Unless you've been living under a rock, you know that on January 7, 2007 a passport will be required for all US Citizens to any non US destination.
It has been suggested to me that some people think that securing a passport is a confusing and difficult process. Nothing could be further from the truth. Here is a step by step guide to securing your very own US Passport.
1)
Get your picture taken. If you want to go the cheap route, get it done at our office. Our price is only $5.00 for the set of two pictures required. If you want to go the easy route, have your picture taken right at the passport office. It's more expensive, but does not require an extra stop in your day. Don't go thinking you can take your own picture at home and cut it to the right size and expect them to accept it. The US State Department has very specific guidelines pertaining to the composition, size and exposure of the picture, among other things. Just spend the $5.00. It will be quicker.
2)
Fill out your passport application. The friendly folks at the US State Department have made things easy on you. Simply access this
online passport application, input the information, and print out a nice clean crisp copy that you can take with you to the passport office. There are no tricky questions on the application. Everything on there you will probably know already. (With the possible exception of the years of your parent's births. Find that out if you don't already know.)
3.
Find your birth certificate. This might be the trickiest part for some folks. If you were
lucky blessed enough to have been born in the Great State of Texas, you can simply walk in to any county clerk's office and get a copy. It does not have to be the county in which you were born. The county clerks in Texas utilize a statewide system. Here in Collin County, the county clerk's office and the passport office are next door to each other. How convenient!
4.
Take your checkbook and your drivers license and go turn in your passport application. My recommendation is to go to a passport office and turn it in. You can also turn it in at most post offices and some other locations.
Here is a list of those locations. You'll have to write a couple of different checks and they will total something like $97.00. Relax. The passport is valid for 10 years, that averages to less than $10.00 per year. You spend more than that on Starbucks in a month.
5.
Go home and wait by the mailbox. In about six short weeks, your passport will arrive safely in the mail and you will be free once more to roam about the planet.
Now there, wasn't that easy?
