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A DS-11 form is a necessity if you need a passport that represents you as an American citizen. While a driver license is valid enough within the U.S., it takes a fully fledged passport to go abroad. To apply for a passport, one has to fill and submit a DS-11 form developed for this purpose.
What Is a DS-11 Form?
If you have never had a U.S. passport and now you need one, you need to fill a special form for the state to issue one. It is also necessary when you have had a passport but it was stolen, lost, or expired after 10 years after issuing.
Along with the filled DS-11, one has to attach a document that proves their American citizenship. It can be one of the following:
US hospital birth record (for natural born Americans)
Certificate of naturalization (for naturalized immigrants)
Certificate of citizenship (works in most cases)
Consular Report of Birth Abroad or Certificate of Birth (if one was born abroad to American parents)
You also need a document that provides your identity. It can be a driver’s license, a certificate of citizenship or naturalization, a permanent resident card, a tribal card, or whatever you use for this purpose.
More documents may be required if the main one you attach causes any doubt. It can be documents of your parents, your own naturalization documents, or whatever can prove your citizenship.
Remember: there is never too much paper. If any doubt is possible, you better take extra documents than missing the one you need.
Finally, you have to provide two identical photographs of your face. The size of them should be 2*2 inches. The photographs should be less than six months old.
The form itself only consists of two pages. All the fields of this form are necessary. Unlike, say, IRS forms, the DS-11 requires no calculations. Nevertheless, you have to be precise. It’s what you have written that counts, not what you meant.
Step 1: You can opt for a passport card or a passport book. The latter is necessary for traveling, and, if you suppose you may run out of place for visas, you can selecta non-standard large book. There is even an option to choose both a book and a card.
Step 2: If you have used various names in your life (for example, before and after marriage or converting to another religion), you need to list all the names you have been using before on lines 1 and 9. Internet nicknames or creative pseudonyms don’t count here, of course.
Step 3: Enter your personal information. Like your Date of Birth, Place of Birth, SSN, etc. Make sure you enter this information correctly.
Step 4: A couple of words on how to fill out page 2 of a DS11 form. Most of its fields are obvious (if you use true information as you should). As for Emergency Contact (a person that can be found and contact you when you are abroad and not available directly), name someone who mostly stays at home while you travel. And don’t fill the bottom of Page 2, under the line that says that.
How to fill passport DS11 for minors?
There are some differences in how to fill passport DS11 for minors. If a minor applies for a U.S. passport, it requires a special approach. The form itself remains the same regardless of age, but the procedure differs. Mainly, it requires personal presence of a child’s parents or guardians.
These persons should provide the documents that prove their parentship or other acceptable relation. If one or both parents cannot appear for known reasons, a Form DS-3053 should be filed. If one parent is there, but another cannot be located, the present parent should fill a Form DS-5525.
The passport one under 16 gets will only be valid for five years, and it cannot be renewed: if it expires or gets lost, a new one will be required.
For minors, the price of the passport is $80, and that of a passcard is $15. Changing a passport is free if there was an error made by the service.
The form itself is available for free. Unless you count the printing and mailing expenses, of course, if you intend to print it and send via mail.
How to Download Passport Form DS-11?
We are constantly checking the latest news about form DS-11. You can download the latest version of it from our site, with exhaustive instructions on how to fill out passport form DS-11 in its current edition.
If you want to know how to download passport form DS-11 instead of opening it in your browser, do the following:
A right click on it if you are using a Windows device
A double tap if you are using a Mac
A long tap if you are using an iPhone, iPad, or an Android device
Then select “Download” or “Save” option. After that, open the saved file in whatever PDF viewer or editor you prefer. The form is available as a fillable PDF file. You can print it, fill and then scan, or fill digitally with an iPad (or other tablet) and a digital pen. The document contains the official manual how to fill out a DS-11 form, perfectly compatible with the current edition.
How to Do DS-11 Online?
Before telling how to do DS11 online, we must warn you that a personal visit to a passport office (or a U.S. embassy if you’re doing it while abroad) will still be necessary. So even if you opt for filling the form electronically, after that, you need to print it and have the printed copy with you when you visit the office. The reason is simple: a personal signature is still necessary when it comes to this type of documents.
The way how to fill out a passport application DS-11 is the same, no matter if you fill it on paper or in digital form. Then you can send it, regarding the urgency of getting your passport. There are different offices for different grades of urgency; you can find them by links on travel.state.gov.
Just download the form and print it. There are no limitations such as those about IRS 1099 and some other forms. The available PDF’s are completely printable. But, in fact, you don’t have to: you can fill in and turn in its digital version.
How much does a form DS-11 cost to complete for a passcard?
If you don’t plan to travel to countries that require a visa, a passcard is a good option, partly because it’s the most affordable. The first-time applicants can have a passport card for as much as $30, while a passport book will cost you $130. There is no discount if you order both: the cost will be $160. In addition, you will have to pay a $35 fee, regardless of your choice.
How to turn in a DS-11?
You can send the form either online or via the snail mail. But you will have to visit the office in person unless you have already had a U.S. passport and it hasn’t expired. Then you have to renew your passport instead of issuing a new one, and this procedure can be done remotely.
