![\"Woman](\"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/shutterstock_671153608.jpg\")
<\/p>\nLooking forward to renew or apply for a first US passport for yourself or another family member? The steps required to get a passport are quite reasonable. But you should be well aware of them and prepared long before you walk into your local passport agency, just in case!<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what you need to know to get a frictionless application process and alleviate any potential frustrations that may arise.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
If you want to travel internationally as an American, you need a valid US Passport. To be eligible to have a US passport, you need a US citizen by birth or naturalization. Assuming that\u2019s all squared away, the process to apply for a passport is pretty much straightforward!<\/p>\n
To apply for your first passport, you\u2019ll need to be able to present your application in person at a passport acceptance facilit<\/a>y (quite often that\u2019s your local post office), and you\u2019ll need to have the following documents with you:<\/p>\n You\u2019ll also need to have the funds on hand to pay for your passport fees. If you\u2019re applying for a first-time passport as an adult, expect to pay $135 for a passport book. The charge is $110 for minors.<\/p>\n You can renew your current or expired US passport unless your passport falls into one of these categories:<\/p>\n If any of the above is true, you cannot renew your passport. Instead, you must apply for a new passport in person. If the above isn\u2019t the case, then you\u2019ll need to make an appointment at a Regional Passport Agency (or if not in the country at an embassy or consulate). When you go to your appointment you\u2019ll need to take the following:<\/p>\n You\u2019ll also need to have the funds on hand to pay for your passport fees. If you\u2019re applying for a first-time passport as an adult, expect to pay $110 for a passport book. If you need to get your passport back in two weeks or less you will need to have your passport renewal expedited and pay additional fees ($60 plus delivery fees).<\/p>\n The State Department suggests that it\u2019s a good idea to renew your passport about nine months before it expires.<\/p>\n Here’s a handy tip:\u00a0 if you travel frequently, consider checking the \u201c52 page\u201d box at the top of your passport application to receive a larger passport book with 52 pages.<\/p>\n When applying for a spouse\u2019s passport who’s not a US citizen, there are a few key factors to keep in mind:<\/p>\n It\u2019s important to inquire in your spouse\u2019s home country about procedures regarding retaining citizenship and marriage to foreigners. With doing so from within the United States, that country\u2019s embassy or consulate would be the best place to start.<\/p>\n As with adults, children must apply or reapply for a passport in person at a passport agency. If under 16, they need parental consent with both<\/em> parents present with them and co-signing the application. Between the ages of 16 and 17, minors can apply on their own, though the State Department still recommends at least one parent appears in person with the child to show parental awareness.<\/p>\n You may also like: Damaged Passport? Here’s What You Need to Do!<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n If you lose your passport while in the United States, make an appointment to apply in person at your nearest passport agency to replace it. If you haven’t booked those cheap international flights<\/a> yet, just make an appointment (if necessary) to apply at an authorized passport acceptance facility to replace your passport at a time convenient for you.<\/p>\n If you lose your passport while traveling abroad, contact your nearest embassy or consulate to cancel and replace it. Do this as soon as you know for sure it\u2019s gone and make sure the incident is reported to the Department of State\u2019s Bureau of Consular Affairs.<\/p>\n Finally, if you\u2019re certain your passport was stolen, contact the local police to report the incident. If you are a victim of a serious crime do this immediately. Be sure to request a copy of any police report!<\/p>\n Still have questions about your passport? Your best resources for answers are\u00a0usa.gov\/passport<\/a>\u00a0and travel.state.gov<\/a>.<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Looking forward to renew or apply for a first US passport for yourself or another family member? The steps required to get a passport are quite reasonable. But you should be well aware of them and prepared long before you walk into your local passport agency, just in case! Here\u2019s what you need to know […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":98891872,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[1292,582],"class_list":["post-98891868","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel-tips-intel","tag-travel-help","tag-travel-tips"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98891868","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98891868"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98891868\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":98906362,"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98891868\/revisions\/98906362"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98891872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98891868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98891868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98891868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
Renewing Your Passport<\/h2>\n
![\"shutterstock_250778989\"](\"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/shutterstock_250778989.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\n
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Applying for a Spouse Who’s Not a US National<\/h2>\n
![\"Married](\"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Untitled-design.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\n
Applying for Minors Under the Age of 18<\/h2>\n
![\"Young](\"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Untitled-design-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\nReplacing a Lost Passport<\/h2>\n
![\"Man](\"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Untitled-design-2.jpg\")
<\/p>\n