A Passport is a government item given to people who want to travel to other countries. The documents are required in international travel and have to state the traveler’s country of origin and identity. Passports, though they date back long before the eighteenth century, were not internationally managed until late 1980. Today, passports from various countries vary greatly from others with only a basic standardization. To get them in the US, citizens need to apply at one of the numerous United States passport agencies found around the country.

International travel cannot be possible unless you have a passport issued in your name. If you have an upcoming vacation to the Bahamas or a trip around Europe planned in the near future, make sure you give yourself plenty of time to apply for yours. Especially since, lately, obtaining these documents can often take up to three months or more.

The first act is to find a passport agency close to you. In most towns, the postal office is likely to serve this need. Phone yours ahead of time or look online to be sure this is the case. Look at the country’s agency site for local agencies near you. While you are there you could download and fill out the necessary DS-11 page that is required to get a passport. Taking it with you can speed the process up a little.

Two photograph copies of yourself will be needed to be inserted into the document. These can often be taken at the very same location as the rest of the passport process, although sometimes it can’t. You may need your picture taken for a fee at another location and just bring it with you.

You’ll need to bring things with you when you are ready to apply for the travel document. Before you’re approved, you’ll first have to prove that you are a US citizen. Bring your naturalization certificate, previously obtained passport or certificate of birth with you.

To confirm your identification, you will have to take with you an updated driver’s license or United States military id. Just like with the confirmation of citizenship, a previous passport of yours will be acceptable, too. You might also be required to bring confirmation of your social security with you too.

Before you can be accepted, you will also be asked to pay fees when you show up to the United States passport application process. For all US citizens sixteen and over, it is fifty five dollars for the application fee and thirty dollars for the passport’s execution fee. For security, a lot of the states charge an extra couple of dollars as well.

After all of the papers have been taken care of and fees completely squared away, your application will be mailed off to one of the pass port agencies for approval. Usually, it takes one to three months for you to get accepted and get your document. Anyone who needs their passport a little faster can pay expedited service fees and get theirs in only about 2 or 4 weeks instead.

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This entry was posted on Sunday, October 10th, 2010 at 10:28 pm and is filed under Air, Passports, Travel, U.S. Passports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.