One thing that everyone should know about getting a passport for the first time is that the first time applicant must go to the pass port office in person in order to apply. Locating a passport office is as easy as getting online and doing a simple search. In many cases, the local office will be located at the neighborhood post office.
The one thing that everyone can rest assured of is that there are no shortcuts when it comes to passport applications, especially for first time pass port applicants. The forms all have to be filled out and all the right documentation must be included. This one document is how the government tracks who is coming and who is going and they make sure that everything is in line before that little blue book gets issued.
This national security concern is one of the reasons that the government asks citizens to apply for a passport in person. In order to make applying in person easier, the government has designated many different government service offices as passport offices. This way, citizens do not have to travel to regional passport offices in major cities.
In many cases, the office is conveniently located at the local post office. They are also sometimes in other local government offices, libraries and county clerk offices. It will all depend on the area, but the can easily be found by checking online. If an international trip is on the horizon, start looking around to see how close the local office actually is.
Because there is the need to get a passport photo, it is important to check to see if the local office is capable of providing this service. This is not part of the fee structure and there will be a separate charge. While many of the passport offices do have this capability, some of the smaller ones do not and the photos will have to be obtained before ever heading over there to turn everything in.
There are times, however, when a person will still have to head to a regional office in order to get their passport. This is generally an exception and will only need to be done when the passport is needed in a shorter time frame than the standard services. Regional offices are located in major cities across the United States are all listed on the State Department website.
The exception to the in person rule is anyone that is getting a passport renewal. Luckily, the only time that a person has to make the live appearance is when they are getting a new passport. Renewals can be handled online and via the mail. It is advised to use overnight shipping though, just to make sure that the documents are better protected.
Many people think that digital age should be able to make this process easy, but with border security on the line, a personal appearance at the local passport office must still be made when applying for a first time U S passport. The laws are there for very good reason and while it may be a small inconvenience, we all know that deep down we are happy these laws are in place. If they were not there, we would have more problems than we already do with illegal immigrants coming into the country.