Where to apply for a child's passport?
My son's passport is expiring soon. Has anyone applied for a child's passport since Covid? Which passport center do you recommend in the East Bay? (Note: We live in Alameda: Has anyone tried the Alameda post office lately? Older reviews say that place is not well run, any more recent experience?) Thanks!
Nov 1, 2020
Parent Replies
The Piedmont USPS office was very helpful. We had an appointment there, but they ended up being super busy, called us in advance, and arranged so that we could go instead to the Oakland airport USPS office, which was empty. Both have parking.
Hi,
We were told to make an appointment online at usps.com. You can pick a location that is easy for you (however, not all post offices do it now because of covid etc.). But the site shows which ones do it. Good luck!
Alameda City Hall (via the City Clerk) processes passport applications but I'm not sure what the status is with covid. I would call them. You'll need the photo.
We recently used the post office on 41st near Piedmont Ave. That office doesn't seem too busy (yet), and they kept our appointment time even after directing us to the CVS a couple buildings over for the photo. We followed all the instructions, had both parents present, and handed over copies and originals of our id. It was very fast. The appointment slots all seem to be mid-day only. The CVS was also very efficient. Make sure that you have cash or a check for the State Dept portion of the fees. Of course the current processing time is 10-12 weeks so we have no passport yet for the kiddo but we don't anticipate any problems.
I'm in Richmond but I went to the Passport dept. at Albany City Hall. Maybe there is one in the city of Alameda.
I went to the Alameda post office today with my two young children to apply for their passports. The person that helped us was all business (not a lot of warmth/patience for the children) but they were punctual, efficient and got everything done in less than half an hour. You can make an appointment online. Very easy.
We made an appt at the Piedmont Post office. They canceled on us. We made one at a post office in West Oakland on 7th st but there was a long line and it was crowded, so it didn’t feel safe for our covid-high-risk family.
We ended up making an appt in Tiburon. It was a bit of a drive, but there was very few people, they were fast and effective, and wore their masks. And they have photo services onsite so you don’t have to go elsewhere for that.
I went to the post office in Orinda because they had immediate appointments and could do the passport photos. Got my kids first passport in a month. Here’s the address.
https://passportinfo.com/location/california/orinda-ca/orinda-post-office-94563/
Probably a bit of a trek for you, but I went to the Richmond post office (1025 Nevin Ave) just this past week to do a passport renewal for my daughter. It was super easy, efficient, and had on site photos available for an additional $15 fee. The only thing is that you need to have an appointment (they don't take walk-ins), but that is easy to do online.
I believe there is a passport office at UC Berkeley, which anyone can use. It's supposed to be a good one.
All passport services at UC Berkeley are suspended until further notice due to the shelter in place order. Visit travel.state.gov for Acceptance Facilities that are open at this time.
I used the office at UC Berkeley, but I'm not sure if they are open during COVID. They were very good. I took the photos myself and used an online passport photo sizer to print onto photo paper.