We're planning on a trip to Costa Rica and taking our 5 & 10 year olds w/ us. Is there a special kids passport or do we have to apply for a normal/regular US Passport? I'd also appreciate any suggestions on places/locations to take the kids. We're planning on going for approx 10 days and would like to stay in and/or around 1-2 areas. Not sure if this is possible but we'd like to be near the beach, see the volcano, & do a zip line & rain forest type tour.

Kids passports are the same as adults except they are only valid for 5 years.

This reminds me. Our Costa Rican Lawyer has twins. They got their first passport when they were 3 years old. They only took a picture of one of them and then just duplicated it for the other passport because they looked so much alike!

10 days is plenty of time for two areas. I suggest a couple nights in La Fortuna near Arenal volcano, then Manuel Antonio for the beach and many other activities, including a walk through the National Park where you'll see lots of wildlife! It's a very easy hike. Wide trail and no steep inclines. Enjoy your trip!

Go check out the official info on the State Department web site: travel.state.gov

You can also get info and apply for passports at some post offices, so if you're near a larger P.O., ask...it's pretty painless.

Also, there are some special requirements for kids passports. The info is online at:
http://travel.state.gov/specialreq.html

Have fun!
Mark
www.tiogringo.com

Passports are good to have for children anyway in the event they need a photo ID for somehting other than travelling. I'm not sure of the most current rules (check the govt website mentioned for details), but I beleive a child 13 or older has to appear in person for the passport, younger can be done by mail. APplications can be printed from the website or picked up at post offices that process passports.

They are getting sticter with passports now due to security concerns. I know my neighbor just had to renew her son's passports for their annual trip to Argentia. It took her three trips to the post office to get it right. First trip they asked her for her kids original birth certificates with her paperwork(didn't need this to renew in the past), she went home and got it. The second trip the clerk told her that both parents need to be present (this is a new rule too) so she went home to get her husband. By her third trip she had everything lined up so that the paperwork could go through. I think it still takes about six weeks for your passport to be mailed to you, I haven't heard any recent complaints about longer delays.

When I renewed my kids' passports (maybe 2 years ago), my husband couldn't come with me to the post office, but I was given a special form for him to sign instead. I beleive the form can be printeed out on the same website where you prin the passport application, or it can be picked up at the post office in advance.