The U.S. Army Garrison Stuttgart Passport Office and the U.S. Consulate in Frankfurt will host “Passport Day” Feb. 24 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Patch Community Club on Patch Barracks.
Representatives from the consulate will be on hand to accept consular report of birth abroad and tourist passport applications.
The birth of a child abroad needs to be reported to an American consular office as quickly as possible, according to Edmund Snead, a USAG Stuttgart passport and visa specialist.
“The consular report of birth abroad is the most important document a child born outside the U.S. can have. Without it, the child can’t receive a U.S. passport,” he said. “It gives them all the rights of a U.S. citizen.”
There have been enough births in the Stuttgart military community to push Snead to call for backup — in this case, the consulate. “There have been more births than we are able to schedule appointments for,” he said, referring to the garrison’s staff of two certified agents and their backlog of about 80 reports of birth.
The application procedure usually takes one hour to process, but during the consulate visit, the process should take only 15 to 30 minutes, depending on the paperwork, Snead said.
The key is coming prepared and having all documents in order. “Parents must call for an appointment, and we will then e-mail them the required forms and a list of needed documents. They must have the forms filled out legibly before their appointment,” Snead said. Both parents and the child must be present on Feb. 24.
While a report of birth abroad application requires an appointment, tourist passport applications will be taken on a walk-in basis.
Snead said applying for a tourist passport on Feb. 24 is expected to expedite the processing time. The turnaround time will be considerably less than the normal eight to 12 weeks it takes when applying through the garrison office. “It really speeds up the process,” he said.
While the garrison passport office can process about 40 passports a day, “we hope to process 250 passports on Feb. 24,” Snead said.
Only money orders will be taken Feb. 24. The fee for a report of birth and tourist passport for a child is $150. A tourist passport renewal for an adult is $75, and a tourist passport renewal for a minor under 16 is $85.
Additionally, consulate representatives will be on hand to answer questions related to immigration, permanent residence, visas, social security and veterans’ benefits.
Required documents and checklists for passports and reports of birth abroad and can be found at www.stuttgart.army.mil under “Community Services.”
For more information, call the USAG Stuttgart Passport Office at 431-2301/2539 or civ. 07031-15-2301/2539.