Vacation Home Rentals

posted by Vacation Home Rentals on Feb 16

Applying for a First Time USA Passport for the first time can be very confusing. Don’t worry though, because it’s perfectly fine to feel that way. After all, you need to deal with a lot of things for the first time, fill in forms, and submit documents. The truth is that applying for passports doesn’t have to be confusing or even stressful. We’ll show you in the following paragraphs how you can easily apply for one minus the confusion and the hassle.

Because you’ll be dealing a lot with forms, it pays to be familiar with the different forms used in passport applications. Some forms are used to apply for passports; others are used to renew passports; others are for reporting the loss or theft of passports. Now since you’re likely applying for a passport for the first time, let’s deal with the first type of passport.

Since you’re a first time passport applicant, you’ll need to fill in the DS-11 form. This is the form used by people who never had passports before. The good thing is that you can already download this form at the US Department of State’s website. You have the choice of filling the form in on your computer then printing it out, or you could also print out the form first then fill it in later by hand. What’s important here is the convenience it gives you. You no longer need to go to the passport office to get this form.

Once your form is complete along with the necessary documents, you’ll need to submit it for processing. For passport processing, you can choose to either have it go through routine processing, or have it expedited. Routine processing will generally be fine if you don’t need your passport to travel in the next ten weeks, as routine processing generally takes four to six weeks to complete.

An expedited passport is what you need if you need to travel within four weeks. Expedited passports are given priority over those that go through routine processing. Because of this, expedited passports are processed a lot faster.

Expedited passports are typically processed within a two to three week timeframe. This is the processing option of those who already have tickets for travel in less than two weeks. Aside from that, people who need to apply for a foreign visa in four weeks also opt to get an expedited New United States Passport.

Just take note that because expedited passports are given priority over routine ones, you will have to pay a little extra for that kind of service. It isn’t that pricey, and it’s actually money well spent if you really need to travel outside of the country quickly, yet do not have the passport to do so. If your passport can’t wait, have your application expedited.

To sum up, you have two options when it comes to applying for a First Time Passport. The first one is to take it through the routine processing. It’s best if you’re not in a hurry to get your passport. On the other hand, there’s the expedited passport. It’s quicker than the routine processing, and is the better option if you need to have a passport in less than four weeks.

posted by Vacation Home Rentals on Feb 11

Depending on the type of passport-related transaction you need to do, there will be a corresponding form you have to fill in. So whether it’s applying for a new passport, or reporting your lost or stolen passport, you can expect to fill in a passport for those. But you don’t really have to memorize them all, since they’re number-coded, and you’ll probably have to deal with only some of these forms. So if you want to learn more about passport application forms, you’ve come to the right place. Read on.

The DS-11 is probably the most popular among these forms. The reason for this is that the Form DS-11 is the one that all first-time passport applicants use when obtaining a passport. But it’s not just the first-timers who’ll need to use the DS-11. Those who were under 16 when they were issued their first passport, or those with passports issued over 15 years ago will need to fill in the DS-11 for their passport application.

The DS-11 is the type of form you need to submit in person. This is unlike other passport forms that you can simply submit by mail. Just don’t forget to skip signing the form until you are told to so when you finally submit it at the passport office.

Not all US passport application forms need to be submitted in person. There are forms you can also submit by mail. One such form is the DS-82. If you are after the convenience of being able to send your application by mail, and if you are eligible to do so, then use the DS-82 to apply for a passport. To find out if you’re eligible for the mailing option, check with your local passport office for more information.

What if you lose your passport, or if it was stolen from you? Then you will need to submit another form altogether. You’ll need to fill in Form DS-64. When filling in this form, make sure that you submit this as soon as possible to the nearest passport office. Just like the DS-82, you can send this form by mail.

You can mail the DS-64 to the passport office in order to report your lost passport. Alternatively, you could also submit this form in person along with your application for a new passport. That said, you’ll need to submit in person a DS-11 form along with the DS-64 to the passport office.

The option in the previous paragraph is advisable if you want to accomplish two things at one time. You’ll be able to report your loss as well as apply for a new passport. Besides, you will need to have your lost passport replaced anyway, so it’s better to just do them both at the same time.

There are other new passport application forms that you might encounter, depending on what you need to accomplish. However, the ones that we mentioned above are those that you will be dealing with more often than not. These are the forms you’ll need to apply, mail, or report the loss of your passport.