APPLY OR RENEW YOUR US PASSPORT

If your passport expires anytime this year, renew now, while the process is quick and involves no surcharge.

Some basics for passport:

• To obtain a passport for the first time, or to renew a lost or expired passport, the application must be made in person at a designated post office. You will need to show proof of citizenship and photo identification such as driver's license, and submit two new 2-by-2-inch photos.
• A valid, unexpired passport can be renewed by mail. Obtain forms at post office or the Web site.
• The cost is $60 for a new adult passport (age 16 and older), $40 for renewal, $40 for a child's.

If your passport is nearing the end of its 10 years, you may be surprised by recent changes in the renewal system.

1. Unless you have a ticket for overseas travel within 14 days, or require visas for a trip leaving not much later, you cannot renew in person, only by mail. Everywhere but Hawaii and New Orleans, those who qualify for in-person renewals must get an appointment.
   

   SAN FRANCISCO PASSPORT AGENCY 95 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA (415)538-2700 9:00am to 4:00pm

   
   
2. You no longer need to go to a post office for a form; you can find one on the State Department's Web site, www.travel.state.gov and probably print it out at home.
3. On Feb. 1, 1998, the age limit on youth passport changed again, and young people may use a renewal form rather than a new-passport form if they got their previous passports when they were at least 16 -- not 18.

There are the fees:

• For a regular renewal, $40;
• For a new passport, which must be applied for in person at the post office or court, $60, which is $45 for the passport and $15 for the process fee;
• For a five-year passport for a child 15 or under, $40;
• For expedited service, $35 extra for any kind of passport.

With a ticket to travel 14 days, three-day service may be available at an agency; by mail, expedited renewal may take five to seven days, according to Ann M. Barrett, acting managing director of Passport Services in Washington. Acceptance places for first passports are listed on the Web site or in the blue pages of phone books.

People who are leaving in three to four weeks and find their passports are running -- many countries will not accept passports with less than six months to go -- are between a rock and a bureaucracy. If they are near a passport office, they can wait until the 14-day limit for appointments, or alternatively, they can deliver the application to an acceptance window or passport agency now with Express Mail postage attached, a $35 fee for expedited help (which guarantees a three-day turnaround once your documents have been received), and return Express Mail postage inside.

The State Department says that regular mail applications take 25 days for the round trip. Mail renewal applications should go to: P.O. Box 371971, Pittsburgh, PA 15262. Passport information is available 24 hours a day from the National Passport Information Center, (900) 225-5674. A fee of 35 cents a minute will be charged to the caller's phone (it takes about seven minutes to hear all of general information).

There are 13 regular passport agencies in the United States, plus one for diplomatic and other no-fee passports. Except for Honolulu and New Orleans, the regular agencies now work by phone appointment only, serving people with tickets for travel soon, mostly within 14 days, although Chicago and Washington set the limit at 21 days. The Honolulu and new Orleans offices will be going to appointments-only soon, Barrett says.

One other reminder: When you get a new passport, do not store it in a safe deposit box. Emergencies can occur on weekends, when banks are usually closed.

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The U.S. government can prohibit citizens from obtaining a passport for several reasons:

• Time To Pay The Piper: If you own more than $5,000 in child-support payments, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will notify Passport Services of your ineligibility. Even after you pay up, it can take up to three weeks for your name to be cleared.
• Legal Eagles, Take Note: The government can also deny you a passport if you're currently subpoenaed to testify in a federal prosecution or a grand jury investigation of a felony.
• I Spy A Spy: And if the Secretary of State determines that any of your activities abroad could cause serious damage to national security or U.S. foreign policy, you'll be conducting your top-secret business from the comfort of your own living room.
• Book 'Em, Boys: Of course, if there's an outstanding federal warrant for your arrest, or you're on probation or parole, you aren't going anywhere that requires a U.S. passport until after your time's up.

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