Passport

[Spiritfilled]

I was wondering about how long does it take to process a passport from start to finish. I am leaving on May 6th 2007 when should I get the ball rollong so to speak.

[electech]

I would go ahead and start now in case you run into any problems. Our cruise is not until next December and I am going to send off for ours after the holidays. Sometimes, it can take a couple months. You are dealing with a government agency after all and it doesn't hurt to have it early. Get it in after the first of the year for sure.

[moeve]

Go ahead and send in your application since you never know just how backed up this department is going to get. And you are going to want to save the extra$$$ for expeding services.

[Jim C.]

Yup, it can't hurt to get it now and avoid the possibility of not getting it in time. Fairly easy to do now days... Go to Walgreens, get a passport photo taken.. go to the post office and fill out the form and send it in...

They last for 10 years, so waiting an extra month or two really doesn't have any advantages.

[Dave]

6 weeks is a typical processing time, although this will no doubt get longer as more and more people realize they need a passport. Do it now and you will have your passport in plenty of time for the cruise.

[f-mattox]

Start right away.
If it's your first one you will need a CERTIFIED birth certificate, not just a photocopy or hospital certificate. This is what trips a lot of people up--it did me my first one. If you don't have a certified certificate you will need to contact the Health Services Agency of the County or State of your birth. This can add 6-8 weeks to the process.
If it's just a renewal it should only take 4-6 weeks; just send in the form, new pictures and your old passport.
Remember, your passport must be valid for six months from the end of your trip; they're getting really sticky on this point.

[K&S]

We just received our passports a few weeks ago and it took approx 5 weeks. My husband has never had a passport and I had. It took about the same amount of time for both of us. Plus they send back either your birth certificate or your old passport with a hole through it. Our postoffice went through each question with a fine tooth comb before they allowed us to sign it. They also stated they were starting to have more people apply for them.

[Mark O'C]

Watch for photo kick back as well. Some post offices are doing the pictures right there. I have heard of more than 1 occasion that the pictures where the wrong size. These were taken at Photo places but did not meet the Passport Photo Specs.

We just received our passports a few days ago. It took about 6 weeks. We took our own photos, but the post office said they didn't meet the requirements. They are very strict about the size. So they took our pictures there. It was a smooth process, taking only about 15 minutes.

[Roscoe]

Not all post offices issue passports. We had our pictures taken at Walgreen, they were the accepted size. It took 7 weeks to get ours, we applied in March for a June cruise.

Our local post office has been stressing that people apply earlier for their passports than in the past becaue of the increased number of people who are going to be needing them when they travel starting in 2007.