Obtaining A Passport For A Toddler

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With our cruise approaching it’s time to start getting things inline for it.  We’re taking a Western Caribbean cruise, so we’re heading to Mexico.  What this means is that we all need passports.  Jason and I both have passports that are good for another five years, but we needed to get one for Nick.

I didn’t rush to get Nick’s passport.  My plan had been to wait as long as possible to get it without waiting so long that we would be worried that it wouldn’t arrive in time.  I wanted him to look like his picture.  Plus passports for children under the age of 16 are good for five years, so I figured the later we waited the more that his one year old picture might look like his six year old self.

A few months back I had picked up a passport application while I was getting stamps at the post office.  I’m so glad I did that because I hadn’t realized that both parents are required to be present to get a passport for their child.  It makes since really, but it made finding a time to go more difficult.  Finally we both had last Thursday free.  I worked on filling the application out in the hopes that we would could make it a very quick visit.  By Wednesday night the application was ready to go with Nick’s birth certificate paper clipped to it. Sadly nothing went as planned.

First Nick woke up at 5:00.  I don’t know what possessed him to get up so early.  Of course Nick has finally mastered sitting up in his crib, so he sat up and started playing and there was nothing we could do about it.  So I got up as well.  By 5:45 he was ready to fall back to sleep, but I had to keep him awake because if he went back to sleep he wouldn’t take a morning nap, and I had planned to go right after his nap and lunch so he would be in a good mood.  That made for some really rough spots during the morning, but it worked out because I kept him awake until 9:45 and then he went down for a three hour nap (unheard of for Nick).

We headed out the door around 1:30 with Nick in a great mood after his lunch and amazing nap.  Our timing was really good because I wanted to be at the post office in the early afternoon when it was likely to not be so busy.  We were in luck too because it was so slow that we practically walked up to the counter, but that’s when things stopped going so well.

First they had a little freak out over having to take a picture of a toddler.  We’re lucky because the large post office in our area does the passport pictures, so we don’t have to take the time to go somewhere else to have it done. The problem with taking a picture of a toddler was the fact that he had to sit on the stool to be the right height for the camera.  Nick did great though and they got the picture right on the first shot.  We stood close by ready to grab him if he started to fall, but it wasn’t a problem.  It wasn’t the best picture, his lip is tilted up on one side and he has this look that says, “What are you doing?,” but it wasn’t an awful picture.  Now Jason has an awful picture.  They didn’t give him any warning that they were going to take the picture.  He looks truly evil.  He always jokes that customs are going to look at him and not let him into the country because he looks so mean.  I can’t help but laugh every time I look at it.

Once they were done taking Nick’s picture we headed back to the counter where the clerk informed me that I needed to fill the form out again because I had done it in blue ink and it has to be done in black ink. I couldn’t believe it, and I wasn’t too happy about it.  I wanted to know where it said that, and he showed me where it was listed in small print at the top.  Since when has blue ink not been OK?  Blah.  So I took the black pen the guy gave me and started filling out the form all over again while Jason worked on keeping Nick occupied.  It didn’t take too long since all I had to do was copy the other form, but the arthritis in my hand has not been good lately, and the pen wasn’t very fat, so I found it pretty painful.

Finally that was done, but then the clerk told me that the $80 fee could only be paid by cash or debit card.  I must have had quite a look on my face because then he added I could pay with check too.  I had been planning to put it on the credit card since the application had said that credit was an acceptable form of payment at most places.  Well I certainly didn’t just happen to have that much cash on me, so I told him we’d pay with check.  He then actually asked me if I had a checkbook, as if he didn’t believe such a thing was possible.  I was starting to really get annoyed with things at this point.

After I had given him the check he told me that I owed another $40 ($25 for the picture and $15 for the processing fee), and he said that this part could be paid with a credit card.  I again couldn’t believe it.  I had known the cost of the passport and hadn’t thought about any other fees (I should have realized I would have to pay for the picture though).

$120 later Jason and I signed the form and it was all done.  The process was a bit of a pain, but at least it’s done and the passport should be here in three to four weeks which would put it here in plenty of time for the cruise.  Cruising time will be here before we know it!