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I just applied for my first passport ever! I don’t have it (YET!) and I won’t get it for a long time because it takes 4-6 weeks and will be delivered to my parent’s house not my apartment at school. BUT. I. AM. SO. EXCITED! I’ll hopefully get to hold my very first passport when I go home for spring break!

The process was so super easy that I don’t know why I put it off for so long. Duh, ’cause I’m a slacker!

Do you need to get a passport? Since I just went through it I now know everything about how it’s done. Here’s how you can apply for your first passport.

The first thing you have to do is get a passport photo taken. The passport photo has to be shot in color with a white background and you can’t smile. The girl taking mine kept telling me to stop smiling. I went to Walgreens. For $11.99 they take your photo the way it’s supposed to be taken and give you two 2×2 copies. That’s the size it has to be. I looked totes gross in mine but I think everyone looks awful in their passport photos. AmIRight?

Next you have to fill out a DS-11 form. It feels like homework but it’s really not that bad because you just have to fill in information about yourself, your family, and your travel plans.

Once you have passport photos and the filled-out form you have to bring it in to a passport agency or “passport acceptance facility.” It sound a little scary but it’s just a post office. I didn’t even need to make an appointment, but some places you might need to so look up where to apply first for hours and stuff.

In addition to passport photos and your application, you need to bring a few more things with you. One thing you need is “evidence of U.S. citizenship.” That’s just a fancy way of saying your birth certificate. You also need identification such as a driver’s license or state ID. You also need photocopies of the front and back of both of those forms of identification.

There’s one more thing you need to bring to apply for your first passport: MONEY. It cost me $135, which is a lot of money but was totes worth it! Be sure to ask how much it costs though, because it might be different if you’re older or younger and stuff.

Then you just wait 4-6 weeks and you will get a passport in the mail!

It was a little scary to go to the post office to apply, and the man in charge was a little grumpy, but soon it will all be worth it because without a passport I can’t travel!

I hope this guide inspires you to go out and apply for your first passport. If a slacker like me thinks it’s easy, it’s gotta be easy. Soon I’ll have my new passport and can leave America and travel ‘Round the World!

Do you have a passport? How old were you when you got yours?

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