Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Applying for a US Passport?

A passport,an internationally recognized travel document acts as a verification of the identity and nationality of the one holding it. As far as the United States passport is concerned, the US Department of State is the sole authority that grants, issues, or verifies it.

The US passport comes with a 5 year and 10 year validity. For persons who were issued passports when they were 16 years old or older, the passport is valid for 10 years. Whereas for persons who were issued passports when they were 15 years old or younger, the passport is valid only for 5 years.

You can apply for a passport at over 9,000 facilities available across the US. These include many Federal, state, and probate courts, post offices, a few public libraries, county and municipal offices.

To expedite the process, additionally there are 13 regional passport agencies and one Gateway City Agency available to serve individuals traveling within 14 days, or who need foreign visas to travel. Under such circumstances, appointments are required.

You have to apply for your US passport in person if you are applying for the first time.

Also if:
your passport expired and is not in your possession
your passport expired and was issued more than 15 years ago
your previous passport was issued when you were below 16 years of age
you have a current US passport and that is lost or stolen.

Apart from the circumstances mentioned above, applicants under the age of 14 should appear in person, and be able to provide legal consent of his/her parents or legal guardians. The minor must either be accompanied by both the guardians, one guardian who can provide the other guardian's notarized consent, or one guardian who can submit evidence of soul authority to apply.

Application for Passport In Person:

You must use form DS-11 if:
You have never had a US passport
You are below 16 years old.
The current passport you hold was issued more than 15 years ago
You lost your most recent passport or it was stolen.

Form DS-82 (Application for Passport By Mail) has to be filed to renew a previously issued US passport by mail at anytime OR in person at a Regional Passport Agency in case you are traveling internationally, or need your passport for foreign visas within fourteen (14) days.

Replacing a lost or stolen US passport:

Ensure you report a lost or stolen passport as soon as possible and do it before you can apply for a new one. To do this, you have to fill out form DS-64, Statement Regarding Lost or Stolen Passport. Submitting this form will result in the invalidation of your passport, thus making it unusable for travel. Passports that are reported lost or stolen cannot be re validated.

You have to fill out a new passport application. Complete form DS-11, Application for Passport as you would if you were applying for a new passport. Along with the DS-11 Form, you should also submit DS-64 and brought with you when you go in person to apply for a new passport if your previous passport has been lost or stolen.

The US passport comes with a 5 year and 10 year validity. Also ensure you report a lost or stolen passport as soon as possible and do it before you can apply for a new one. To do this, you have to fill out form DS-64

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