“More people read this shirt than read your blog
0000002 “
Despair.Com T-shirt saying
“Never before have so many people with so little to say said so much to so few”
Despair.Com poster about blogging
“The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe. “
-Dr. McCoy, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
Here are the preparations you need to go overseas, at least to Paris.
If documentally challenged (there is no automatic checker in open source) you should allow yourself the minimum of 4 months. If as my brother refers to me you are a slacker and procrastinate then 6 months to a year.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Passport
First, really last you need a passport, or should I say last.
Lets go through the steps.
To get a passport you need a valid birth certificate, which through incredible wisdom and lack of organization I had lost.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Birth Certificate
Site to look at to obtain a birth certificate http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/howto/w2w/w2welcom.htm
After a 2 or 3 week wait they sent me a form
They wanted the following:
A $12.00 Check
A copy of my driver's license
City of my birth
State of my birth
Signature
My Social Security Number
My Mothers place of birth
I believe my mother's social security number
My father's place of birth
I believe my father's social security number
The state that I applied to(Kansas) graciously allowed me to send all the information. I refer to quote number 3 above. And they only took around 6 weeks to get it back to me.
I had done everything wrong. But unlike many government agencies they send me the check back as well.
The second time, I sent a new check and crossed my i's and dotted my t's correctly. Within 2 weeks, I had my birth certificate.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Passport
First http://travel.state.gov/passport/passport_1738.html or key in “passport” at Google.
You have to apply for the form DS-11 which you can print if you have a printer.
Fill out the form
Find the nearest or safest Post Office that works
Look at http://www.usps.com/passport/
Click on locator http://usps.whitepages.com/passport
Find the one that works for you. Call and set up an appointment.
Personally, I had them take my picture there for $15.00 extra.
The total was around $119.00.
That's pretty much it.
You have to have a passport to leave the country legally.
If any of my much more travelled relatives have advice on how better to describe this or improvements, please let me know.
