Passport Office Locations

Passport locations
Any citizen of the United States interested in travelling internationally should apply for and obtain a passport by visiting one of the United states passport locationswhere you can get one. Even though passports weren’t required for travel to some countries a few years ago, even crossing the Canadian border now requires a validpassport on order to enter either the U.S. or Canada. If you’ve never had to get apassport before and feel a little intimidated by the idea, don’t worry. Here’s how to get a passport and some passport locations you can go to apply.

Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
District Of Columbia
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho		 Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming


Do I Need a US Passport?


Knowing whether or not you need to apply for and obtain a U.S. passport before you travel is a good idea. Some people think that you need a passport if you are travelling to a U.S. territory such as Puerto Rico or Guam. This isn’t actually true. You only need a passportif, while travelling to the U.S. territory or state, you actually have to stop and land in a foreign country. For example, if you are flying to Alaska and have a layover in Vancouver, Canada, you’ll need to apply for and get a U.S. passport. This may seem like a hassle, but even countries like Mexico require that you have a passport to enter now.

Getting the Application

Go online to the State Department’s website and download a copy of the passport application forms. If you can’t download and print a passport application, you can always pick up a copy from your local passport office.

How Do I Find My Local Passport office?


Finding the nearest passport office locations near you is actually very simple. All you have to do is use a simple tool on the State Department’s website. You can access the special search by visiting Passport Locations and then searching by yourstate or your city. You can choose to find the passport location nearest to your location, or you can have all of the passport locations within a certain radius listed.


There are basically two types of passport facilities. The first is a regional passportagency. Regional passport agencies serve major metropolitan areas and large population centers. They have these agency locations in New York, Los Angeles,Seattle, San Francisco, Honolulu, Houston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Miami, Washington D.C., Boston and New Orleans. These centers serve a very large region of the populace, but they are very busy. You’ll need to schedule an appointment to visit these offices. If you are in a rush and need to get yourpassport as soon as possible or need to get a visa very quickly, you should go to regional passport agency.


The other type of passport facility is an acceptance facility. These are much more common across the United states. You probably have a few of these locations in your home town or city. Accepting facilities include post offices, public libraries,courthouses, and state, municipal and county government offices. If you have to apply for a passport in person due to any reason, you can do so at one of theselocations or offices. Use the State Department’s passport location tool to find out which office is closest to you.


When in doubt, you can generally just visit your local post office or county clerk’soffice to inquire about how for a passport. The customer service there is usually very knowledgeable about the subject and will be able to walk you through the entire process step by step. You can also visit the State Department’s website to learn more about passport applications, restrictions, what countries or places you need a passport to visit and more. It’s a great resource to get you started and answer those tough questions. Just make sure to visit during passport processing hours which are sometimes different than normal business hours.

How to Apply for a Passport


The first step in applying for a passport is to know when to do it. It’s important to begin the passport application process at least eight weeks before you travel abroad. Even though it usually doesn’t take that long to get a passport, you usually need a passport number to obtain an international plane ticket. You also want to make sure you have enough time to fix any problems that may arise in the passport application process. It’s always better to have too much time to get a passportbefore a trip than to have too little time.


There are also some other requirements to get a passport depending on your age. All adults and children, even including newborns and infants, must have their own individual passports when travelling abroad. Even though a passport is not required to travel directly to a state or U.S. territory, if you plan on travelling outside of the U.S. at any time, even for a layover, you’ll need a passport.


While you can sometimes apply for a passport online or through the mail, you need to apply for a passport in person at a passport location if any of the following situations apply to you:

  • You are applying for a U.S. passport for the first time
  • You are under 16 years old
  • Your previous U.S. passport was lost, stolen or damaged
  • Your previous U.S. passport was more than 15 years old
  • Your previous U.S. passport was issued to you before you were 16 years old
  • You legally changed you name after your U.S. passport was issued and you don’t have legal documentation for that name change

If you need to apply in person, it’s not a big deal. You just have to visit one of your local passport acceptance locations during passport processing hours such as a U.S. Post Office or the county clerk’s office.
You also need to obtain the following in order to apply for a U.S. passport:

  • Two identical copies of your passport photo (easily obtained at photography shops and photo studios)
  • Identification information which includes your certified birth certificate and your social security card. Check the passport application to see what exactly you need to provide.

Once you’ve got the passport application filled out, you’ll need to bring it and all necessary identification and passport photos with you to one of the passport centers.


Getting a passport is a little bit of work, but it’s not very hard. Anyone can do it if they follow the steps and take the time. Please check the State Department website today to find passport locations near you.

Passport Offices Outside of the United States
American Samoa
Marshall Islands		 Puerto Rico
Palau		 Virgin Islands

Passport Cards

The US Passport card can be very useful for many travelers. The purpose of the passport card over the passport book is the convenience. Instead of having to carry about the large book, you can simply carry this card in a wallet or purse. There are a few restrictions however – it cannot be used for international traveling via any sort of air flight. It can only be used with other modes of transportation. It also can only be used when you are coming back from Canada, Mexico, the Bermuda, of the Caribbean. Travel by sea to any of the aforementioned countries is acceptable use of the passport card and would not require a passport book.

All US Citizens can apply for a passport card. They are very inexpensive and have a number of very good security features in them. Firstly, the cards are equipped with state-of-the-art RFID chips. These chips however do not contain any personal information on them – they simply provide an identification that is transmitted to a nearby US border facility so that any information can be pulled prior to you crossing the border. This is a way that you can feel safe knowing that terrorists or dangerous criminals will not be crossing the border and can be apprehended quickly and safely. For your security against 3rd party data hackers, each card is provided with an anti-RFID slip that prevents unauthorized reading or tracking of the card at all.

This type of card went into production July 14, 2008 and so far over 2.7 million cards are in circulation.

The cost for a first time cardholder is $55 for adults and $40 for minors under the age of 16. For renewal fees, it will cost only $30.

The card was originally designed for border-states who had many residents crossing the border frequently and they requested a cheaper, faster, easier way to present their ID and cross the border. The card cannot be used for air flight because it would undermine the increased efforts to provide air security checks in this post-9/11 world. TSA regulations allow for this card as an acceptable form of ID to travel, although you need your passport book if you travel internationally regardless.

Application for the passport card is done in the same manner as applying for the passport book. Begin by filling out the form number DS-11. This is the actual application for the US Passport, but can also be used for the card. It can be completed in person or online. Ensure that you provide your social security number. If you do not include it, there will be a possibility that your request will be delayed and even denied altogether. Once the DS-11 form has been filled out, you will have to provide evidence that you are a citizen of the United States before the card will be sent out.

There is some controversy over the RFID chip that is contained in the US Passport cards. According to the US Immigrations office, the card is very safe and contains no personal information. An identification number is the only thing that is transmitted and then used to find your information via the US internal database. No outside sources have access to your personal history and information.

Passport Name Change

Changing your name on your passport is a necessary step if you have changed your name any time recently. If you plan to go abroad, it is very important to remember the fact that if you have had a name change in the recent past, but your passport still uses the old name; you could very possibly run into some serious trouble.

Also, it is very important to ensure that you do this in a timely manner in case you must leave the country for a family emergency, or a business trip. If left unchanged from the prior name, it may be close to impossible to reach the destination that you need to get to.

There are three different scenarios that you may have come into that would be cause for a need to change your name on your passport.

The first scenario is if you received your passport less than a year ago and since then you have had your name changed legally due to a court order or you got married. If this is the case, then you should mail in your current valid US Passport, the (DS-5504) form, which is the actual application for any sort of changes to a passport whether it be a name change or some form of data correction or a limited passport book used for replacement. You will also need the original or certified copy of your marriage license or certificate or the government issued document that shows evidence of any court order with a legal name change under either state or federal law. It may be required that you submit one recent color photo.

The great thing about a simple name change within the last year is that is free of charge unless you require the expedited service. Please use a traceable form of mailing and use a mailing packaging that is of suitable size and provides adequate protection for the documents inside.

When it comes to the photo requirements, they must be printed on photo quality paper and be 2 x 2 inches, or 51mm x 51mm in size. It must have been taken in the last 6 months taken in plain view without any sort of obscurities that would prevent your identification. You should wear your normal daily clothes along with any needed hearing aids, glasses etc. Hats are not permissible unless it is for religious purposes. Regardless though, the entire face must be visible and there may be no shadows casted on top of your face, for whatever reason.

The second scenario is if your passport was issued more than 1 year ago and since then you have had your name changed legally due to a court order or you got married. If this is the case, then you must mail in your current valid US Passport, the completed form (DS-82 as opposed to DS-5504) which is the actual application for a passport. You should NOT use DS-5504. You will still need the original or certified copy of your marriage license or certificate or the government issued document that shows evidence of any court order with a legal name change under either state or federal law. It may be required that you submit one recent color photo if you need to update the photo on file.

You are for the most part applying for a brand new passport. Due to the fact that you are filling out for DS-82, you must be pay the renewal fee involved with getting a new passport which is $140 for the passport and card, $110 for just the passport book, and $30 for just the passport card. Again, please ensure that you use a traceable form of delivery.