passport questions

[rm]

I wrote about this in a ramble below, but I wanted to pull this out, make it clear, and see if anyone knew what to do.

I need to get a passport to go to Australia, also, I'd like to have ID in general.

As I don't have the required ID to do this painlessly, I need someone to accompany me to the passport office to fill out some forms and so forth. My mother has agreed to do this, so that's not a problem.

What is a problem is I can't seem to figure out how to get an appointment at said passport office. The phone system only takes appointments if you're travelling in less than 14 days. So what do I do if my situation is that I have to go in person, but don't want to wait until the last minute because it gives me anxiety? Is there a way to get an appointment?

I've read the website and listened to the phone messages dozens of times, and I can't figure any of it out.

Comments

[sola.livejournal.com]

hm. well, at least in the Bronx, you just waltz in, fill out the papers, and wait in line. it's not unlike the DMV. you can make an appointment if you need the passport posthaste, as you say, but you don't need one just to get in the door. i can only assume it's the same there.


i had to go in person with my father, too, lacking any other kind of ID several years ago; he jjustsut did it recently, with an expired passport. now i have to go back to the DMV and do the same song and dance, since i let my walking license lapse by over a year. oops. (irritatingly, if you do get a non-driver's ID, it lasts for five years, but you always have to go in to renew it.)

[rm.livejournal.com]

Hrmmm, the website says I can only go in person if I have an appointment though. I've never felt so stupid. It's like, if I can't understand all this awful government how to normal people manage?

Perhaps I shall have to take my mother to the Bronx.

[sola.livejournal.com]

i know. it's like being blind and trying to navigate a rat maze on rollerskates. the gov'mnt says that most Official Passport Facilities are now only taking people by appointment, but the million other passport offices still take walkins, i presume.


anyway, here's the listing for the county clerk's office, which is where we usually go. it's easy to reach by subway: just take the 4/5/6 to 149th-grand concourse.

[sola.livejournal.com]

forgot the link: or you could just find one closer to you.