Passports

It can be difficult to determine if you need to have a passport for traveling, so I am going to provide a bit of information on the subject of when and why passports are needed and how to find out if you are required to have a passport when traveling. As always, make sure that you check for the latest rules and regulations while making travel arrangements, and be sure that if you do require a passport you look into it early in your planning, just to make sure that you can have it ready to go when you are.

For information on when you need a passport, and what other documentation might be accepted, check out the passport travel requirements page at the U.S. Department of State website. You can select your intended country of travel, your intended means of travel and rather or not you will be traveling through another country. You are then presented with information on identification requirements as well as links to sites where you can find out more specific information on travel to the selected country.

If you determine that you do require a passport, or would like to have one just for future use, then you should visit the passport fees page to find out what you can expect a passport to cost (expect up to $100 for a standard passport, and up to $160 for expedited processing). To find out more about the processing time for passports visit the U.S. State Department's passport processing page. As of the time I am writing this, passport processing times are at 4 to 6 weeks for routine service, and 2 to 3 weeks for expedited processing.

The Passport Acceptance Facility search page at the U.S. State Department's website can help you in locating places in your area where you can apply for a passport. I would be a little wary of their distance estimates, however, since the search I just made came back saying that the Post Office in Wasilla, Alaska, is 1.1 miles from the Big Lake zip code, when I know it is more like 10 or 15 miles from it.