Jepsen To Become Local Passport Agent

By Shannon Hicks

Longtime Newtown resident Peggy Jepsen is about to hang a new shingle, or at least post a sign, for a temporary office she is about to open.

Ms Jepsen, a South Main Street resident who served for more than 20 years as a clerk in Newtown’s Probate Office, will begin serving this month as a receiving agent for US Passports. She will open an office at Newtown Municipal Center on Thursday, January 26, and will be open every Thursday and Friday afternoon from 1:30 to 4:30 pm.

“There is a specific, proper way that passport applications must be prepared,” Ms Jepsen said this week. “[The State Department, which approves passport applications] handles thousands of applications every day and they want things in a particular order. Otherwise an application will be kicked back.

“I’m here to make sure that doesn’t happen,” she said.

Ms Jepsen will help people who download and fill out their own passport applications (available online at travel.state.gov), and she will also have all forms available in her office. She will assemble the paperwork for passports and passport cards, prepare the mailing, and sent out applications.

“Passports will go out the day they are assembled,” she promised. “Even if it’s just one person who comes in for an application, I will get it to the post office that day.”

Once approved, passports will be delivered to the applicant’s home address.

The cost to apply for an adult passport book is $110, while the cost for minors (age 15 and under) is $80.

The State Department began producing passport cards in June 2008. The US Passport Card can be used to enter the United States from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Bermuda at land border crossings or sea ports of entry. A passport card cannot be used for international travel by air.

The card is more convenient and less expensive than a passport book. Cost for a first-time applicant is $30, and the cards are valid for ten years. Minors can obtain passport cards, valid for five years, for $15.

 Passport cards increase speed, efficiency, and security at US land and sea border crossing thanks to a vicinity-read radio frequency identification (RFID) chip. There is no personal information written to an RFID chip. The chip points to a stored record in secure government databases. Customs and Border Protection inspectors are able to access photographs and other biographical information stored in secure government databases as a traveler approaches an inspection station.

Ms Jepsen will be charging a $25 service fee per application.

“That’s the same fee charged by the post office, and the standard fee being charged by service agents across the country,” she said. The service fee is charged whether an applicant is applying for a passport book, passport card, or book and card at the same time.

In addition to the application fees charged by the State Department, there are varying postage fees depending on how quickly a passport book is needed. Priority mail is $4.95, with an additional 70-cent tracing fee, will have a passport in one’s hands in four to six weeks.

“It’s generally closer to four weeks,” Ms Jepsen said. “Priority Mail is the basic rate, and the tracing fee is a must. You will be able to follow the status of your application online.”

Express Mail, for $13.25, will return a passport book in about two weeks. Express service is not available for a passport card.

For Expedited Service, which costs an additional $60, applicants must go to a passport agency or center. (Connecticut’s Passport Agency is at 50 Washington Street in Norwalk.)

Application fees can be paid for with personal checks, money orders, and bank drafts, payable to Department of State; or with cash. The application fee is a nonrefundable processing fee that is retained by the Department of State whether or not a passport is issued.

The $25 service fee, paid separately, can be paid with a money order or bank draft, cash or personal check. US Postal facilities can accept credit cards.

Parents should note that children under age 16 must appear in person when applying for their passport. Ms Jepsen has complete details for the requirements of parents who are applying for their children’s passport whether it is both parents, one parent when both are unable to sign applications, and even if neither parent is available and a third party in loco parentis applies.

Photos Available

In addition to the required paperwork, Ms Jepsen will also help with the photos necessary for passports or cards.

As with the paperwork, passports and passport cards have requirements for applicants’ photographs. Photos must be done in color, on photo quality paper, measure two square inches (and sized so that the applicant’s head is within certain parameters), taken within six months of the application, and in full-face view of the camera, among other requirements.

While applicants can arrive with their own photos, Ms Jepsen will have a camera, backdrop, and printer available for those who need to have a passport photo taken. There will be a separate charge for photos.

Residents must apply with an agent in person for a new passport if they are applying for a passport for the first time. They must also apply in person with an agent or at the post office if they are under age 16; if their previous passport was issued when they were under age 16; if their previous passport was lost, stolen, or damaged; if the previous passport was issued more than 15 years ago; or if their name has changed since their previous passport was issued and applicants are unable to legally document the name change.

Ms Jepsen can be contacted for additional information at 203-770-9157. She hopes to eventually have a dedicated phone line set up for the passport office at the municipal center. Residents are also welcome to visit the municipal center on Thursday and Friday afternoons with their questions.