- Start
early!! They want you to send in all
your materials at least 6 weeks prior to travel. In
peak travel months, it may be longer!!
That means if your trip is in March, you should apply in January; if
you are traveling in May, you should apply by spring break (March).
- Go to the U.S.
Government Passport website for detailed information, including what
MATERIALS
you need to have to apply: http://travel.state.gov/passport_services.html
- You can download
applications there, OR you can go to your local post-office. But call
ahead. Not
all post-offices handle passports. If they do, they may have limited
days and
hours.
- If you are
applying for the first time, YOU WILL HAVE TO APPLY IN PERSON, either
at the
post office or at whatever passport facility you choose to go to.
Passport
facilities are listed on the website too.
- For our 2004 trip
to Spain, Dr. Wager had to get an EXPEDITED passport.
(It was
too close to our departure for him to renew his passport the usual way,
by
dropping it in the mail). Here is what the procedure is, according to
him:
- You can pick up
an application for a new passport OR a renewal form at almost any post
office,
or print out the renewal form from the website listed above. Fill it
out before
you do anything else.
- Before you can
take your form to the passport office downtown, you MUST call for an
appointment; this is the ONLY way to do it!
Call the automated appointment number at 1(312)
341-6020. The voice will ask if
you want an appointment
and offer you one, as soon as the next day.
- Take your stuff
downtown to the Federal Building, 230 S. Dearborn. What stuff should
you take?
- Your application.
(If you don’t have one when you get downtown, they do have them
available in
this office, but you may not have all the information they need if you
wait
until then to fill out the form, so get one at a post office or online
first!)
- 2 photos
(untrimmed) of the correct size (see website)
- 2 proofs of I.D.
(one should be original birth certificate, if possible).
- Personal check or
credit card . The
cost for a new passport is around $140 in
Spring, 2004.
- Take the
itinerary I will give you once we have our flights, and show it to them
if they
ask you.
According
to Dr.
W., the lines are not long, and the whole process can be accomplished
in under
an hour.
They will give
you a ticket or a form, which you will bring back the next day. Dr.
Wager was
able to pick up his renewed passport within 24 hours. (There was only a
20
minute wait to get the passport the next day.)
|