Paul brought home nearly an entire large veggie-lovers pizza from a work event because no one else wanted it. I’d never had a veggie-lovers pizza before, so I tried a slice—and found that unfortunately the crust had gotten kind of icky and soggy. Paul wondered if it would work to scrape the toppings off into some scrambled eggs, since he knows I like vegetables in scrambled eggs. I tried that for lunch today and it was the sort of thing that made me put another tick mark on the “pro” side of the Marrying Paul pros-and-cons list.
I have applied for a passport, and if you’ve never done that before, perhaps you find the thought as intimidating as I did. I was worried too because I know it’s the sort of government-paperwork thing where you can get to the front of the line and find out you forgot something or did a form wrong and have to go all the way home and come back another day. It’s going to vary from person to person and from place to place, but I can give you the gist of how it went for me.
I started by thinking, “I don’t even know where to go for information on this. DMV or City Hall or something?” In the U.S., you go here: Department of State: Passports and International Travel. There is a Passport Wizard thingie to help you figure out (1) what you need to have and (2) what form you need to fill out. I’d thought this would be a waste of time, but actually it was very useful in two ways: first, because it gave me the information it said it would give me; and second, because it helped organize my mind and made the task seem manageable. Here is the list I made of things I would need for my own adult, first-timer passport:
1. certified copy of birth certificate
2. driver’s license
3. photocopy of front AND back of driver’s license
4. two copies of passport photo
5. Form DS-11, completed but NOT SIGNED
6. check for passport, made out to U.S. Department of State (name and birthdate on check)
7. check for execution fee, made out to application place
8. appointment for passport application
I found this a little overwhelming, but on the other hand was able to say, “Okay, well, I can at least go get the passport pictures taken,” or “Okay, well, I can just dig out the certified copy of my birth certificate.” I had a manilla envelope to collect the various things in.
You can do your own passport photo, but after looking at the list of requirements about backgrounds and inches and sizes and angles, I opted to spend $12.99 to have it done by someone who already knew the drill. I searched online for “passport photo” and it pulled up a bunch of places near me; I had it done at a drugstore that also has a photo-processing department. You are not allowed to smile (the site said a “natural smile” was okay, but the drugstore and postmaster agreed that the rule was NO smiles), so practice ahead of time looking alert and pleasant without smiling. I did not practice (or rather, I’d practiced a natural smile), and my photo looks like I’m exhausted and probably coming down with something. You’re allowed to wear glasses, but there was a note that as of November 1st glasses would no longer be allowed in passport photos, so I didn’t wear mine.
I gathered all my stuff together and drove half an hour to the nearest post office that does passport applications. I don’t know if I’ve gotten more nervous with age or what, but my face was hot and my hands were icy. And then everything went perfectly fine: I got a really nice clerk, and I had all the right paperwork with me, and everything was fine, and the whole thing was over in about ten minutes. They take the certified copy of your birth certificate to send in with the application, but he says they’ll send that back.
Entire cost: $140 for passport book/card, $25 for post office’s application fee, and $13 for the passport photos = $178.
Now to get six more. I started on Paul’s, but the envelope his mother labeled “birth certificate” was actually a decorative thing from the hospital where he was born, so this morning I sent off $32 to get an actual certified copy of his actual birth certificate.
Good for you! I had to renew my passport this year ($110 + photo, ugh). We have a passport office sort of attached to the DMV in a neighboring town, and they make it SO easy because they’re not government employees, and they are very helpful. AND they take the photos right there, so that’s a big bonus. For whatever reason, they weren’t allowed to actually mail in the renewal form, but they attached my photo, and told me everything I needed to do.
I go to the PO and it’s very easy too. No appointment and they take the photos. The day I went there were no lines. I wanted to pay expedited processing (or delivery, I forget) but the lady said not to worry that I would get my passport very quickly. And I did!
Now, the DMV…those people in the office closest to where i live are the embodiment of what everyone believes about government employees. Guess I got lucky with my PO.
Ugh. I need to get the children passports. We’re supposed to be going to Bermuda next year, so the kids will need it then. And even if Bermuda doesn’t work out, my Mom wants to take the kids to Niagara Falls (Canadian side)
You can heat up leftover pizza in a skillet on the stove and the crust crisps up nicely. I’ll cover the pan to melt the cheese better.
Not that you’ll do this at all, but try not to lose your passport. I lost mine about 10
Years ago, and had to pay some large amount of money to have a rush replacement made. I live in DC, so I was able to just go to the passport mothership and get it in person, which allowed me to make the flight on time. Stressful. Last year my husband realized his passport was expired like a week before a family vacation. Again with the money, but he used a service to go to the passport office and get it renewed in a rush. Moral of the story: keep an eye on passport related things.
We need to do this. I’ve been balking at the cost for the 4 of us, but I think it’s necessary. I’m having an anxiety attack at the thought of them taking the certified cop(ies) of birth certificate(s). I don’t know, do I need to worry about that?
I don’t think so, because even a certified copy is just a copy, not the original. They’d be expensive to replace, but it would be okay.
I’ve applied for passports for five children (three of them twice) and they always return the birth certificate promptly. It’s never been a problem. It comes back in a separate mailing than the actual passport, though, so don’t panic if the passport arrives first. Also, in most states it is extremely easy to get another copy of a birth certificate if you (or someone else) lose it; they print them off at the vital statistics office (usually close to the dept of health and human services, your results may vary). Now, if you were born in a small African country in the 1970s and lose your birth certificate, getting another is far trickier. Don’t ask me how I know…😉
I just had my passport done in June and can vouch for the fact that they DO send the birth certificate back. I was upset about giving it to them but it came back in the mail, either with the passport or shortly thereafter, I can’t recall.
It’s really pretty easy to get replacements if they lose them. You have to spend some money (15-40 bucks, depending on the county) but it’s not an onerous process at all. :)
I hope this means you have a fun trip planned!
Sadly no. But I wonder if having passports might make us more likely to travel? A lot of times when I thought of traveling, I then thought, “Ug, but then we’d need passports and everything,” and I was picturing passports as if they’d be a HUGE HURDLE. So perhaps having that hurdle removed will be motivating!
That’s so true. Good job removing the first hurdle!
Reminder: When you get the kids’ passports, Paul will either have to go with you, or you’ll need a signed and notarized affidavit that he knows you’re getting passports. (It’s not a Patriarchy thing; he’d need that same affidavit if he was going without you.)
This is intriguing. Where are you going?
Right now, nowhere. But I’d like to have the OPTION. And Rob is off to college next year and is interested in the various study-abroad options.
p.s. It’s always good to have something in the pro marrying your spouse column.
I had a similar experience applying for a replacement Social Security card the other day. I was SO SURE that I’d get to the office and there would be a four-hour wait, or I’d be missing a piece of necessary paperwork, or I’d need an appointment, or SOMETHING. Then I got there and there was a big display of forms you had to fill out to apply for a card, and there was a whole list of necessary documents I hadn’t brought with me and information I didn’t have (my birth certificate and my parents’ Social Security numbers, for example). But then my number got called, so I figured I’d try anyway. The lady asked me if I’d filled out the form, and I said no, and she was like, “Ehh, that’s fine.” She asked me some basic questions (name, address, parents’ names, place of birth, etc.), looked at my driver’s license, had me sign a thing that said I hadn’t lied about any of my answers, and I was on my merry way. The whole thing took about forty minutes start to finish–a half hour of waiting plus ten minutes of actually applying for the card. No big deal at all.
If you can, try to get all the passports done pretty close together- that way the renewal date will be about the same. It’s a pain to have them spread out- if you can get the kids’ all done at once, you can save yourself multiple trips in the future.
PLUS: now you can get a cute passport holder!
Just a friendly tip. When you get your kids passports – Both you and your husband and the child need to be present at the postoffice – during the designated passport hours. Which is never convenient!
I promised myself that the whole family would get passports in 2015. Well, December 28, 2015, I finally got things all together and sent them off. Between needing to get official copies of everyone birth certificates (including mine which had to be sent for via snail mail 3,000 miles away) and obsessively double checking all of the requirements it took me awhile. BUT now we all have passports. Not going anywhere in particular but I feel like I accomplished something.
you will definitely get your certified birth certificate back. and I’m pretty sure it came separately from the passport so as not to allow someone to have all your info. Also, try to renew before the passport expires, just saves some time. it’s a 15 year period for adults so you have time. AND, if you have a AAA membership, they will do the photos for free and check over your paperwork.
I scanned the photo page of my passport (as well as my drivers license) and emailed to myself. God forbid something happens to passport while I’m traveling, I hopefully would have access to that.
I do that too! I scan my travel documents, paste the images into an encrypted Word document, then email myself the document.
I hope you have a fun trip coming up… but part of me is wondering whether this is just smart planning in case Trump wins.
It’s nice to feel prepared.
As Julia mentioned above, the documentation (birth certificate) will come back separately from the passport itself, and frequently before. Don’t panic that it’s been denied and they didn’t bother telling you why. Also, I think I even got a third document from them saying that the passport and documentation would arrive separately. It comes in an unassuming envelope that makes you think it isn’t important or might even be something bad. Don’t stress! :-)
Also, pizza topping eggs- genius! Thank that smart man for me!!
I had a passport as a teen that expired a few years ago, in my maiden name. I’ve been slightly terrified of getting a new one in my married name. Do I renew? Just apply for a new one? Will I get suspicious glances? I have no idea. Very brave of you to get yours done.
I just got my 3 year old his first passport and found the state department’s website to have pretty clear instructions. I’d check that (google US passport renewal) and hopefully you will find the info you are looking for. You will probably have to send in your original or certified marriage certificate, which is standard for anyone that changes their name after marriage. I had to do this myself when I got married and received it back promptly.
I too, due to unforeseen circumstances, have let my passport lapse. I think it expired in 2013.
Am I allowed to renew? Do I have to start all over from the beginning?
Can anyone tell me what to expect? (Will they draw & quarter me? Run me out on a rail? Pistols at dawn?)
PS. Swistle, I just love your posts like this & the comments that follow! Such helpful information that I didn’t know I needed to know, y’know? :) Thanks!
The “no glasses” thing makes no sense to me. I wear glasses every second I am awake. Why would they want a passport picture of me looking a way I normally don’t look? Why would they want a picture of me looking befuddled and blind, for that matter? This seems silly. Rules about no hats pulled down over your eyes, or no thick veils, or no swaddling scarves, okay. But no glasses?
Well, well. Maybe this doesn’t deserve my righteous indignation.
I recently got my passport photo in a rush situation, which is never good. And the no glasses thing? Now I have to look like Mr. Magoo AND unstyled hair until it expires. (the photo taker person made the lady ahead of me take off her earrings). Maybe they were too big. Maybe the photo taker did not like them. I will never know. I got to keep mine in.
Luckily it does not actually expire for a long time, because I am still recovering from the whole rushing thing. I set my calendar to remind me in eight years, not kidding. I did get to go to Niagara Falls though. And on the Canadian side too! I had visions of waving to my traveling companions while I waited on the NY side.
Yes, echoing the warning about both parents needing to be present for getting the kids passports. I did mine at the passport office and it was not stressful at all, and I got it back that afternoon, but for my son’s we went to the post office, and it was a bit more stressful. We were organized, but many others there were not, so we had to wait awhile for our turn, kids were crying, people were filling out forms, and I kind of hated everyone by the time we got to the window – and I only have 1 kid! At least we got processed quickly. For that one, my advice is to take the first appointment in the morning, and have a folder for each kid. It will be a pain, but if you’re organized and FIRST IN LINE, then it will be OK. This is a perfect time of year to be doing this… most people renew passports in spring for summer travel.
I’m glad you cleared that hurdle! I sort of like filling out forms. But I also know the anxiety of riffling through my documents and wondering what the official will tell me is missing.
Personally I’m dreading taking our almost 15 y.o. to get her learner’s permit at the DMV. Our local office is notoriously unhelpful and our state has confusing elaborate document requirements.
Getting passports without having a trip lined up is sort of a romantic gesture! Definitely hopeful.
Can I be the only one who is amazed that this is your first-ever passport (or did I read that wrongly?)? High time you and yours got seeing more of the world – visiting Rob on his year abroad whilst at college maybe as an easy first step?!
I’m a bit of a homebody. I did go to a wedding in Canada once, before a passport was needed to go there.
I didn’t get a passport until I was 35, so you’re in good company :)
This was pretty much my thought too. But I think I read once that a huge number of Americans have never held a passport?
Swistle, the world is an amazing place.
I know it! But it is very expensive to get there, and someone has to take care of the kids!
I think it’s not just Americans. North Americans in general if I’m not mistaken. Our countries are so big we can go a long distance and see and do a lot of stuff without needing to cross a border. I suspect most Europeans, by contrast, must have passports.
I hate to get in the way of your momentum, but did you know that passports are only good for 5 years for kids under 16? If you don’t have a trip in mind, maybe you could start with just the older kids? My girls have passports, which we got for a trip to the Bahamas three years ago, and I’m afraid we won’t go anywhere in the next 1.5 years before we need to renew. (Most countries won’t let you in unless you have a certain period left before your passport expires, so it’s best to leave a cushion.). If I remember correctly, it only took about 6 weeks for us to get everything back when we applied for the kids, and I think we might have applied in the midst of a federal shutdown.
I did know, yes: it mentions it on that site I was using. It’s something we considered, but I didn’t want to wait 7 years to take care of this.
I recently did this for my kids and I and felt similarly. We actually spent something like ten extra dollars and had the post office do the photos for us at our appointment so it was all pretty quick and painless in a 16-steps of careful planning kind of way.
I’m in Canada so our system is different, but we travel as a family outside the country at least once a year so we got passports for the kids when they kids were each babies. Smiles haven’t been allowed here for years: the person has to have a neutral face looking at the camera, with a white background, and the photo has to be taken by a certified lab which stamps the back of the photos and dates them. Babies and small children cannot have anyone else in the picture at all, not even a sliver of a hand propping them up. You don’t know how hard this is to accomplish until you try it. Since our kids were too old to be lying on a white mat looking up, but too young to sit up on the chair by themselves, we essentially had to treat them like muppets: we crouched down behind the chair, with our hands holding them up by the backs of their onesies, our arms hidden behind the babies, while the photographer tried to get them to look at the camera, but not get them to make any faces. Mouths have to be closed. Smiles not allowed. Eyes have to be open. Sheesh!
Still, the Canadian passport system is pretty efficient and they always arrive quickly. My son’s expires this coming January, and I’m not fretting about going to the passport office to renew his until around Christmas as we’re not travelling until February this year. A month is lots of time in my experience.