Have you ever wanted to be like James Bond or Jason Bourne? A star in an international espionage film, traveling the world, wielding passports, speaking foreign languages, driving cars with steering wheels on the right side, and running from the bad guys?
Even if the whole international espionage thing isn’t really your scene, you have to admit that the allure of traveling the world is too great to resist. Whatever your desires for continent-hopping are, however, the first thing that you’ll need is your passport.
Getting Your Passport.
Getting your passport can seem a little bit complicated to the first-time applicant. There are pages upon pages of personal information that you’re required to fill out, you’ll need to find and gather all of your personal identification documents, meet with a passport agent, and present your official passport photos.
In reality, though, getting your passport isn’t half as hard as it seems. As long as you have your birth certificate, a valid driver’s license proving your residency, and your completed DS-11 form, all you need to do is take a couple of photos before you schedule an appointment with your local post office for your passport application.
Passport Photo Requirements.
When you go into your application, you’ll be required to have two passport photos. Here are the specifications as outlined by the US Government:
- 2 x 2 inches
- Taken recently, with current appearance
- Identical photos
- Full-face frontal view
- Plain white background
- Taken in normal clothing
- No hats or headgear
- Normal wig and/or glasses should be worn for the photo
- No dark glasses
Granted, this is a bit of a long list, but it’s not that hard. Basically, they just want you to dress how you normally would while you’re walking down the street. No crazy glasses or hats, normal clothing, plain white background- simple, right?
Where To Get Passport Photos.
Now let’s talk about how to get your passport photos. You have plenty of options when it comes to passport photos. If you want high-quality, good-looking passport photos, then your best bet is to hire a professional photographer to take your photos for you or to use a . They’ll snap them on a pure white background, edit them, and you’ll be good to go.
Now if you don’t care as much about the quality of your photos, the easiest way to take them is to stop by your local drug store with a photo center. You can usually get your photos taken and printed out on the spot in under 10 minutes and for less than $20.
Can You Take Passport Photos At Home?
If you’re trying to save some money and a trip to the store, you can also take passport photo at home. Just make sure that you have a white wall with decent lighting, a high-quality camera, and a decent photo-editing software like this one passport-photo-software.com, so that you can crop the full-size photo down to the required 2 x 2-inch size.
Conclusion.
Getting your passport doesn’t have to be hard. In reality, you can complete all of the steps that we’ve gone over in half a day. Once you have all of your materials ready, simply go to your local post office’s website and schedule an appointment for your passport application.
Within weeks, you’ll be ready to travel the world!
