How to Renew Your Passport
Theodre Tenretni
When you're traveling outside of the United States, you will need a passport as a definitive form of identification. If you have let your passport expire, or it's been ten years since you have gotten it, you will need to renew your passport in order to keep this important document current.
Of course, if you are traveling to Canada or Mexico by land or sea, you may not need your passport at all. These countries only require your driver's license and a copy of your birth certificate when coming from the US - but if you are entering by air, you will still need a passport here as well.
Luckily, getting your passport renewed is a much easier process than applying for a brand new passport. You no longer have to be present for renewal; although any of the 9,000 passport acceptance facilities located throughout the United States would be happy to help you renew your passport.
If you don't want to renew your passport at a facility in person, now you can mail in your renewal quite easily. The first step is downloading the renewal applications off the US government's travel.gov website - you don't even need to leave the house to get this paperwork started.
In order to renew your passport, it must have been issued in the past fifteen years. You also must have been at least 16 years of age when the passport was issued - while you could legally have had a minor status passport when it was issued, you may not have been younger than 16.
Your passport may not be mangled or damaged beyond recognition in order to be renewed, because the passport processing service must be able to verify its authenticity. If you think that your passport is too damaged, you will need to reapply to get a new passport.
Name changes on passports can not be processed through the mail. For instance, if you held a passport in your maiden name and got married and want to renew your passport - you will need to apply for a new passport in person at a passport acceptance facility. Other name changes follow these rules.
When you send in your application for renewal, you will need to send along your old passport, along with two standard passport photos (identical 2"x2" photos taken with a passport camera) and your passport renewal forms. You'll also need to pay the passport renewal fees.
Be prepared to wait for your new passport to arrive. The wait times are long - both for people who are applying for the first time for their passport and for those who are renewing their passports. Give yourself plenty of time before your trip to make sure that your passport arrives in time.
Theodre Tenretni writes for TravelYeti.com, your
http://www.travelyeti.com/ travel information resource.
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