Acquire and fill out the Form DS-11 from a passport agency, your local acceptance facility, or online at the Travel.State.Gov website. Remember that, while you can fill out the information on the card prior to taking it in, all forms must be submitted in person, and you are not allowed to sign the form unless you are in the presence of an acceptance agent and specifically requested to do so.
Take your form and submit it to an appropriate acceptance facility. You can choose an acceptance facility from a Bureau of Consular Affairs, in a foreign country, your local post office (which is the most common method for most people), as well as county clerks, public libraries or other municipal government offices who accept passport applications.
Provide proof of U.S. citizenship when applying for your passport. Valid proof considered can be in the form of a previously issues, undamaged passport, your certified birth certificate, or naturalization certificate or citizenship certificate. You must also provide current proof of your present identification in the form of a passport, driver's license, government ID, military ID or a naturalization certificate.
Provide a passport photo along with photocopies of all of the aforementioned documentation, as well as pay the applicable fee. Bring along a few extra passport photos just in case, and remember that your fee needs to be paid by credit card, check or money order.
