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New Passport Forms Heart Your Two Moms (or Dads)

It's small, but very notable: US passport forms for children have been changed in order to accommodate families with two dads or two moms, by changing the "mother" and "father" headings to include "parent 1" and "parent 2." The new forms became available January 3, meaning 2011 begins just another governmental agency's acceptance (the Department of State, in this case) of same-sex couples. They may not be able to get married yet in all states, but being able to sign on as official parents of their children is a major step.

The Global Cocktails blog has quotes from the Family Equality Council in appreciation:

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Passports Now Cost $135, Up From $100

Oops! Too late! If you had "passport renewal" or "get extra passport pages" on your to-do list, then you've waited too long to catch the cheaper rates for these services, as passport and visa price hikes go into effect tomorrow.

These changes come as the US Government looks for ways to deepen its coffers as passport fees subsidize the State Department's work overseas, including emergency relief for American abroad. Today was the last day to get a new passport for $100, as they'll now be $135, inclusive of a $25 administrative fee.

The full rundown of passport price hikes:

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Passport and Visa Fee Hikes Hit July 13

Time to send your passport to get those extra pages added in ASAP. Passport fees are going up, and they're doing it soon, on July 13 to be exact.

These changes come as the US Government looks for ways to deepen its coffers as passport fees subsidize the State Department's work overseas, including emergency relief for American abroad. Sure, it's for a good cause, but these higher passport prices mean for a family of four to get passports, it'd cost $640, and that's a little more than many have stashed in the cookie jar for a rainy day.

The full rundown of passport price hikes:

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World Expo 2010 / Shanghai Travel / Shanghai World Expo 2010 / China Travel / Passports / Travel Tips / Visas / → All Tags

How to Get a Chinese Visa Before Traveling to the Shanghai World Expo

When the Shanghai World Expo opens to the public on May 1—a week and a half away—hundreds of thousands of Chinese and international tourists will pour into the park and its pavilions daily until October 31, when the Expo closes. With the Expo looking at entertaining some 600,000 visitors per day, China will be a huge destination for spring travel. Americans traveling to the country require a Chinese tourist visa to enter, a fact many are not aware of. We've gone through the process before, so allow us to walk you through, too.

How to get a Chinese tourist Visa, which you'll need to visit Shanghai:

· If you're a regular tourist to China, you'll be applying for the "Tourist (L Visa)." Download and print this application form.

More steps to getting a Chinese Visa, after the jump

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Passport Day Causes Lines Around the Block in New York City

Go ahead and laugh, but we actually wished people a happy Passport Day this past Saturday. Most had no idea what we were talking about, but after a short explanation, everybody was into the idea of Passport offices being open on Saturdays for walk-ins when they're usually restricted to appointments only during weekday work hours. It's all for the greater travel good!

Passport Day is no joke, either. This might be the second year that the government has done it, but last year they said they collected over 57,000 passport applications around the country on just the one day. Judging from the round-the-block line we saw at the Passport offices on Hudson Street in New York City, we're expecting that number to double once they've tallied up the success of this year. Dropping in to get extra pages added while they're still free (stupid rumored passport fee hike), we just about the only ones in line who already had a passport. Most were there to submit for their first Passport—yay, new travelers!

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March 27 is Passport Day in the USA; How Will You Celebrate?

We want to be the very first to wish you a happy early Passport Day. The government is eager for us to get the hell out of the country—not really—but they are designating March 27 as Passport Day in the USA. Despite sounding like a Miley Cyrus song, the day will open the doors at many passport offices for extended Saturday hours to help everyone renew or apply for a passport.

No appointments will be necessary and you won’t even have to prove that you are leaving tomorrow—in theory the passport officers will actually be eager to help you out. If you aren’t near any of the big time passport facilities, there will be thousands of Post Office locations around the country to help you fill out the paperwork and make fun of your photo. Maybe you can even swing by one of the new offices in Dallas, Detroit, or Minneapolis just to check things out. Passport offices like these will be open from 10am to 3pm, but we’d get there a little early to stake out a good spot in the line.

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Are You Ready For Another Passport Fee Hike?

Paying for souvenir passport stamps is one thing. The fake stamps probably violate a whole host of international treaties and they might invalidate your passport, but at least you're adding something tangible. Contrast that with what the State Department is proposing, where American citizens would have to pay $82 merely to add blank visa pages to their passports. The travel fee is just one of many passport-related charges and price hikes being suggested by Foggy Bottom, part of a revamped fee structure that's drawing heavy fire from lawmakers and the public.

In addition to the new blank paper fee—which has never existed before—the cost of a new adult passport would rise from $100 to $135. That's a 35% increase. Full passport cost for a family of four: almost $500. Simply renewing your passport would cost $110, a hefty price in exchange for a blank book and having a few digits changed in your electronic file. Maybe State noticed how airlines were getting away with random fees and wanted in on the action. Whatever the explanation, the move has predictably drawn more than a little ire from lawmakers.

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Travel Tweet of the Week / Twitter / Twitter Travel / Passports / → All Tags

Tweet Of The Week: A Traveler's Literal Worst Nightmare

We love Tuesdays. Why, you ask? Because the day brings many travel tips and quips as "Travel Tuesday" on Twitter, and we're going to share our favorite with you. Got an avid travel twitterer we should follow? Let us know.

Hug your teddy bear tonight and heat up a glass of milk for extra comfort, because today's Travel Tweet is the stuff of scary stories that keep you up at night! Leif Pettersen, a freelance travel journalist who has written the Lonely Planet guides to Romania and Moldova, as well as the 2010 redesigned guide for Tuscany & Umbria, has experienced the reoccurring nightmare that eventually traumatized the frequent traveler:

Had that dream again where I show up at the airport without my passport & the universe goes into slo-mo as I run home to get it. "Nnnooooo!"

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'Twilight's' Kristen Stewart Demonstrates How Not To Handle A Passport

With current hot starlets like Twilight's Kristen Stewart constantly flying out of LAX all the time, it's no wonder the paparazzi stake the place out. However, when Stewart flew back to Vancouver on Alaska Airlines to continue filming Eclipse after the weekend, she wasn't looking much like a starlet at all. In fact, she kinda resembled how we might look if we traveled after having been bailed out of jail after a fight with a bartender over the ratio of margarita mix and tequila. In other words: she don't look good.

On top of it, she is barely hanging onto that passport. Note to impressionable young international travelers: this is how not to handle your personal documents in public places. We're not asking you to wear a fanny pack or even get one of those hidden stash pocket things, but just don't be so careless with it. And with Kristen surrounded by grabby paparazzi, you'd think she'd be extra careful with her personal information. One slip while shuffling that heinous bag, and she's got no passport to return to filming in Canada and some guy has a new lot to add to the eBay.

Related Stories:
· Kristen Stewart Drowns Out The Paparazzi With Her iPod At LAX [EntertainmentWise]
· Twilight Travel coverage [Jaunted]
· Celeb Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: WENN/EntertainmentWise]

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Facial Recognition Technology Will Check You Out At Sydney Airport

Sydney Airport has just gotten smarter: passengers with modern e-Passports arriving in Sydney now have the option of going through SmartGate, which means they can go through passport control without speaking to a real person.

At the 12 SmartGate kiosks now operating at the airport, travelers can insert their e-Passport to be scanned, then answer the standard declaration questions on a touchscreen. After that they are issued with a ticket, take it to the exit, insert it there and then the camera scans them to check they are the person shown in the passport.

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Jaunted's Top Five Passport Safety Tips

Last week, a friend of ours was pickpocketed in Israel, losing a passport as well as cards and cash. And before that, in April, another one of our friends was pickpocketed outside a bar in Rome. The thief made off with his wallet but fortunately, his passport was back at the hotel.

Aside from an incident of a missing 50 Euro after a visit to the Vatican, we've luckily managed to avoid the serious pickers, but that doesn't mean we're immune. And because nothing is so stressful as having to prove your identity, navigate a foreign city with limited funds, and possibly rebook your flights, we're going to try to save a few souls by presenting our Top 5 Passport Safety Tips.

5. Have paper copies of your passport and travel documents.
Time to prepare: 20 minutes
This is the most basic form of passport backup, something which has doubtless gone on since the invention of copying machines. Before departing, take paper copies of your passport, credit cards (front and back for customer service numbers), and itinerary information with confirmation numbers.

We recommend three copies of your passport and two of the others; leave one of each copy in a same and easily-found spot at home, leave another with your family back at home or at your office, and take the third copy of your passport along with you, but stored in another non-checked bag.

This way, should your passport or credit cards get stolen, you already have a backup passport copy for heading to the consulate and can make a single call home to get all of your credit card information.

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Inside Our Pretty New Passport

Earlier this morning, we posed the question: Would you pay for your passport stamps? And coincidentally, our brand-new U.S. passport has just arrived. We were a little saddened with this new passport because, of course, it was missing all of our stamps and our old passport wasn't sent back with it. So it felt as if someone just erased our travel history. Zap! Thus we found ourselves answering "yes" to that question above. (On the bright side, our new picture looks amazing.)

Our last passport was issued to us 10 years ago so we were due for a new one. But aw shucks, our stamps are gone! The only thing making the passport slightly interesting are the jazzy new picture page (in which our photos is color-scanned into the page as opposed to attached) and the new pictures splashed across the previously blank pages.

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