New Child Passport Application Forms Will Be More Inclusive - Expedited Passports

Passport applications forms are getting a makeover in March. What’s changing? So far, the major change that’s been announced is changing the “mother” and “father” fields to ensure that same-sex couples and people in other non-traditional family structures can more easily apply for a child passport for their children.

The current application just says “Mother” and “Father.” But not every family has a mother and a father. Same-sex couples often struggled with how to fill out the forms, having to cross out the incorrect word and replace it with a more appropriate designation. The experience often made them feel like second-class citizens, like their families weren’t real families in the eyes of the government.

According to deputy assistant Secretary of State for Passport Services Brenda Sprague, the old forms were “imprecise. It just didn’t capture the reality of their situation. Clearly, we want to be sensitive to the feelings of other people, but we are also very conscious of our need to introduce the greatest degree of precision to the process.”

Sprague further explained that “We find that with changes in medical science and reproductive technology that we are confronting situations now that we would not have anticipated 10 or 15 years ago.”

Originally, the Department of State planned to deal with this problem by replacing the terms “mother” and “father” with the gender neutral terms “parent one” and “parent two.” This caused controversy as some conservatives were outraged. According to Politics Daily, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stepped in with a common-sense solution. “Mother” and “Father” will remain on the new application forms, which will now read “mother or parent” and “father or parent.” The State Department can accurately capture information about applicants, nobody has to cross out parts of the application, and mothers and fathers won’t have to bicker about who gets to be “parent one” and who gets to be “parent two.” Everyone wins!

The new forms will be available March 01, 2011. Child passports take about 6 weeks to arrive if you apply with normal processing and about 3 weeks if you apply with the Department of State’s expedited service. An expediting company like RushMyPassport is the easiest and most convenient way to get your child’s passport more quickly, though you also have the option of making an appointment and traveling to the nearest passport agency office.

Let us help you apply for a child passport today!

If you’re living under an assumed name, here’s a tip for you: Don’t apply for a US passport.  Arturo Puente, a chief petty officer in the US Navy, learned this particular lesson the hard way.  You see, according to this article on Jacksonville.com, Arturo Puente isn’t the officer’s real name. The real Arturo Puente died of asthma attack in 1980, when he was only 11 years old.

Shortly before his death, the boy’s birth certificate was stolen from the family car. It’s unclear how or why the man who is now referred to as John Doe in court and who has since signed legal papers as Guillermo Salinas Guzman assumed the dead boy’s identity, but he has been using it at least since 1987, when he joined the Navy.

“John Doe” had apparently used the name Arturo Puente on 6 different passport applications filed over the past 2 decades. However, it was his latest passport application form for a diplomatic passport that blew his cover.

The Diplomatic Security Service was looking specifically for people using the names of deceased Oregon citizens on their passport application forms. When they found that Mr. Doe had applied for the passport using the same name, birthday and birth certificate as the deceased child, they sprung into action and he was charged with passport fraud.

In an affidavit, State Department Special Agent Mark P. Baird wrote that the “Subject’s true identity is unknown.” However, for the moment he is still working on the Mayport Naval Base, pending prosecution.

Obviously, living under an assumed identity is a bad idea anyway, but applying for a US passport under an identity that isn’t yours is even worse.

If you do need a passport, RushMyPassport can help-provided you are using your own name and have the necessary documents to prove your identity and US citizenship, of course! We can walk you through the application process and personally deliver your application to the Department of State, resulting in processing times as low as 24 hours.

Apply for your passport with us today!

One of the least fun parts of applying for a passport is filling out the passport application form.  Paperwork is never fun, and the procedure for filling out the application form can be a little bit confusing. To minimize the frustration,  here’s a handy, step-by-step guide for filling out Passport Application Form DS-11, an application for a new passport.

Step 1- Read Pages 1,2 and 4. These pages have important information about the documents you’ll need to apply for a passport, information about fees, and other handy information. For example, did you know that the estimated “paperwork burden”  for filling out a passport application form is 85 minutes?

Step 2- Fill out page 3 of the passport application form.  You can do this in advance, but DO NOT SIGN it until the nice passport acceptance agent tells you to do so. If you sign it too soon, you get to start all over again.

Step 3- If you need a new passport, you must apply in person. Find a local passport acceptance facility and take your passport application in with the required documents and photos.

Step 4- Sign Form DS-11 when requested to do so.  (more…)