How to Get a Passport in Kansas

So you finally saved enough money to take your dream vacation to a foreign country. Perhaps you're trekking through some trails in Tibet, surfing the waves off Australia or exploring jungle ruins in Mexico. Aside from your airfare and any applicable visas, you're going to need a passport, which not only proves your American identify but allows you to enter foreign shores and to return to the United State. You can easily get one in Kansas.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Step 1

Complete Form DS-11, Application for a U.S. Passport, which is available online through travel.state.gov. This form requires your contact details as well as your Social Security Number. You will submit the form and supporting materials to a passport agent in Kansas. Do not sign the form until requested by the passport agent.

Step 2

Prepare proof of U.S. citizenship, which can be a birth certificate certified by city, county or state; consular report of birth abroad; naturalization certificate; or certificate of citizenship.

Step 3

Make sure you have government-issued photo identification. This could be a driver's license, government ID or military ID. Photocopy the front and back of this identification on plain, white letter-sized paper.

Step 4

Have two identical color passport photos that measure 2-inches square. The photos must have been taken within the past six months and show the front of your full face with a white or off-white background. You must wear ordinary street clothes plus any glasses or other devices that you wear normally. However, you cannot don uniforms or hats. Religious attire is allowed if you wear that daily.

Step 5

Take all your materials to a valid Acceptance Facility in Kansas, such as the following:

Kansas City Claims
4900 Speaker Road
Kansas City, KS 66106
(913) 573-2665

Civic Center Station
550 Nebraska Ave.
Kansas City, KS 66101
(913) 621-4116

Use the travel.state.gov website to find additional facilities in Kansas.

Step 6

Submit your materials, sign the form when instructed by the agent, and pay the passport fees. Expect your passport to arrive in about four weeks. If you need the document in under two weeks for travel or within four weeks for a foreign visa, pay extra for expedited processing.

Resources

Article Written By Aurelio Locsin

Aurelio Locsin has been writing professionally since 1982. He published his first book in 1996 and is a frequent contributor to many online publications, specializing in consumer, business and technical topics. Locsin holds a Bachelor of Arts in scientific and technical communications from the University of Washington.

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