How to Apply for a US Passport

How To Apply for a US Passport

If you are a first-time passport applicant, you are going to want to give yourself several months to complete the passport process. We highly recommend you start the passport process early in your travel planning.

As a first-timer, you must apply in person. First, you need to find a local passport acceptance facility near you. Most often your local passport acceptance facility is a post office, library or county courts office.

What you need for your Passport

Once you select your acceptance facility, you may need to do a little research: 

  • Does this location require you to make an appointment? 

  • What forms and documents do you need to bring with you? 

  • Do you need to get your passport photo taken before you arrive or will they take your photo there? 

    • Some facilities provide passport photos for free, but many require you to bring them with you.  

What you will ALWAYS need to bring with you:  

  • Unsigned DS-11 application form (don’t worry you will sign them at the passport acceptance facility)

  • Physical proof of identity as well as a photocopy of the front and back (ie: driver's license or military ID)

  • Physical proof of U.S. Citizenship as well as a photocopy of the front and back (ie: birth certificate)

  • Color passport photo (unless they take it for you at your facility)

  • Passport Fees (check or money order payable to the “U.S. Department of State”)

How long will it take to get my Passport

The passport acceptance facility will help you to organize your paperwork, photos and fees as well as mail them off for you. Passport processing time is known to vary, but most often it will take about 4-6 weeks for your passport to arrive in the mail. Passports can also be expedited for a higher fee and will shorted the wait about 2-3 weeks . Follow these steps to get your passport quickly. There are third party passport agencies that can expedite the process even faster depending on your travel needs and circumstances. You will most likely pay a hefty fee and turnaround time is around 8 business days

Can I use a credit card to pay for my Passport

Unfortunately, you will not be able to use your Chase Sapphire Reserve or American Express Green Card for 3x points on this “travel related” expense. Generally, you can only pay for your passport with a check or money order payable to “U.S. Department of State”. Although, there are third party passport agencies that may accept credit cards, but they will likely categorize the charge as a miscellaneous fee or service, and not as “travel”. 

I checked my local third party expedited passport agency, and per the Visa Supplier Locator, the passport charge would be categorized as “Legal Services”. Again, this would therefore not get me 3x points on the Chase Sapphire Reserve or American Express Green Card. If you want to check your local passport agency, you can use this link to the Visa Supplier Locator to check what the charge would categorize as. If you can’t locate an agency that will categorize as “travel” we suggest you use a category free card that gets you 1.5x - 2x points per dollar spent such as the Chase Freedom Unlimited (1.5x Ultimate Rewards) or the American Express Blue Business Plus (2x Membership Rewards) on all purchases. 

For more information and to learn more about applying for a passport, visit https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports.html or call 1-877-487-2778. 

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