To apply for a U.S. Passport you must fill out an application and submit all of the required documentation to the U.S. Department of State. You can do this by visiting your local Passport Acceptance Facilities. Passport Acceptance Facilities are located in thousands of locations throughout the United States. Generally, they are found in post offices and other government buildings. The U.S. Department of State website offers a search page for you to find the Passport Acceptance Facility nearest your home.
If you are traveling internationally in two weeks or less and have yet to apply for a U.S. Passport you must make an appointment at a Regional Passport Agency. There are only 22 Regional Passport Agencies located in the U.S., which means your appointment could require travel. Making an appointment with a Regional Passport Agency provides an expedited service for passports to ensure your passport arrives prior to your departure. If your international travel takes you to the Caribbean, Bermuda, Canada or Mexico by land or sea you can apply for and receive a passport card onsite at any Regional Passport Agency.
If you are already out of the country and your current passport is lost or stolen you'll need to apply for a new passport at an U.S. Embassy or Consulate. The U.S. has Embassies and Consulates in every country in the world and provides a list of each one for you to reference should this occur. When visiting a U.S. Embassy or Consulate you will need to provide some form of identification, which complicates matters if all of your belongings were lost or stolen while abroad. As a side note, supplying a trusted friend or relative with a photocopy of the pages of your passport prior to traveling abroad will assist in the process of obtaining a passport while overseas.
Unless you make an appointment with a Regional Passport Agency, the U.S. Department of State will take up to eight weeks to process your application from the time of receipt. You have the option of greatly reducing the amount of time it takes to process your passport by opting to pay an additional $60 fee to expedite your passport's application time. When submitting your application at your local Passport Acceptance Facility, inform the clerk you'd like to expedite your passport service and pay the fee; your passport will arrive in two to three weeks rather than six to eight.
