|
Applying For Your Passport Through The Mail |
By:
Theodre Tenretni |
|
|
Applying For Your Passport Through The Mail
Theodre Tenretni
Needing a passport to travel is just one of the facts of life when you're traveling outside of the United States. If it's been more than ten years since you have used your passport, chances are your passport has expired and you will need to renew it in order to travel outside the country.
Of course, if you are traveling to Canada or Mexico by land or sea, you may not need your passport at all. These countries only require your driver's license and a copy of your birth certificate when coming from the US - but if you are entering by air, you will still need a passport here as well.
You needn't worry about getting your passport renewed, however, because this isn't as difficult a process as getting a new passport can be. Today, you can get your passport renewed without having to be in attendance at a passport acceptance facility - unless you choose to do it that way.
If you don't want to renew your passport at a facility in person, now you can mail in your renewal quite easily. The first step is downloading the renewal applications off the US government's travel.gov website - you don't even need to leave the house to get this paperwork started.
Getting your passport in the mail requires that you follow a few renewal rules. You must have a passport that is no older than 15 years old, expired is fine, and you must have been at least 16 years of age when you got the passport. A minor passport may be converted into an adult passport.
Your passport must be in decent shape - at least decent enough that its authenticity can be verified. If your passport has been so mutilated, ripped or otherwise damaged that the office cannot be sure of its legality, you will need to go to a passport acceptance facility to apply for a new passport in person.
If you have changed your name since you received your last passport, you unfortunately can't apply for renewal through the mail. All name changes, be they because of marriage or any other reason, must be processed in person at a passport acceptance facility in person.
When you send in your application for renewal, you will need to send along your old passport, along with two standard passport photos (identical 2"x2" photos taken with a passport camera) and your passport renewal forms. You'll also need to pay the passport renewal fees.
Be prepared to wait for your new passport to arrive. The wait times are long - both for people who are applying for the first time for their passport and for those who are renewing their passports. Give yourself plenty of time before your trip to make sure that your passport arrives in time.
Theodre Tenretni is a writer with TravelYeti.com - use our http://www.travelyeti.com/hotel-finder) hotel finder for lodgings on your trip.
|
|
Article Source: http://www.statssheet.com/articles/article66954.html |
|
|
|
|
|
