Question:
How long does it normally take to
get a passport? Has anyone used
the services that claim to get a
passport in 24 hours or so? I am
concerned about their reliability.
We need passports by June 6th and
hope that is not going to be a problem
Answer:
June 6th is cutting it too close
for normal service. They usually
say it will be six weeks for normal
service, though it's been running
faster because not as many people
are traveling. You can expedite
it through the State Department
yourself without paying the fee
to another service to do that, the
turn around for that is two weeks.
It costs an extra $60, information
is over at http://travel.state.gov/passport_expedite.html.
On top of the extra fee, you will
need to pay for overnight service
in both directions, but it's still
less then using a service.
I believe
if you are not doing it in person
at a passport office you first have
to get all the paperwork taken care
of at an acceptance facility ( search
for one near you at http://iafdb.travel.state.gov/
) . They then have to seal it into
their envelope, and you have to
get that to the passport office,
either overnight shipping, using
an expediting service, whatever.
If I'm mistaken on that I guarantee
one of my many fact checkers here
will be more then happy to point
it out. If you live near one of
the dozen or so passport offices,
and it's within two weeks of your
trip (some offices more, some less,
check the state department site
for details for near where you live)
you can get an appointment, go in
one day, prove you are traveling
(show your tickets) drop the stuff
off and get it back the next day.
Locations,
contact information for those offices,
etc is at http://travel.state.gov/agencies_list.html
You have plenty of time to do the
expedited service with the state
department for the extra $60, you
don't have to pay considerably more
for a service to do it for you.
Assuming you have the citizenship
proof and don't have to get it,
get all the paperwork, pictures,
proof of citizenship, everything
you need, head over to an acceptance
facility or passport office, and
in a couple of weeks you should
be all set. If that makes you nervous,
then you can use an expediter (they
in essence will just be standing
in line for you, they get it the
office for overnight processing,
and then get it back to you) and
have it in a few days.
It can start
adding up, you have to pay $30 to
the acceptance agent, then $55 for
the adult passport, then $60 for
expediting it (each). If overnighting
it figure another $30 for round
trip shipping. If using a service,
figure on another $150 or so for
their services on top of all the
rest. I'd save the extra $150 or
so and go direct with the state
department paying them the extra
$60 for the two week service. If
you do it early next week I would
go for the expedited service directly
I'm not sure if it's still the case,
but there used to be offices (in
places like New York City) where
you could go for a same day (or
extremely expedited) passport. Other
major cities may have them as well.
If you live close to a large city,
you could check on that possibility.
We recently
got our passports and it only took
8 business days to receive them,
but there is no guarantee. We just
got ours last month from the Post
Office. Turned in the application
on March 28th received the passports
on April 11th. The gentleman at
the Post Office told about 6 weeks,
I was very surprised they came so
quickly. So, 2 weeks for us. I'm
sure one of the hundreds of places
that will expedite the process could
do it very quickly. It's been years
but don't I remember that you could
get a passport the same day in Washington
DC. One must show a specific need
like a plane ticket leaving the
next day ... I know of people who
got same day renewals in NYC and
Philly ... first passport even expedited
still takes 48 hrs min though I
believe ... not sure ... I applied
for passports for my kids in early
March and it was 5 weeks before
they came. I was very surprised
it took that long as mine came in
less than 2 weeks (and that was
during the 9-11 crisis).
Perhaps the
kids took longer since I my husband
wasn't with me when I applied and
I had the signed waivers from him
saying that it was okay for me to
get them passports. The State Dept.
has a surcharge ($65 ea., I think)
for expedited service. These companies
charge an additional $125 or so
for expedited service. Add all that
to the base price of the passport.
Your best bet is go to wherever
locally you can do it (post office
or other government agency) and
pay the expedited surcharge. All
you are adding with these companies
is another layer of payment. It's
usually next day now. You have to
check the state department website
for the office information as most
of them don't accept walk in's anymore,
you have to have an appointment.
And it's virtually impossible to
get an appointment the same day
that you call for one. You go over
one day, and in many cases don't
get the passport until the next
one.
