I have my passport, I had to get it a few years ago when I took a research trip to Mexico. I don't remember much about the process...I went to the post office, they took a picture, paid a fee and a few weeks later I had a passport.
Getting passports for 3 kids, though, is not easy. It's not just that they have three times the fees to pay for. It's not that I had to drag three kids (aged 9, 7, and 3) to the post office and wait in line and have their pictures taken and wait in line again and etc. It was the beauracracy.
There have been recent changes to regulations for obtaining passports for children. This is mainly to prevent parents in a custody battle from fleeing the country with their children; this is a good thing. For this single mom, though, I could have done with a little less need to prove I have sole and exclusive custody of my kids THREE TIMES.
Luckily my lawyer had given me a copy of my custody decree when it was filed; so, other than one missing birth certificate, I had all the paperwork I needed already. The missing birth certificate required a trip to Raleigh and $41.50 fee (it is only $24, which I thought was way more reasonable, if I hadn't needed it 'expedited'). To make that hour drive worth while, I took the kids to the North Carolina Natural Sciences Museum which is only a block away from the vital records office.
All in all, though, the postal worker was so helpful and kind; she double and triple checked everything and even put post-it notes on my application to be sure to remind the (state department?) workers to return all of my documents. And, really, though it felt like it took forever it was only about 45 minutes (and that include pictures, reviewing paperwork, paying for and printing 3 money orders and making 15 different copies).
I will warn anyone who is thinking of getting their kids' passports anytime soon....bring extra cash; you will probably have a few unexpected fees.
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