How to Get Your First Passport

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Applying in Person

If this will be your first passport, you’ll have to apply in person. You can search the Department of State’s website which includes 6000 passport acceptance offices to find the one closest to you. Search at http://iafdb.travel.state.gov/ for information on locations around the country.

Your Application Form

You'll need to fill out an application form. For first time applicants (or if it's been 15 years since your last passport), you'll need form DS-0011. You can download it here:

http://www.travel.state.gov/pdf/DS-0011.pdf

Go ahead and complete the application, carefully following the instructions, but don't sign the application. You'll need to do that in person when you turn in your application.

Required Documentation

When you make your application, you’ll need to bring with you a certified birth certificate issued by the city, county or state. What’s a certified birth certificate? One with a registrar's raised, embossed, impressed or multicolored seal, registrar’s signature, and the date the certificate was filed with the registrar's office, which must be within one year of your birth. If you were born abroad, you’ll need a Consular Report of Birth Abroad or Certification of Birth.

Also, you can provide citizenship with a Naturalization Certificate or Certificate of Citizenship if you became a US citizen later in life. If you don’t have the above information, it’s a little more complicated; check out the State Department site for other documents you can substitute: http://www.travel.state.gov/passport/get/first/first_830.html

Proof of Identity

You’ll also have to bring proof of identity which can be:

• Current, valid Driver's license
  
• A Previous U.S. passport (mutilated, altered, or damaged passports are not acceptable as proof of identity .)
  
• Naturalization Certificate
  
• Certificate of Citizenship
  
• Government ID: city, state or federal
  
• Military ID: military and dependents
  
  NOTE: Your Social Security Card does NOT prove your identity .

  Next Page: Your Passport Photos
  

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