ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, February 23, 1997 TAG: 9702210004
SECTION: TRAVEL PAGE: 8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BARBARA SHEA NEWSDAY
If your passport expires this year, now is a good time to renew it - before the annual pre-vacation deluge starts.
There are a few new twists this year in the process, which the State Department has been steadily streamlining. You can now get basic renewal information - and even download the necessary forms - from the on-line home page of the State Department Bureau of Consular Affairs (http://travel.state.gov). The only hapless souls who still have to wait in line, ironically, are those in a rush - those needing a passport for a trip within two weeks.
Despite a flurry of negative publicity about how travelers who want passport information by phone have to pay for it by calling a 900 number, you can still get most questions answered with a toll-free call to the Federal Information Center - operated not by the passport agency but by the General Services Administration. Most travelers will need to call the pay-per-minute 900 number only if they want to check on the status of a passport in the works, if they have an urge to listen to recorded information at 3 a.m. or if they can't get the help they need via the toll-free line.
I recently called both lines and didn't have to wait more than a few seconds to speak with someone on either one. However, volume is bound to increase, considering the State Department expects to process more than 6 million passports this year.
Passport forms - and the preliminary in-person processing required to get passports for children or first-time adult passports - are available at certain post offices and courthouses (listed in the phone book under Passport Acceptance Facilities).
Need further information? Start by calling the toll-free Federal Information Center at (800)688-9889; it's open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. If they can't help, you can get recorded basic information 24 hours a day from the National Passport Information Center - (900)225-5674 - at a rate of 35 cents a minute; you can speak with a person from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the rate of $1.05 a minute. If you need to make the call from a phone that blocks access to 900 numbers (such as your employer's), you must dial another number - (888)362-8668; for that call you'll be billed a flat fee of $4.95, which you can charge to a credit card.
Adult passports (age 18 and older) are valid for 10 years. To renew, you must send in your old one (sentimentalists can ask to have it returned), along with two recent head shots and a $55 renewal fee. You can renew a passport at any time while it's valid and for two years after it's has expired (after that, you have to start over and apply for another new one, which costs $65). Some countries say they won't admit a tourist whose passport is within six months of expiring, so the State Department recommends renewing well in advance.
You can handle simple passport transactions via regular first-class mail (officials say few get lost). Or pay extra for special handling or private delivery services. Anyone who needs a new passport within three working days also can add a rush fee of $30.
Passports for children cost $40 and are good for five years. Kids 13-18 need to apply in person; parents or legal guardians can appear in place of younger children (even infants need their own).
LENGTH: Medium: 63 linesby CNB