U.S. PASSPORTS - All Minor Applicants (Under Age 16) What Are You Applying For or Renewing? Application Fee Payment Instructions • Execution Fee Payment Instructions Use Form Minor Passport Book & Card $95 + $25 DS-11 Minor Passport Book $80 + $25 DS-11 Minor Passport Card $15 + $25 DS-11 All Minor applicants, including renewals, must apply in person at a Passport Agency, Acceptance Facility, U.S. Embassy or Consulate. Please see Special Requirements for Children Under Age 16.ORT & EMBASSY SERVICES GOING UP (BIG TIME) Starting July 13, 2010 - Costa Rica

UPDATE INFO ON
RENEWING YOUR PASSPORT OR REPLACING A LOST OR STOLEN PASSPORT
IN COSTA RICA AT

LivingLifeInCostaRica.blogspot.com/2013/02/renewing-your-us-passport-cr.html


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U.S. PASSPORT and EMBASSY SERVICES WENT UP (BIG TIME) - July 13, 2010

travel.state.gov/passport/fees/fees_837.html

Submitting incorrect passport fees could delay the processing of your application. Before submitting your application, read the information below carefully and entirely to ensure that your payment is correct.
Skip to:	Adult Passports	Minor Passports	Optional Services	Special Services	Payment Instructions

Adult Renewals ("Renewals" include Lost and Stolen Passports.  Age 16 Years and Older Good for 10 years) Lost or stolen passport requires Forms DS64 in addition to DS11 only if the lost passport is valid due to the second passport rule: What Are You Renewing? Renewal Fee Payment Instructions Use Form Adult Passport Book & Card $140 DS-82 Adult Passport Book $110 DS-82 Adult Passport Card If you currently hold a valid Passport Book or Card $30 DS-82 Adult renewal applicants in the U.S. may apply by Mail (recommended), or in person at a Passport Agency. Adult renewal applicants outside the U.S. must apply at a U.S. Embassy or Consulate.

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ All Minor Applicants (Under Age 16 - ONLY good for 5 years) What Are You Applying For or Renewing? Application Fee Payment Instructions Execution Fee Payment Instructions Use Form Minor Passport Book & Card $95 + $25 DS-11 Minor Passport Book $80 + $25  =  $105 DS-11 Minor Passport Card $15 + $25 DS-11 All Minor applicants, including renewals, must apply in person at a Passport Agency, Acceptance Facility, U.S. Embassy or Consulate. Please see Special Requirements for Children Under Age 16. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ Adult First Time Applicants  (Age 16 Years and Older  -  Good for 10 years) What Are You Applying For? Application Fee Payment Instructions Execution Fee Payment Instructions Use Form Adult Passport Book & Card$140 + $25 =  $165 DS-11 Adult Passport Book $110 + $25 DS-11 Adult Passport Card If you do NOT currently hold a valid Passport Book or Card $30 + $25 DS-11 All first time applicants must apply in person at a Passport Agency, Acceptance Facility, U.S. Embassy or Consulate.

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Optional Services  •  Additional Fee Notes Expedited Service (Applicants in the U.S. only) $60 See important information about Application Processing Times and follow the instructions on How to Get Your Passport in a Hurry. To request Expedited Service, pay the $60.00 Expedited Service Fee for each application, in addition to the required fees noted above. The Expedited Fee is required for each application submitted in person at a Passport Agency or Center. Passport Book Overnight Delivery (Applicants in the U.S. only) $12.85 We strongly suggest that you use overnight delivery service to return your newly issued Passport Book to you. Overnight delivery service is not available for passport cards, which are delivered via First Class Mail only. To request Overnight Delivery, pay the $12.85 Overnight Delivery fee for each application, in addition to the required fees noted above. File Search (Required when applicant is unable to present evidence of citizenship) $150.00 In addition to the passport application, submit a written request for File Search to verify a previous U.S. Passport or Consular Report of Birth Abroad. Applicants who are overseas and whose passport was lost or stolen are exempt from paying the File Search Fee. For more information, see 22 CFR 22.1, Item No. 6.

Special Services Add Pages to Passport $82 (note - if additional pages are $82 - might getting a whole new DS-4085 See important information on How to Add Extra Pages to Your U.S. Passport. Data Error Correction $0 DS-5504 See important information on Correcting or Changing Information in Your Passport. Name Change IMPORTANT: Name Change fee and form vary depending on circumstances; for details and instructions see Change Your Name in Your U.S. Passport. If you are eligible to use Form Fee DS-5504 $0 DS-11 Same fee(s) as for Adult First Time Applicants DS-82 Same fee(s) as for Adult Renewals

Payment Instructions Please Note: The Application Fee is a non-refundable processing fee and is retained by the Department of State whether or not the passport is issued. Location Methods of Payment Accepted Passport Agency All Fees: Credit Cards (VISA, MasterCard, American Express, Discover) and Debit/Check Cards Checks (personal, certified, cashiers, travelers), payable to "Department of State" Money orders (U.S. Postal, international, currency exchanges) and bank drafts, payable to "Department of State" Acceptance Facility Application Fee and any Optional Services Fees: Personal checks, money orders and bank drafts at all locations, payable to "Department of State" Exact cash at some locations (verify with the Acceptance Facility) $25 Execution Fee Paid Separately: Money orders and bank drafts at all locations, payable as instructed by the Acceptance Facility Personal checks and exact cash at some locations (verify with the Acceptance Facility) Credit cards at U.S. Postal Facilities and some other locations (verify with the Acceptance Facility) By Mail Renewal Fee and any Optional Services Fees: Checks (personal, certified, cashiers, travelers), payable to "Department of State" Money orders (U.S. Postal, international, currency exchange), payable to "Department of State" U.S. Embassy or Consulate All Fees: U.S. Embassies and Consulates accept the local foreign currency equivalent to the dollar ($) amounts indicated above. For guidance on additional methods of payment, contact the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate.

For further information regarding passport application fees, please contact the National Passport Information Center.

WHAT IS A PASSPORT "CARD?"
It's not a full passport, but a small ID card issued by the US government for crossing land and sea borders with Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda. The passport card is NOT valid for International air travel.^[3] It is possible to hold the U.S. passport card in addition to a regular passport, making it useful when travelling internationally for a long time (Round-the-world-trip). In cases where people need to apply for a visa, and thus have to hand in their regular passport, the U.S. passport card can be a valid proof of ID and U.S. citizenship, allowing free movement unrestricted by local authorities.^{[citation needed]} Please note that not all jurisdictions (e.g. Germany) accept the U.S. passport card as valid ID due to lack of signature.



WHERE CAN I APPLY FOR A FIRST TIME PASSPORT:
Department of State's Bureau of Consular Affairs, Office of Passport Services/Customer Service, which designates many post offices, clerks of court, public libraries and other state, county, township, and municipal government offices to accept passport applications on its behalf.
THIS site will help you to find the closest location to you:
iafdb.travel.state.gov



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OLD ARTICLE

Adult's passport - $135 (was $75 - This is for renewals/lost/stolen passports I'm pretty positive [this would NOT be for first timers since you're already out of the country. Those I believe are quite a bit more]. I just had to get a new passport and if my memory is working, I also had to pay an additional $25 or so as I remember it being around $100 so there's most likely something else added to the $135).

Child's passport - $105 (was $60)

Registering a birth - $100 (was $65)

Notary fee - $50 (was $30 - that's per PAGE!!! [this is the same service that some banks in the U.S. give for FREE and other places charge $5 or so!!])

I had heard before that they were going to be charging now for ADDING PAGES to your passport so if you're getting close to filling up - go NOW to get the pages added!!!

Want to renounce your U.S. citizenship? It used to be free but now it's $450 (but ya still have to pay taxes for up to 10 years!!).

Know anyone considering apply for a Visa to VISIT the U.S.? Good luck and get in there NOW!!! One class of visa application goes JUMPS UP from $131 to $390 and that's just for the application - added to there's a GOOD chance they will NOT be accepted so they'll loose that $$$ (it's REAL HARD and complicated for foreigners to visit the U.S. these days!!!).

BEND OVER and TAKE IT - with a smile peeps!!!

At least when I was recently there - I was SHOCKED at how GREAT the Customer Service was at the U.S. Embassy in Costa Rica!! When I went to apply for my new passport (it had been stolen), it took me a total of 37 minutes (and that included 7 minutes on the picture/getting it developed) and when I went to pick it up 1 week later - JUST 7 minutes TOTAL!!! and the people were SOOOOO NICE!!!!!

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WHY HAVE THE PASSPORT FEES GONE UP SO MUCH?

According to their site - travel.state.gov/passport/fees/fees_5079.html -

Passport application fees are not only used to cover the costs of producing a U.S. Passport Book or Passport Card. Passport fees also cover the costs of providing emergency services for American citizens overseas in crisis situations, such as the current earthquake disaster in Haiti, helping Americans who have been the victims of crime while traveling or living abroad, and providing support to the families of American citizens who have died overseas.

Passport application fees enable us to keep up with technology and implement fraud prevention initiatives to protect the United States passport. The security features of the U.S. passport book have received high praise from document security specialists the world over. Investing in new technology to prevent passport fraud is one of our key priorities, and an ongoing initiative.

Passport fees fund the expansion of passport infrastructure and service, allowing us to offer more timely service to the traveling public, maintain high standards for adjudication in accordance with US citizenship laws, and provide appropriate attention to fraud vulnerabilities.

Over the last few years, the demand for passports has increased to an average of 15 million per year. In FY 2005, we issued 10.1 million passports; peaked at 18.4 million in FY 2007; and expect to issue over 15 million in FY 2010. To increase our presence in underserved areas, the Department has undertaken a systematic expansion of the passport network, particularly in communities affected by the land border-crossing requirements associated with the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative. By the end of FY 2010, we will have 23 agencies providing emergency passport services to the general public, three high-volume application processing centers, and two large-scale document print centers.

Some of this was information gathered from AMCostaRica.com

(with all this said and the complaints I've heard from MANY - we get to be grateful because Canadian passports are $100 - BUT they're ONLY good for 5 YEARS!!!)

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