Parenting Teens Blog

January 6, 2010

Students Abroad

Are you planning on going abroad, for studying or for pleasure? What ever your reasons are you need to prepare for that travel, and for life abroad. You can’t just pack a bag, grab a map and go to another country. You need to prepare, and you need several things taken care of before you can leave the country. Here is what you will need and what to look for.

First thing you will need are travel documents. You need a passport and for some countries you even need a visa. But don’t think that you can just go and grab those documents easily. You need months to acquire some of those documents, especially getting visa for some countries may be tricky. For getting a passport you will need some forms with DS-11 and an identification ID with the proof of US citizenship. For visa documents and requirements differ form country to country so you may easily check online what requirements are for the country that you want to go to. Big step for you when traveling abroad is registering your travel with the Department of State. By registering your travel US embassy on foreign ground can contact you in a case of emergency, or you can ask for help in any situation. So registering your travel is very important safety measure that is voluntary and free.

The best option for you would be to know the location of the embassy in the foreign country you are in. That way if an emergency occurs you can get help fast either by going to the embassy or calling the embassy. You can register with embassy online and get all the necessary information. While embassy can assist you in many different sorts of problems there are some that the embassy may only offer limited assistance, such as medical expenses. This is why it’s very important to have insurance. You can check if your health insurance already covers medical travel expenses if not you can purchase a short term insurance that will. Or you can get a travel insurance that will cover your medical expenses if by some chance you get sick and it will cover loss of your personal belongings, travel accidents and other damages caused by natural disasters.

When you get into the country the most important part is to obey the law of that country. You must inform yourself of the law, the fact that you are ignorant about that country’s law will not help you in any way, it will do you damage. And behave yourself, because breaking the law in another country may cause serious consequences for your criminal record and financial situation. Their laws might even put you in jail and not relieve you to the US, some countries don’t deliver prisoners to another state. So it comes down to respect and good behavior in any manner when you are in a foreign country.

There are many things you need to know in order to travel to another country and in order to stay there. So before you travel anywhere be sure to inform yourself.

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • NewsVine
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Yahoo! Buzz
  • Twitter
  • Technorati
  • Live
  • LinkedIn
  • MySpace

January 5, 2010

Passport Application

Planning on doing some traveling? Well that’s great, mostly every teenager dreams about seeing the world. Well not just teenagers, every person wants to see the world. But in order to go to a different country you need a passport and several other things, like foreign currency and information needed for the traveled destination. Well if you are going for the first time that means you will need to get a passport. And here is what you will need to apply for your passport the first time.

First of all you must apply in person for the first time, and if you are under 16 or even older there might be some special requirements for you to apply. You can check what those requirements are online. You must first buy and complete DS-11 form required for US passport. With that form and all others that are required by the DS-11 form you need to go to an Acceptance Facility or any Passport Agency. With those forms you also need to provide the evidence of US citizenship. That includes any previous passports, birth certificate or certificate of citizenship. If you don’t have any of those or you have the forms that are not accepted you may use secondary evidence of citizenship.

You must also bring with you an acceptable identification. Those may be previous passport, driver’s license or a state ID. If you don’t have any of those documents valid you may present secondary combination of documents because they won’t be admitted as acceptable identification if single. The documents are social security card, credit card, employee ID or library card, if you can’t provide those in a combination you will need to have a witness that knows you longer than 2 years and has a proof of citizenship. The identification you are presenting must also have a photocopy. Of course there is a fee to be paid which you can find out online or by asking at one of the mentioned institutions. And the last things you need when applying for passport are two passport photos. They need to be standard passport size which you don’t need to know, just tell the photographer that your picture is for a passport and he will give you the right format. But you should know that on those photographs you cannot wear uniforms, hats or dark glasses unless they are used for medical reasons.

That is basically all you need to know in order to apply for a passport. If you have a criminal past or some minor criminal record you will need extra documentation in order to get a passport or you might not even be allowed to apply for a passport. You can check that information on US government website. Any forms that are required can be bought at any bookstore or administration office. The rest you will need for your trip when you get your passport is a good preparation which requires getting some info on the country you are going and the will to have a good time.

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • NewsVine
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Yahoo! Buzz
  • Twitter
  • Technorati
  • Live
  • LinkedIn
  • MySpace

Powered by WordPress