Renewing my Passport

I am finally getting around to this. My passport expired in 2009. The good thing is you have up to 15 years after the passport was issued to get it renewed so I have until next year. I’ve been meaning to do this for along time. I downloaded the PDF of the passport form and started to fill it out. The date on the PDF file is March 2, 2010.

If I’d gotten my act together back then I would be paying about half the fee I’ll pay today. It will cost $110 to renew. I hope to get it out in the mail this week.

I went on-line and filled out the form again. It was very easy to do. It is saved as a PDF and you download it to you desktop and then print it out. It also tells you how much you have to pay. I’m going to pay by check so I looked who to make the check out to. Well I looked on the information I printed out and couldn’t find it. Looked on the site. Still couldn’t find anything. I looked on the old form I had and still couldn’t find it. I was finally able to find it today. You make the check out to the state department.

I then looked into getting my picture taken. Turns out CVS can do it. They even have a $2 off coupon you can print out. The brings the cost to $6. I have an extra care bucks coupon for $3 off so it means the picture will be $3. I’m not sure if you get more than one picture or not. You’re only required to send in one picture. It seems to me that at one point in time you needed to send in two different pictures so they could choose which one to use.

I learned all sorts of things about how to have the picture taken. There is a whole page on the site demonstrating how pictures should and should not be taken.

I happened on a picture FAQ and this one I found rather interesting:

Q:Do I need to take a new photo if I recently dyed my hair a new color or grew a beard?

a:New photos are only required if your appearance has significantly changed from what is in your photo. Growing a beard or coloring your hair would not constitute a significant change. If you can still be identified from the photo in your current passport or visa application, you do not need to apply for a new passport or submit a new photo for your visa application. However, you may have to apply for a new passport or submit a new photo for your visa application if you have:

Undergone significant facial surgery or trauma
Added or removed numerous/large facial piercings or tattoos
Undergone a significant amount of weight loss or gain
Made a gender transition

It seems to me if you make a gender transition, you’re probably going to be getting a new passport under a different name. As someone said to me times have certainly changed when gender transition is listed. I had to agree.