You can book the flight, hotel, rental car, and get your trip arrangements taken care of. You can make all of the at-home arrangements for a house sitter and a place for the pets, but if you don’t make sure to take care of your passport, you won’t be going anywhere.
Here are 5 things that you want to make sure to take care of and check on concerning your passport so your trip can go off without a hitch.
Apply As Soon As Possible. It can take up to 6 weeks to get your passport in the mail. You can pay for an expedited delivery for an additional charge. This charge can be over $50 though and that can be a great round of drinks or some awesome souvenirs. Save your money and don’t put yourself in a situation where you have to worry about whether or not you are going to have it in time.
Fill Out The Form Correctly. You want to make sure that you fill out the application correctly with the proper spellings and information. If you don’t, you are going to have to have the passport corrected before you are able to go on your trip. It is like “measure twice, cut once.” Do it right the first time and save yourself the headache.
Get A New Passport If You Have Too Many Stamps. Although it can make you look really cool to your friends, a passport with too many stamps can be a hindrance in customs. Some countries are going to require a certain number of empty pages in order to enter the country. Look into the requirements of where it is that you are traveling to and do it with plenty of time so that you can get a new one if you need to.
Check The Expiration Date. If there is 6 months or less left on your passport, you may need to apply for a renewed one. There are some places that will not allow you to enter the country with one that will be expiring that soon.
Correct The Name After A Name Change. If you have recently gotten married or changed your name for a personal reason, you have to make sure to update the name on your passport so that it matches everything else in your life. You may be able to get this done for free if you have had your passport issued within the last year.
None of these things are that difficult, but they can turn into huge problems if you don’t take care of them before your trip. Your passport is an important international document and it needs to be handled with care. You want to give yourself plenty of time to make sure that your preexisting passport is in order or to get your new one. Traveling can be a lot of work, so don’t make dealing with your passport harder than it needs to be.
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