I renewed my passport!

[dreamshark]

Fortunately I thought to look at my passport before I started booking flights to Europe (or driving to Canada) - it expires in June.

Since you only have to renew your passport every 10 years, it is hard to keep up on the latest procedures. Last time I had to do this I went to the Hennepin County Services Building near Southdale and they did it all, including taking the passport pictures.

Turns out there are more options now, but you can still get the whole thing done from start to finish at that same building, which is what I did. The entire process (not counting waiting 4-6 weeks for my new passport to arrive) took less than 45 minutes! The total cost was $153 ($110 for the passport itself, $43 for the services provided). I had to sign a waiver acknowledging that I knew that DIY was cheaper and I still wanted them to do it for me. One-stop shopping rules.

• I could have saved $15.00 by getting my passport photos at Walgreen's.


• I could have saved another $18 by mailing in the application with the passport photos.
  
  But if you just pay the fee and do it at the Govt Services building, you get not one but two people to look over the form for you, point out boxes you forgot to check, tell you which of the two dates on your passport they are asking for, and so on. And you don't have to locate a large envelope, calculate the postage to mail back your old passport with the application, and remember to mail it.

Comments

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

It is a great luxury to be able to choose one's expenses. I bet your passport shows up in much less time than they've told you. My last one came quite quickly.

K.