I had a passport before I retired, but when we started planning for PAGAN, we got one for my wife. I think it took about 4-5 weeks to get it. The pictures were digital and I printed them on standard photo paper (matte). I forget the dimensions, but it was relatively small. I think costs were right around $100 with extra if expediting was required.

Even though I liked it before when border crossing was a simple matter, probably should have always used passports. That was, after all, the purpose ... to provide reasonably safe identification of a person traveling outside their country. I guess I'm not terribly upset by the requirement. I always hated digging around to find a copy of my birth certificate to take with me.

I agree that very small children should be able to travel on their parents passports. Silly to have them for a child that within a year no longer looks like their picture. Thats goofy.