<span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: ‘Lucida Sans’;" class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Where in Lake Charles can you go now to get a passport?</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">You can apply for a passport at the Calcasieu Parish Clerk of Court’s Office, 1000 Ryan St. Passport hours are 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Monday-Friday.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Applicants must submit a Form DS-11, along with proofs of citizenship and identity and a 2-by-2-inch color photo of themselves.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Proof of citizenship includes a certified copy of a birth certificate and copies of naturalization or citizenship documents; proof of identity includes a driver’s license, government identification, and naturalization or citizenship documents.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Additionally, citizenship and identity can both be proved with previous U.S. passports.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">The photo shouldn’t be older than six months, and the image — from the chin to the top of the hair — should measure between 1 and 1</span><span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">3</span><span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">⁄</span><span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">8</span> <span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">inches.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">“The photograph must be taken in normal street attire, without a hat, head covering, or dark glasses unless a signed statement is submitted by the applicant verifying the item is worn daily for religious purposes or a signed doctor’s statement is submitted verifying the item is used daily for medical purposes,” reads the application form.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">“Headphones, ‘bluetooth’, or similar devices must not be worn in the passport photograph. Any photograph retouched so that your appearance is changed is unacceptable. A snapshot, most vending machine prints, and magazine or full-length photographs are unacceptable.”</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Applicants who are 16 and older must pay a $110 application fee, which goes to the State Department, and a $25 processing fee, which goes to the clerk’s office.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">The first fee is payable via check or money order; the second is payable via cash or check.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">The fees for passport cards — which are good only for cross-border land and sea travel, not air travel — are $30 and $25.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">The fees for minors are $80 and $25 for passports and $15 and $25 for cards.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">For more information, call the clerk’s office at 437-3558, ext. 147.</span>

<span class="R~sep~AHeadsubhead">Other parishes</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">According to the U.S. State Department’s website, the following also take applications for passports:</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyListing">DeRidder Post Office — 116 East Fourth St., 337-462-8852. Hours: 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Monday-Friday.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyListing">Leesville Post Office — 303 South Third St., 337-239-2617. Hours: 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday-Friday.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyListing">Jeff Davis Parish Clerk of Court’s Office — 300 State St., Suite 101, Jennings, 337-824-1160. Hours: 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Monday-Friday.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyListing">Oakdale Post Office — 240 East Sixth St., 318-335-9809. Hours: 8:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Monday-Friday, by appointment.</span>

<span class="R~sep~AZaphdingbatdot7pt">l</span>

<span style="font-weight: bold;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">Online:</span> <span class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">www.calclerkofcourt.com; https://travel.state.gov.</span>

<span class="R~sep~AZaphdingbatdot7pt">l</span>

<span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">The I</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">nform</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">er answers questions from rea</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">ders each Sunday, Monday a</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">nd Wednesday. It is re</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">searched and written by</span> <span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">Andrew Perzo</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">, an</span> <span style="font-style: italic; font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">American Press</span> <span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">staff wri</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">ter. To ask a question, call</span> <span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">494-409</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">8 and leave voice mail, or ema</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">il informer@americanpress.com.</span>