Beating the rush to renewal of your passport

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TIPS FOR APPLYING FOR A PASSPORT

Do’s and don’ts

There are three ways to apply for a passport: by mail, at a passport acceptance facility or at a passport agency. The choice depends on what you’re applying for (only renewals are accepted by mail) and just how fast you need to get that passport so you can get on that airplane.

By mail

This option is only for renewals or for additional passport pages. You can skip the parking hassles and the lines, but only if your passport:

•Isn’t damaged

•Was issued when you were 16 or older

•Was issued within the last 15 years and is in your current name, or you can legally document your name change

If you’ve satisfied all of the above, here’s what you need to mail in:

•The application (Form DS-82), available online and impressively easy to fill out

•If your name has changed, submit legal documentation and (yes) another form

•One passport photo

•A check or money order for the total – $110 for an adult renewal; for expedited service, add $60

Acceptance facilities

These are the post offices, county clerk offices and other government buildings where employees have been trained to review passport applications in detail. You have to visit an acceptance facility if you’re applying for:

•Your first passport

•A passport for an applicant age 17 or younger

•A replacement of a lost or stolen passport

•If renewing a damaged passport

These facilities have special hours for passport business, so call ahead. And bring all your documents with you:

• Passport application (Form DS-11) filled out but not signed (facility personnel must witness your signature)

•Evidence of U.S. citizenship (birth certificate in most cases)

• Photo ID

•Passport photo (some facilities offer passport photo services)

If you are applying for a passport for a child 15 or younger, both parents—and the child—must be present; otherwise you’ll need to bring more forms attesting to parent/guardian consent.

The fee: You’ll be writing two checks, one to pay the “execution fee” of $25 for the passport acceptance agent’s time and effort, and one for the State Department (first time passport is $110 for adults, $80 for minors).

You can find nearby facilities by entering your ZIP code in the search engine at iafdb.travel.state.gov.

Regional agencies

This is the place of last resort for those who need something—anything—passport-related in two weeks or sooner. There are 26 regional agencies and they are pretty much always filled with waiting, stressed-out, soon-to-be-departing citizens. You need to make an appointment in advance by calling the National Passport Information Center, 877-487-2778. They advise that you show up early and don’t bring weapons. Do bring:

•The confirmation number for your appointment

•All the application documentation listed in the sections above

•Proof that you need a passport urgently, like a flight itinerary showing a departure within two weeks

If your departure is in less than eight business days or if you have documentation of a life-or-death emergency overseas, you can get emergency service, which means you’ll be able to pick up your passport at the agency. If your departure is further out, your completed passport will be sent to you within eight business days.

Fees will depend on what service you need, but add to that the $60 expedite fee, which is mandatory. Overnight delivery charges of $14.95 are also likely.

More info: Go to passports.state.gov or call the National Passport Information Center at 1-877-487-2778.

—Jill Schensul

The Record (Hackensack, N.J.)

Remember the Great Passport Disaster of 2007?

If you were one of the 18 million U.S. citizens trying to get a passport before the new Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative went into effect, you probably do. The initiative meant that you could no longer use any “official ID” to return to the United States from anywhere in the eponymous hemisphere, and that meant all the popular destinations—from Montreal and Quebec to the Caribbean and Mexico.

The initiative was a result of a 2004 act of Congress strengthening anti-terrorism measures after 9/11. Despite several years to prepare for the first phase—affecting air travel—to go into effect on Jan. 23, 2007, the tsunami of passport applications soon created a mess in every way.

Americans were confused, processors were buried in paperwork, deadlines were moved, and vacations and travel plans were parked in limbo. And because until then Americans were one of the most passport-free populations in the world, the number of people having to hurry up to comply was unwieldy: Three-fourths of the population didn’t have one, a notoriously bad track record. But on Jan. 23, 2007, we had to have a passport to fly to places that were foreign but only a short hop and no hassle away.

For once, I wasn’t among the last-minute, nail-biting, I’ll-pay-any-price-to-get-it-tomorrow hordes. I had my passport, and I actually knew where it was. But I watched the chaos unfold and reported in as the system descended into, well, I would have said Keystone Kops chaos, but for some people it really wasn’t funny.

Like the nervous couple I had met at the Bergen County Clerk’s Office. They weren’t nervous about their imminent wedding date, but about their honeymoon. His passport was still MIA, though it had been 3 months since he applied and without it there would be no honeymoon in Aruba. Or the woman who’d made plans months and months in advance to return to her family home in the Philippines and was fearing she would have to cancel the trip, disappoint her family and lose the money she’d laid out for traveling.

It might seem like only yesterday when you bring up those memories. But it wasn’t. It will soon be the 10th anniversary of the Great Passport Disaster.

All those hard-earned, brand-spanking-new passports of 2006 and 2007? Soon to be sort of worthless if you try to travel internationally.

Because after 10 years, passports expire. Which means a new mass movement to renew.

Will it be Passport Disaster: The Sequel?

We hope not, but the State Department seems to think it might not be pretty.

Officials say the passport office has been experiencing increased demand for renewals the past year or two. And applications for passports have generally surged since 2007, with increases of several million every year. The agency issued 14 million passports in 2014, the last date for which totals are available, and the increased demand is expected to continue through 2018.

As a pre-emptive measure in September, the State Department launched the Apply Early campaign, turning our thoughts to that little blue document.

The State Department anticipates the crunch will begin in 2016 and says processing will take longer with the start of the new year. The current wait time for a passport is four to six weeks, but it could jump to as long as 10 weeks or more.

Renewals will be just one factor in the expected crush.

Another is the fact that traveler demographics are changing: Both baby boomers and millennials are dedicated travelers—internationally as well as domestically. Passports are essential parts of their lives. In fact, more Americans have passports now than ever before, according to the Bureau of Consular Affairs: 38 percent compared with 27 percent in 2007.

Also contributing to the expected crunch are the improving economy, cheaper airfares and good international exchange rates for the American dollar. Since the 2007 debacle, more than 550 passport service employees have been added, and 10 new passport agencies have been opened. There are plans to hire more workers and extend call-center hours as well.

Prices and fees have also been raised for all things passport: Your first passport is $135 (was $100); renewal is $110 (was $75). Adding visa and other pages is $82 (it was free). There’s even a new fee if you’d like formally to renounce your U.S. citizenship: Once free, it’s now $450.

I guess, therefore, that there are some extra bucks to pad out the operation. Still, the fact that passport authorities are cringing publicly must mean something.

So if you’re one of those organized people who believes forewarned is forearmed or if you just still remember the disaster of ’07 a little too well, you might want to act on that “apply early” advice.

The Apply Early campaign gets passports back on the public radar at a good time because turnaround time is quickest from September to December.

That’s one hint from the State Department’s Pro Tips list (http://1.usa.gov/1NuOPt3). Here are some of my other favorite points to remember about the passport process: