Get Your Passport Fast: Tricky New Passport Laws in Layman's Terms

When I made the decision to study abroad, it was pre- legal change and I was told it would be no problem to get my passport on time. And then, the other shoe dropped: now everyone traveling abroad - be it to Mexico or Canada or even Puerto Rico - needs a passport. Ouch.

I know people who applied for their passports in January who still haven't received them. So how is it then that I applied for mine well into March and received it just three weeks later? I did a lot of research, asked a lot of questions, and finally compiled everything I learned into this simple checklist. Follow it and you'll be fine.

1. Expedite

The biggest difference between the folks who applied in January and myself is that I chose to expedite my passport in lieu of waiting the estimated 10 - 12 weeks for normal processing (which is a very rough estimate, by the way - I don't know anyone who's actually gotten their passports processed that quickly who did not expedite).

Sometimes procrastination pays off, I guess, because I was actually willing to pay the hefty $97 fee to have my passport rushed both ways. I was told it would take about six days. Three weeks later, my little blue book was in the mailbox.

So why then do people have to wait so long to have their passports processed normally? Because the laws changed very abruptly and many businessmen and businesswomen have to travel to and from Canada and Mexico on a daily basis, there was suddenly an extremely urgent rush to the passport office. It seems that the passport office is putting expedited requests ahead of all regular processing.

2. Arrive to the post office EARLY

If you're lucky enough to live in a place that has a post office that makes appointments (and they aren't booked up through next year), then make an appointment. If not, you'll have to do what I did - sit it out in the post office lobby. This takes hours (took me seven, no exaggeration), so take a book.

Don't make any appointments that day; it can take anywhere from five to thirty minutes for the post office to process just one person's application. The unusually long wait is usually what happens as a result of the applicant's not being prepared, which leads me to my next point.

3. Arrive to the post office PREPARED

Here's what you need as an American citizen applying for a passport for the first time:

Application

Driver's license

Birth certificate/Naturalization papers

A note about birth certificates: double check yours, because I saw MANY people get turned away after using what they thought was an official birth certificate. Even though you may have been able to use your birth certificate to enroll you in school, get your driver's license or for any other "official" use, it may not be good enough for the federal government. How can you tell if it's official? Official documents from the state of your birth have a raised state seal. The cute little paper with the baby's foot? Just decoration.

If you have access to a printer, you'll want to print off the application papers beforehand (they're also available at the post office if you can't) and fill them out when you have access to all the information you'll need.

Make sure to know you parents' information, as this is asked for on your passport application. If any of the information is unknown, that'll be fine (although it takes a little longer for your passport to be processed), simply write: UNKNOWN in that space.

Get your picture taken before you get to the post office. My post office was willing to take the pictures, but the cost was more than twice what I paid. My best experience has been with CVS: they have all of the specifications and measurements there, whereas Walgreen's was a nightmare; my pictures were turned away and the process took over half an hour.

You'll want your picture to look just like you normally would on any given day. That means if you wear glasses, wear them in the picture (you don't want customs second-guessing you EVER; even if you normally wear contacts, take your picture with glasses). Make sure that you have something covering your shoulders; I know a girl who got turned away because she was wearing a tube top for her picture and it looked as though she was topless.
Now go down to your local post office and, after a few hours, half a book and almost $200, you'll be all set to wait the 3 - 5 weeks for your passport in the mail. Happy travelling!