Passport checklist

We went to the city hall today to get AJ's passport.  It was quicker than I thought once we got all the stuff, but man, to GET all the stuff, we had to make 2 extra trips.  There's more than you think needed for the forms, so here's some tips.

Documents you'll need

• Baby's birth certificate
• No brainer, duh!
• FYI if it's the first time you're applying, they need to take the original to be sent in with the application, they will return it (or so they say) but it will take a few weeks to process it
• Baby's passport photos
• Not every place will take passport photos for babies (they squirm a lot so it's difficult to get a photo that will pass the standards)  Fred Meyers on Canyon Rd by HWY 217 does.  And the gentleman did a really good job!
• You AND your spouse's government issued ID

Other stuff you'll need

• 2 checks
• one for the cost of the city hall processing your application
• one that goes along with the application to the federal department making the book 
• the federal govt definitely will NOT take cash or credit/debit.  The one that goes to your local city hall I guess depends on your local city hall.
• Your baby's daddy/mommy
• As of recently, federal law now mandates that when you apply for a passport, BOTH parents of the child must be present at the time of application (yup, makes things real convenient)
• I suppose this would stop crazy people from escaping out of the country
• Baby's social security card
• This technically isn't needed, it's just that you need to fill that out on the form, and most people don't know their baby's SSN by heart already (that's why we had to head home to get it)

Stuff to be aware of:

• Check hours of your passport office - not all of them operate 5 days a week 8-5.  Don't want to show up when it's closed!
• Only use black ink - if it's written in blue or any other color, they will not take it
• Read each question carefully, in order to stay PC, some of the questions now cause a lot of confusion.  There's a section that asks about the applicant's parent's names - this is particularly confusing for moms.  They used to ask for the mother's maiden name.  Now for PC-ness, it says "name at parent's birth."  Well, first, who's name?  The parent or the child? Why don't they care what my current name is?  Doesn't matter,  Either way, read the questions.
• DO NOT SIGN anything until they tell you to.  Signing before swearing in front of the notary person invalidates the application.

There you have it.  Passport instructions.  Go get it.