If you are planning your first international trip, the first thing you will need to take care of is obtaining your passport and, if necessary, a visa to travel to the country or countries that you’re headed to. While these might seem like two very daunting tasks, they are, in fact, quite simple to take care of. The one thing you must know, though, is that you will need to plan well in advance to make sure that obtaining your passport and visas doesn’t interfere with your travel plans.
Getting your passport
Getting a U.S. passport is quite simple, but there are several steps in the process and it does take some time, so you need to begin planning at least 6 months ahead of your trip. This might sound like a very generous figure, but believe me, if you leave it to the last minute, you will have your travel plans interrupted by this process and you might find yourself having lost large sums of money on flights and hotels. It is totally worth it to play this part safe and get your passport and visa taken care of immediately.
To get a U.S. passport, you’ll need several pieces of information:
- Form DS-11 – This basic application form can be filled out online and printed, or simply filled in by hand.
- Evidence of U.S. Citizenship - Some type of document proving that you are an American citizen, such as a birth certificate, a previous passport or certificate of naturalization or citizenship.
- Current photo ID – In addition to evidence of your American citizenship, you need to present a second picture ID, such as your driver’s license or a government or military ID.
- Photocopies of your IDs – You also need to bring photocopies of both your ID and evidence of citizenship. Both must be on 8 1/2 x 11 white paper and show both front and back of each ID. It’s important to know that the office or post office where you apply will not make these copies for you, so bring them with you.
- Application fee - Methods of payment vary, but usually cash is not accepted. If in doubt, bring a personal check, money order or bank draft.
- Two 2×2 passport photos - These can be taken and purchased at travel agencies or pharmacies such as Walgreens or CVS. Alternately, if you have a photo printer at home, you can take and print your own passport photos for free using ePassportPhoto.com.
Once you’ve gathered all this together, you must head for your local passport processing facility. If you don’t live in a big city like Houston or Los Angeles, which have official passport agency offices, then you can go straight to your local acceptance facility, which is usually located in a post office.
That’s it! Once you’ve applied, it can take up to several months for your passport to arrive by mail, which is why it is so important for you to start this process well in advance of your planned trip. If you are in an emergency or a huge hurry, you can pay extra to have your passport application rushed.
The U.S. Passport agency has also recently created an online status checker to find out where in the process your application is.
Getting a visa
A visa is simply an entry document that allows you to come in to a country for a specific purpose and length of time. These days, many countries around the world do not require Americans to get a visa in advance, but simply give you a stamp in your passport when you arrive to the airport, which serves as a 30- or 60-day tourist visa. Other places still require tourists to obtain a visa before they arrive.
Delta Airlines has a handy function on their website that allows you to check whether you’ll need a visa based on your citizenship and destination. As soon as you begin applying for your passport, you should check the visa requirements for your destination.
If your destination requires a visa, the next step is to visit the website of that country’s embassy in the United States. Usually, these embassy websites will offer very upfront information about how to obtain a visa easily. This process most often requires you to send your passport off for several weeks for a visa to be processed and put into your passport. Sometimes, certain nations require you to use a visa service, like Travel Document Systems, to drop your passport off at the nearest embassy for processing, while others let you mail your passport directly to the embassy. These services usually charge an extra fee, as well as the price of overnight postage.
When sending your passport off for any kind of processing, always use a traceable mail service that gives you a tracking number so that your important documents don’t get lost or stolen!
Really good topic.It/s very help of traveling.
Great advice-especially the “plan 6 months ahead” part. I waited til the last minute and had to use RushMyPassport to get my passport on time. One correction about the “official passport agencies-” I found out when I was applying that you can’t just walk in, you actually have to make an appointment.
@New Passports – Thanks for stopping in and we’re glad you enjoyed the topic!
@Anna Thank you for the tip about official passport agencies. I didn’t know that and it is a useful thing for people in big cities (where there are passport agencies) to know. Great advice! Thanks for stopping by.
[...] country you’re traveling to, you might be required to get a visa. Be sure to check online for visa requirements at least two months prior to your trip. You should also carry copies of your bank statements, [...]
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