Have you ever tried to get a passport for an infant? Or yourself? It’s no fun. But there’s a passport acceptance facility in the Twin Cities that at least makes it easier.
The post office at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport was already something of an open secret—operating seven days a week (Monday to Saturday from 7 a.m. till 11 p.m. and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.) and rarely busy outside of tax season and Christmas. The spacious location is well-signed and offers ample parking. For fans of old-school letter writing, they have an excellent array of stamps. But most importantly, they have some of the nicest workers in the city. (Have you ever seen a post office with a 4.4 star rating on Google? Neither have we.)
Our newborn son, Julian, turns 1-month-old this week. Team Minnevangelist travels a lot for work and pleasure, so we wanted to get him a passport ASAP. That means completing form DS-11 from the State Department and submitting it in person, along with a bunch of other documentation, at a passport acceptance facility. We chose the post office at MSP because we could easily make an appointment online and shoot the passport photos on-site for a $15 fee.
As you can see in the shots on the left, the first take didn’t work out so well. When we tried to shoot Jules’ photo against a white towel in his car seat, he put on an Oscar-winning performance—screeching, bawling, and throwing his hands in front of his face like Ye bolting out of a club amid a swarm of paparazzi. And yet postal worker Ruta was so friendly and accommodating, patiently reshooting him until we got it right. Or at least “acceptable” enough for the U.S. government.
You can see the final image we submitted on the right. Kinda has Dr. Evil vibes, no? Have fun with that for the next five years, kid. 😂
United States Postal Service
MSP Airport, 5001 Northwest Dr., St. Paul; 800-275-8777.