What’s the Status of Your Passport?: A PSA and 3 Easy Steps to Getting Your Passport as a U.S. Citizen

Only 45% of Americans have an active passport and many rookies (like me) have experienced the agony of canceling a trip all because we forgot to renew in time.

Photo by mana5280 on Unsplash

Today marks the first installment of a new feature for Those Who Wander. Resources are short posts designed to provide readers with helpful advice, reminders, and resources on travel. Please share these with anyone you think may benefit. Cheers!

I’ve met several people over the years who have never had a passport and the odds are you don’t have one either or little do you know, it’s about to expire! Here’s your PSA for the day. Only around 45% of Americans have an active passport so every other person you encounter likely doesn’t have one. Perhaps yours is sitting in a safely secured drawer useless and expired (or soon-to-be). Don’t learn the hard way like I did last year when I had to cancel my trip to Ireland because I realized one week before my trip that my passport would expire one day before my return flight! I wrote about this frustrating experience and what to do about it in my post On F***ing Up Your Travel Plans, Left Turns, and Unexpected Adventures.

Many countries also require that your passport is good for an additional six months beyond the time you will be visiting another country. Moral of the story: If you have a passport already, check it RIGHT NOW and make sure it doesn’t expire this year. Consider making a note in your calendar when it is six months from expiration while you are at it. Hell, make it a year out just to be safe. I set a reminder in my calendar for August 2033. Perhaps I’m still coming down from the rage I felt making such a rookie mistake and am being a bit extreme. Still, I guarantee your future wanderlust self will be eternally grateful for being so attentive to this often-overlooked mishap.

Even if you haven’t a clue where you’d like to go internationally, it’s not a bad idea to have one on hand. What if someone were to, out of the blue, offer you an all-expenses trip to Europe, Mexico, or Canada next week but you didn’t have a passport? After all, passports are good for ten years, they’re reasonably affordable ($130 + shipping), and easy to obtain right at the local post office.

Since I recently had to renew my passport, I thought I’d put together a quick guide while all this was fresh in my mind…also the rage trauma is still gnawing at me to be a more diligent planner. Plus, I sincerely do not want anyone else to go through the agony of canceling a trip and potentially losing lots of money on nonrefundable accommodations, tickets, etc. It’s a bummer and can be easily prevented.

Here’s my quick guide:

1. Gather Your Documents. Fill out the Application for a U.S. Passport online (DS-11 form), print it out, collect the pertinent documents listed under Section D on the application, and get a 2x2 inch color photo printed out (no glasses). You may also qualify to renew by mail using the DS-82 form, however, I recommend just doing it in person given that all your documents can be verified by someone at the post office before shipping out which can take up to six weeks or more–thus you wouldn’t want to repeat that process just because you didn’t fill something out correctly.

2. Visit Your Local Post Office. Schedule a time and apply in person at your local post office (they’ll take your photo too if you haven’t printed one off elsewhere). Note: If you are applying for the first time, need to apply for someone under 16, had one damaged, lost, or stolen, or haven’t had one since you were under 16 or in the last 15 years, you’ll need to be physically present at the post office.

3. Pay Fees and Wait. Pay for the processing and shipping fees and wait until it arrives in the mail (this can take six weeks or more so have that in mind as well when planning your trip).

Done!

Here is the link to the State Department website for additional information.

Share this with anyone you know who’s been itching to travel but hasn’t gotten their passport or with someone as a reminder to renew their passport. Don’t f*** up your travel plans like I did. It’s an agonizing experience not to be repeated.

For consideration:

●      When does your passport expire?

Thanks for being a fellow traveler with me through this read. Please consider subscribing, sharing, and supporting this project—much more to follow.

Cheers!

-JSB