty shocking! What was her explanation? What sort of payment did she want to accept?

Thanks you. My daughter needs to get 5, so that is a huge increase. She is scrambling to figure out how she can work it out as DH just started a new job and can't take off.

If you look on the website, you can see the part where he could go to a notary and sign the forms giving her permission. That could be done at a bank; banks often have notaries, and fees are often waived if you bank there. So he could go in on a lunch break with an appt set up to make sure the notary is there, then your daughter could take those forms in.

 

[Melrosgirl]

Thanks for this info. I need to renew dd's and get ds his first passport. I agree with someone above who said it's a pain to get it renewed at the post office. The passport person there only does passports on a certain day between certain hours. It's really a pain. I've been putting this off for a year bc of it.