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Applying for a First Time U.S. Passport can be very daunting, especially if you’re getting a passport for the first time. There are many requirements that you need to bring about, and sometimes you just might have to do a little legwork when processing your passport. We can help make things a lot easier for you. Let’s show you some of the basic things you need to know about applying for passports.

Because you’ll be dealing a lot with forms, it pays to be familiar with the different forms used in passport applications. Some forms are used to apply for passports; others are used to renew passports; others are for reporting the loss or theft of passports. Now since you’re likely applying for a passport for the first time, let’s deal with the first type of passport.

Since you’re a first time passport applicant, you’ll need to fill in the DS-11 form. This is the form used by people who never had passports before. The good thing is that you can already download this form at the US Department of State’s website. You have the choice of filling the form in on your computer then printing it out, or you could also print out the form first then fill it in later by hand. What’s important here is the convenience it gives you. You no longer need to go to the passport office to get this form.

Once you have submitted this form along with all the necessary requirements for your application, your passport will then be processed. There are two ways of processing this: routine passport processing, and expedited passport processing. The routine passport processing is what you can choose to use if you are not planning to use your passport for foreign travel in the next ten weeks. Routine processing typically takes four to six weeks to complete.

Meanwhile, if you need to have your passport processed in less than four weeks, then you need to have your application expedited. As the name suggests, an expedited passport takes a lot faster to process than those that go through routine processing. In other words, expedited passports are given priority over routine ones.

Normally, an expedited New U.S. Passport is processed within a two to three week period. This is obviously a lot faster than routine passports. If you need to travel in less than four weeks, then this is the option you need to take.

Speeding up the process of your application takes more resources. That’s why expedited passports have a small additional fee on top of the regular passport processing fees. Don’t worry about this though, as the price you have to pay isn’t the hefty, and it pays for itself in the form of speed and convenience that you get.

Let’s wrap things up here. You have to choices when it comes to applying for a First Time Passport. You can either take the routine processing path, or choose to have the process sped up with the expedited passport processing. Both options have their pros and cons, but if you’re after speed and convenience, then the expedited route is the obvious choice.