Emergency Passport Day

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Audrey is missing school today. She has to renew her passport for the trip. After researching, and partly from an experience surrounding my own passport as we were preparing for last year’s trip to Paris, I realized that Audrey was going to need a new passport to be able to even get on the airport. She got her passport as an infant and in the US they are valid for 5 years. Officially hers didn’t expire until August. Spain, and most countries, have a requirement that passports do not expire from 3 months from the return date of your airline ticket. For us this would have been in September, so she needed a new passport. Luckily the Houston Passport Office is extremely efficient and organized. It is located at on Smith St. and there is a pay parking lot that costs $15 for the whole day to park there. Yes it is expensive, but one hour costs $10 and you don’t want to be sweating that you aren’t going to be done in an hour. I found out the hard way when I didn’t read that the machine does not give change. The parking lot is tiny and there is always an issue trying to get out of the small spaces because of the giant pole in the middle of the lot. Everyone cooperates and tries to help you to reverse and such. When you enter the Leeland Federal Building, there is security. You have to take off your belt and pass your bags through the scanners. It is very much like an airport. You have to pass your stroller separately through the walk-through metal detector and then carry the baby through. A lot of people complain about extensive security because of the hassle. I don’t. I appreciate knowing that not just anyone can walk in with a gun or something worse. It is a federal building and unfortunately, government haters do exist. After getting through security you have to go to the second set of elevators because the first set bypass the 4th floor. When you get off there is another security guard asking whether you have an appointment and then he directs you to the appropriate line. The first part has 2 separate lines. You should your application, airline tickets, and passports at the first window. They give your a number and then you wait to be called. On this trip, Hector was not with me and officially, both parents must be present with the child when getting a passport for a child. We had the notarized D-42 form he signed as not being able to be present because of a meeting he couldn’t miss. A word of advice is to take the same form of identification with which he signed the form to the office because at the 2nd window the lady told me I was supposed to present the same form of identification at the window as he signed the form with. Oops. I told her he gave me his passport because he needed his drivers license on him to drive to his meeting. She understood and said they will call you if there is a problem and need you to present his drivers license. I paid the expedite fee and and she kept Audrey’s birth certificate and old passport. She told me to return tomorrow at 9:30 am. The window is only open for one hour to pick up the passport. I did as she said. Overall, it was a very easy and streamlined process. People are always stressed because they are traveling like the next day (like us) and worry they are not going to get the passport in time. I have done the expedite several times and it always works out. They really do try to accommodate you based on your needs. I really cannot complain about the passport office. I mean it is a federal document that I am able to get in one day. It is sort of important. You know what I mean?

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