What To Do With Your Damaged Passport

Let's be honest, many of us have enjoyed an adult getaway that has literally been too much fun. The return to the real world is painful enough and then discovering that using your passport as a drink coaster for a solid week was not the great idea it seemed at the time. If the damage is severe, the passport will need to be replaced before it is time to vacation again. Hopefully, other personal identification items survived the journey in better shape as you will likely need some additional proof of identity to replace an illegible damaged American passport.

The first step is to go online and find the closest acceptance agent to you. You will need to provide documents to then in person and they will then witness these and put all of the needed paperwork in a sealed envelope. Naturally, one of the requirements is to complete an attractively named federal form (DS-11,) which is the official US application for a American passport. You can find this form online, along with federal document two, DS-64, the nitty gritty document where the damaged passport owner explains the circumstances of the document ended up in its damaged condition at the State Department's website.

Once these have been printed out, they will need to be completed properly and completely. There are two factors to keep in mind when accomplishing this task. One is to not sign this unless in front of the issuing agent and two is to not have them dated more than 5 days prior to visiting the acceptance office. If either of these is done previous to the visit, they will require that the forms be filled out a second time, in front of them.

A copy of the applicant's birth certificate will be needed for the replacement passport to be issued. The government requires that proof of citizenship be shown when filing these application forms. New photos will also be necessary and be sure they are identical and 2' by 2'.

Even if the photo was not included in the passport mutilation that led you to this place, identical new full face photos are required and they are not to be more than six months old. Many people opt to do the photos themselves if they are adept at photo shop type software. Many built in laptop cameras can take an adequate picture as long as the background is white. Getting passport photos taken at a passport expediting firm or local copy shop is also relatively inexpensive and quick.

Once all documentation has been gathered and the trip has been made to the issuing office, the process moves to its next step. The application forms are dated and signed in front of an authorized agent and sealed in an envelope to be sent out. Be sure to have the fee in a proper payment form such as a check, made out to the Department of State for $135.00.

Since the majority of the issuing agencies are located within a postal facility, the easiest method for shipping may be to use either Priority or Express mail service through the Post Office. Both of the services include the ability to trace the package along its entire trip. There is also the option to pre-pay for a return envelope that will come directly back to the holder's home address.

The processing for replacing a damaged passport can take some time, but there are private expediting services available that can take all the guesswork out of this process. They handle everything short of the applicant's actual appearance at an acceptance facility. They do this of course, for a fee, which is above what the government requires to issue the new U.S. passport.