Get A New or First Time U.S. Passport with TDS Chicago

• You have never had a U.S. passport.
• Your current passport was issued more than 15 years ago.
• Your most recent U.S. passport was issued prior to your 16th birthday.

If you require Emergency Two Day processing you must have an appointment to proceed.

Please call Travel Document Systems so we may schedule an appointment with the U.S. Passport Agency on your behalf (A personal appearance at the US Passport Agency or TravelDocs office is not required).

Travel Document Systems must receive your documents at least one business day prior to your appointment.

Call TDS Now  833-818-7913 (toll-free) or 312-840-8595 (local)

When applying for a U.S. passport, evidence of U.S. citizenship must be submitted with along application form DS-11. All documentation submitted as citizenship evidence will be returned to you. 

Primary Evidence of U.S. Citizenship:

An original certified birth certificate issued by a U.S. city, county, or state, an original or certified “long form” birth certificate from the Office of Vital Statistics showing both parents’ full names, the certificate must have a raised seal.
Certified Birth Certificates missing both parents full names will not be acceptable as evidence of U.S. citizenship.
You can acquire a certified birth certificate from the Office of Vital Statistics in your state of birth or order it from.

Hospital issued birth certificates are not acceptable to apply for a U.S. Passport.

In Addition to these requirements, certified copies of birth certificates must also include the following information to be considered acceptable primary evidence of U.S citizenship.

*Full name of the applicant
*Date of birth
*Place of birth
*Raised, Embossed, impressed or multicolored seal of issuing authority
*Registrar's signature
*The date the certificate was filed with the registrar's office (must be within one year)

Additional forms of evidence of U.S. citizenship:
Original previous U.S. passport if it was issued over 15 years ago
Original certificate of citizenship or FS-240,DS-1350 (certificate of birth abroad)
Original certificate of Naturalization
If you cannot obtain a birth certificate or additional forms of evidence that meets these requirements, please see Secondary Evidence of U.S Citizenship.

When applying for a U.S. passport, acceptable identification must be presented at the time of application.

Primary Identification (One of the following):

Previously issued, undamaged U.S. passport
Naturalization Certificate
Valid Driver's License
Current Government ID (city, state or federal)
Current Military ID (military and dependents)

When you proceed to the Post Office or Court House the clerk will take your Driver's License or ID details. (Not the original) Click here to locate your nearest local acceptance agent.

One recent professional passport-type photograph

Passport Photo Guide - Click Here

Non-passport photograph type are not acceptable.

TravelDocs DIY Digital Photo Service

The State Department has extremely strict passport photo requirements — do not allow your application to be delayed due to an incorrectly formatted photo.

Use the TravelDocs digital visa photo service, snap a selfie using your camera, cell phone or tablet, and we will return a perfectly formatted passport photo by email within 1 business day.

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Click here to print the Authorization Letter

Letter MUST have an original signature; faxes, scans, photocopies, etc are NOT accepted by the United States Passport Agency.

Complete and sign TWO Authorization Letters. One letter will be placed inside your sealed envelope by the clerk, the other will be placed inside your Fed Ex package.

Note: You MUST hand write Travel Document Systems in the space labeled Courier Company Name on the Authorization Letter above.

Proof of Departure from the USA can be any of the following:

A copy of your airline ticket or flight itinerary from your travel agent, airline, or online booking company. It is not required for the Proof of Departure to be purchased only that it will confirm your travel intentions. A print out of the confirmation email that you are emailed after booking a flight is ideal.

A signed letter detailing your business travel.
A signed letter detailing that your job requires you to travel frequently and with short notice.
Please follow this letter format.

A signed letter explaining that you will be driving to Canada and or Mexico.
Please follow this letter format.

Please include one copy inside the sealed envelope, a second copy will be placed inside your Fed Ex package.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR CHILDREN UNDER 16 YEARS

1. Both parents or child's legal guardian must:

Present evidence of child's U.S. citizenship (One of the following):
1. Previously issued, undamaged US Passport.
2. Certified Birth Certificate issued by the city, county or state.
3. Consular Report of Birth Abroad or Certification of Birth.
4. Naturalization Certificate.
5. Certificate of Citizenship.
and:
Present evidence they are the child's parents or guardian (One of the following):
1. Minors certified US Birth Certificate with BOTH parents' names.
2. Minors certified Foreign Birth Certificate with BOTH parents' names.
3. Minors Report of Birth Abroad with BOTH parents' names
4. Adoption Decree with adopting parents' names.
5. Court Order establishing custody.
6. Court Order establishing guardianship.
and:
Show valid personal identification, and
Sign and take oath before an authorized passport acceptance agent.

2. If the second parent is not available, the appearing parent must Do as above, and print and complete the following form:

DS-3053: Statement of Consent - Issuance of a Passport to a Minor Under Age 16

This form should be submitted, along with the DS-11 Application for Passport, for minors under age 16 as evidence of parental permission for the following reasons.
You are a non-applying parent or guardian consenting to passport issuance for your child, or
You are an applying parent or guardian, and the written consent of the non-applying parent or guardian cannot be obtained

3. If no parent is available to sign, the third party in lieu parent must:
Appear with a notarized written statement or affidavit from both parents or custodial parent(s) authoring the third party to apply for the passport. When the statement or affidavit is from only one parent, the third party must present evidence of sole custody of the authorizing parent.
The law requires that all applications be signed under oath under the penalty of perjury.

THESE INSTRUCTIONS ARE ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR CHILDREN UNDER 16 YEARS


All minor children applying for passports are required to appear in person at the local acceptance agency.

DS-11: Application for New Passport.

Print TWO copies of the completed DS-11 form. Do not sign your DS-11 application until you are instructed to do so by the acceptance agent. Give one DS-11 to the acceptance agent to be placed inside the sealed envelope. The second DS-11 is to be placed inside your FedEx package to TDS.

The US Passport Agency has introduced an Online based application form, this Online style
application must be used in all expediting cases. Failure to use this Online application may cause
delays in processing times.

TIP: This Online application has replaced "Hand Written" applications, YOU ARE NOT APPLYING 
ONLINE you are only completing the questions by typing them into the application.
The last page of the application is a Print summary page, please scroll to the bottom left corner of 
this page and CLICK CREATE FORM you will then be able to print and sign your application.

Note: The application Wizard will ask you to select fees, shipping and processing options. Select any options to complete the form, no payments will be made and options selected will have no effect on the actual service provided by Travel Document Systems. The Wizard is simply designed to assist the general public in calculating fees for traditional mail-in applications. 

A correctly formatted application should have a BAR CODE on the top left corner, and DS-11 printed on the bottom left of the application.

To view a correctly formatted application form please Click Here

If you are applying for a regular U.S. passport book only, please mark the box on your passport application next to "Passport Book". If you also want to apply for a U.S. Passport Card you should also mark the box next "Passport Card". There is an additional $55.00 (Adults) $40.00 (Minors) U.S. government fee for the Passport Card, the U.S. Passport Cards cannot be expedited at this time and take approximately 2-3 weeks to be issued, the Passport Card will be processed separately from your regular passport book (in about 2-3 weeks) then mailed to you directly by First Class mail from the U.S. Passport Agency.