No Fee Passport

            Once you get approved travel for all family members you need to get the paperwork started for your “No Fee” passport. Yes, this is different than a tourist passport and yes, you need both! If you already have a tourist passport that's great, you will use that one to travel! However, you still have to get your “No Fee” passport from the travel office! This special type of passport is required for travel on official military orders only, such as a PCS. Please be aware that using the “No Fee” passport is NOT AUTHORIZED for international travel; you will have to use your standard tourist passport for non-official travel. Go by your local travel office one day and ask for information about the “No Fee” passport; they should give you a form to fill out for each dependent. Ask if you need to make an appointment when you come back or if they allow walk-ins, which is what the FLW office told me. When you go back with all your paperwork filled out, don't forget a copy of your Sponsor’s orders, they will take your photo for the passport, at least the FLW office did. You might want to ask before you show up assuming they will do this. To get the passports processed it can take up to six to eight weeks. This is why it’s important to get started on it as soon as possible. When the passports are finished they may not contact you to let you know they have been completed. Keep an eye on the calendar and call them if you haven’t heard anything. Ask if your passport will be mailed to you, it most likely will not be and you'll have to pick it up from the travel office. The travel office I went through did not tell me anything. I thought it just hadn't arrived and it had already been sitting in the office for 3 weeks.
                Remember, this no-fee passport will only be used when you PCS to Germany and when you PCS back to the states. I highly recommend you start the process for your tourist passport if you don't already have one. If you plan to travel outside of Germany once you get here you will definitely need it. Not every country will check but just in case you want to be sure to have it. If you have a baby you still need to get them a passport, there are issues with child smuggling over the boarders here. If you go to Austria and drive through the boarder and your baby does not have a passport they will assume you are stealing the baby and trying to smuggle it back into Germany. You will get thrown in jail with very high fines! Be sure you get your tourist passport for traveling.