The phrase "apply for papers" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used when referring to the process of requesting or seeking official documents, such as permits, licenses, or academic papers.
Example: "To study abroad, you need to apply for papers that verify your academic qualifications."
Alternatives: "request documents" or "seek official papers".
The fee also does not apply for paper tickets issued or converted by a travel agent.
In 1992, we applied for papers and went on an interview through an American agency in Moscow".
She was forcibly married at 13 in Pakistan and applied for papers for her 26-year-old husband to come to the country.
My co-worker, a Sunni and a former financial trader, thinks that democracy is a good thing -- "Arabs need reform and modernity; in thousands of years, not even one word has been added to the Arabic dictionary" -- but she just applied for papers to move to Australia.
I beg to differ regarding his other statement that "much of the U.S. population who are of European ancestry are from illegal immigrants who came running from oppression and looking for a better life". My Italian grandfather applied for papers, got in line and was processed through Ellis Island as a legal immigrant who went on to obtain his citizenship.
Outside the city passport office on Saturday afternoon, dozens of Iraqis milled about, waiting to apply for travel papers.
For four months they paid our rent, they took us to apply for our papers – social security, work permits, food stamps, medical benefits.
Thousands of illegal immigrants with children in French schools hastened to meet an amnesty deadline today to apply for residency papers.
Students seeking the latter exemption must apply for identification papers from a provincial Government office indicating that they related to a Chinese person overseas.
That lawyer said that as an unaccompanied minor who feared serious harm in my home country, I was qualified to apply for legal papers so that I could live safely in the United States.
