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Know Your Flag-Ediquette Is this your year for international travel? If so, you'll need a passport. To apply for one, if you're over the age of 13 you should go to a courthouse, county or municipal office, or post office that's authorized to accept passport applications. You'll need to complete application form DSP-11 - but don't sign it until an official tells you to do so. You'll need to bring several items with you. Proof of U.S. citizenship, such as a previous U.S. passport. If this is your first passport, and you were born in the U.S., bring a certified copy of your birth certificate issued by the state, city, or county of your birth (a certified copy will have a registrar's raised, embossed, impressed, or multicolored seal and the date the certificate was filed with the registrar's office). If you have neither a U.S. passport nor a certified birth certificate issued in the U.S., you can get a notice from the registrar of the state where you were born that indicates no birth record exists, plus as many as possible of the following: a baptismal certificate, hospital birth record, early Census, early school record, or family Bible record. (The documents must include your full name and date and place of birth.) You should also have a notarized affidavit completed by an older blood relative who has personal knowledge of your birth. If you're not a citizen: If you were born abroad, bring a Certificate of Naturalization, Certificate of Citizenship, Report of Birth Abroad of a U.S. Citizen, or a Certification of Birth (Form FS-545 or DS-1350). If you do not have these documents, check with the passport acceptance agent for documents that can be used in their place. Two recent photographs: Photographs must identical, two inches square, on a plain, light (white or off-white) background, and must show a front view, full face, and they must have been taken within the past six months. Vending machine photographs are not acceptable. Proof of Identity, is required, such as a previous U.S. passport, a Certificate of Naturalization or Citizenship, a valid driver's license, or a government or military identification card. Note that library cards, school identity cards, and credit cards do not qualify. FEES are $60 for a ten-year passport for those age 16 and older, and $40 for a five-year passport for anyone under 16. These amounts include a $15 fee for document handlikng. Make your check or money order payable to Passport Services. Post offices and passport agencies can accept cash, but courts are not required to do so. If you must have the passport in less than 25 business days, it will cost you an additional $35 rush charge. Trust me... This is a real show stopper... Social Security Number: Although you don't have to have a Social Security number to get a passport, Section 6039E of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 requires that passport applicants provide this information. Passport Services gives this information to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) routinely. Any applicant who does not provide the information is subject to a $500 penalty enforced by the IRS. (Any questions about this can be directed to the nearest IRS office. Lots of luck!) I have lots more travel tips, but unfortunately... I have to jet... Unless of course you want some MORE HOT TIPS! Unflaggingly Yours - April May
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