Applying for a First Time USA Passport for the first time can be very confusing. Don’t worry though, because it’s perfectly fine to feel that way. After all, you need to deal with a lot of things for the first time, fill in forms, and submit documents. The truth is that applying for passports doesn’t have to be confusing or even stressful. We’ll show you in the following paragraphs how you can easily apply for one minus the confusion and the hassle.

Because you’ll be dealing a lot with forms, it pays to be familiar with the different forms used in passport applications. Some forms are used to apply for passports; others are used to renew passports; others are for reporting the loss or theft of passports. Now since you’re likely applying for a passport for the first time, let’s deal with the first type of passport.

For first-time passport applicants, the DS-11 form is the one that needs to be filled out.  Unlike the pre-Internet days where you had to go to the passport office to obtain the form, now all you need to do is download this form at the US Department of State’s office website. Once you’ve downloaded it, you can fill the form in before printing it, or you can just print it first then fill it in by hand.

Once your form is complete along with the necessary documents, you’ll need to submit it for processing. For passport processing, you can choose to either have it go through routine processing, or have it expedited. Routine processing will generally be fine if you don’t need your passport to travel in the next ten weeks, as routine processing generally takes four to six weeks to complete.

An expedited passport is what you need if you need to travel within four weeks. Expedited passports are given priority over those that go through routine processing. Because of this, expedited passports are processed a lot faster.

In the case of an expedited First Time USA Passport, they are usually processed within two to three weeks and is thus the choice of travelers who need to have their passports quickly.  If you need to travel within that period, getting an expedited passport is an obvious choice.

Since expedited passports are a form of value-added service, it’s already a given that this service will also come with an extra price. Don’t worry though, as the extra price isn’t that steep. In fact, the price already pays for itself in terms of processing speed and convenience that it gives you.

To sum up, you have two options when it comes to applying for a First Time American Passport. The first one is to take it through the routine processing. It’s best if you’re not in a hurry to get your passport. On the other hand, there’s the expedited passport. It’s quicker than the routine processing, and is the better option if you need to have a passport in less than four weeks.