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Hi. I'm Jennifer Durbin, and I'm here to help you through the process of getting your little
one their first passport.
It's really exciting when you're prepping for an international trip, and it does require
some additional preparation. For instance, your passport will take four to six weeks
to get here, so make sure you plan ahead. You can pay extra to have it expedited, but
there's of course, a fee associated with that. The passport itself is going to be over $100,
so it's a bit of an expensive endeavor and it takes sometime, so make sure that you go
through all of the paperwork before you submit it.
Make sure you've filled out everything completely so that it isn't sent back to you. Make sure
you take in an appropriate picture for the passport and follow all the guidelines based
upon your child's age. Remember, you're going to need to do this every five years, so don't
think that it's like your passport and it will last longer.
When you're going through the process of getting a passport, you'll want to make sure that
there's a convenient location close to you where you can go and submit all of the paperwork.
Don't forget that unless there are unforeseen circumstances, usually both parents have to
be present to sign all the paperwork.
The other thing that's quite tricky about a passport is not all locations accept all
forms of payment. You may find that one fee has to be paid in cash while another has to
be paid via check. So check before you make the trip to the passport office or your local
location so you're not caught without all the funds that you need.
You'll also have to make sure that your child already has a Social Security number. Without
that, they can't get a passport.
You can also visit the State Department's website at state.gov for the detailed description
of the 20 hoops you have to jump through to get a passport.