Got Married to a Military Man and Now How Do I Get a Passport?
Question My husband and I got married to a military man two months ago. Before getting marry in the United States, he was ordered to go to Okinawa, Japan. What will be the necessary steps I will need to take in order to live with him in Japan? I currently do not have a passport as it expired 4 months ago.
Answer If your husband is in Japan, and got his orders to be there before your marriage, you are not his dependent. He will have to get the station orders amend and extend his military tour from 2 to 3 years. You will go through a process known as command sponsorship. This will require you to have a mental evaluation, a dental evaluation, and a physical being that Japan does not have a major medical center that dependents can use. So, if there is any medical issues, you will be denied. After finishing this, approval will take about 10-14 days.
After completing the above and got approval for sponsorship, you can apply for a no fee passport. In addition to a no fee passport, you will need to apply for a tourist passport as well. Being that a no fee passport can only be use for direct military duty travel, a tourist passport is for leisure travel. You will need both of these passports in order to go to Japan with your husband.
You will have to apply for a new tourist passport in addition to the no fee passport. Regular passport processing usually takes about 4-6 weeks to obtain a passport. You can use and expedited passport service which will process your passport within 2-3 weeks. The quickest way to obtain a passport would be to visit your closest regional passport agency, or employ a professional expediter to submit your application for you.
The following link will provide more information on how to obtain a passport.
