Traveling
Ever wanted to travel outside the united states but think it’s too hard to get approved? Or maybe you can’t find affordable places to go to? Or maybe you just don’t even know where to book. You may not even have your passports yet! Today we will talk about passports. Other traveling information and tips will be on another blog. So stay tuned for more!
Passports
To get a passport you must have all the requirements, your original birth certificate, a copy of it, and a copy of an ID that has a signature on it. Along with that you need to have a passport photo taken. CVS Rite Aid Walgreen’s etc does these for $10. Passport office charges $15. You can go on base to the passport office or out in town. No matter where you go all passports are the same price.
Military DO NOT get FREE passports that they can go on their own leave with! Any military member who gets a free passport for deploying and such CAN NOT use them for vacations (I have looked into it already). They must buy a separate passport of traveling on their own.
Cost
Let’s break it down. A passport cost $110 along with that since Jan. 1st 2018 there is a $35 processing fee as well. So, the total is $145. Passports take 4-6 weeks to arrive in the mail. You can pay extra, around $75 per, to have a passport expedited.
Arriving
You will receive your passport, if not expedited, in 4-6 weeks. Ours came in 3 weeks and we did not pay for them to be expedited. Your original birth certificate comes back in the mail in a separate envelope a few days after you receive your passports.
Also, if you want to check your status on the passports DO NOT CHECK ONLINE. They no longer update the online system so if you type in your information it will say no application is found (I did that and learned). Instead call the passport center number! They can look you up and tell you if its been processed, and if there is a very long tracking number.
What to do Once you get It
Once you receive your passport you will want to sign it. The signature line is one the second page, the page above your photo. The signature is supposed to look like the signature on the ID you submitted with the application. Look into getting an RFID blocking case for your passport. New passports now have a chip in them with your information stored on it. RFID blocking cases will allow no one to get your information. We bought our on amazon for around $10-$14.
