Question:
There are many private companies who advertise on the net who promise they
can get you the passport in 24 hours.
This is even faster than the government passport office!
Are these passport companies trustworthy?
Any experiences?
Answer:
We live in San Diego and have to run over very quickly to the US Embassy in
Sydney Australia for our DV interview.
My baby daughter is an american citizen and i need to get her US passport
very quickly.
There are many private companies who advertise on the net who promise they
can get you the passport in 24 hours.
This is even faster than the government passport office!
Are these passport companies trustworthy?
Any experiences?
Maybe I should ask in another newsgroup because this is a citizen matter.
But if you do have any thoughts - thank you for sharing them.
Almost certainly not, unless the US passport office explicitly
acknowledges it. Unless they have some inside connection to the US
passport office, they would still be bound by the same processing times as
everybody else. However, according to
http://travel.state.gov/passport_expedite.html they may be able to
expedite your passport request even further if you can convince them that
your situation qualifies as a life-or-death emergency (I think it might).
The good news is that you may not need a passport; you should be able to
use her birth certificate, unless Australia requires a passport. IIRC, the
passport requirement does not kick in until the child is a teenager
(although I could be mistaken on that). Regardless, you should be able to
apply for the passport right at the consulate.
Australia requires a passport for every person who enters Australia.
Even Australian citizens? I am assuming that the child is a dual
US-Australian citizen.
BTW, this might actually provide another alternative: see if you can get
an Australian passport for the child to go to Australia (it is not good
for returning to the US, unfortunately).
Her Australian passport is even hard to get than her USA one!
the australian embassy in washington wants me to send originals of all our
dox to washington for her aussie passport.
we have a green card interview in sydney in 18 days - our originals stay
with us!
Even the Australian Consulate in LA can't help me until i get her
nationality from Aus embassy in Washington.
(aus consulate hates the aus embassy apparently LOL!)
She will travel on her US passport and then when all our green card is
sorted out - i will leisurely apply for her australian passport because the
Aus embassy in Washington likes to do things VERY slowly! LOL
I remeber looking into processing times awhile ago and it is possible
to get a passport in the US the same day, if u can prove that there is
need, in this case there probably is. I even remember someone who
posted that having made a previous appointment got the passport the
same day she was sworn in because she needed to travel for work
immediately after. You should have no problem.
The Department of State had a lot of information on how to request US
passports, you should use that as a source and stay clear of those
services, more likely than not they will just do the same process that
you can do on your own and charge you for that. I am almost sure San
Diego has a local office where you can request it same day, I seem to
remember some required you to make an appointment.
You should probably also check Australian law about whether she needs an
Australian passport.
The US absolutely requires that your daughter use a US passport - even
though she is also an Australian citizen, she would not be allowed to
enter the US using her Australian passport. If the reverse is true, too,
you may not have a choice but need an Australian passport.
This is the actual text from the State Department website at
http://travel.state.gov/passport_easy.html#easy12
"If you are leaving on an emergency trip, apply in person at the
nearest passport agency, presenting your tickets or airline-generated
itinerary, as well as other required items listed in this publication.
to ensure that customers with imminent travel receive their passports
in time for their trips, many passport agencies are now operating by
appointments and are generally serving only those leaving in less than
14 days. (See the list of passport agencies for specific details.)
If you do not live near a passport agency, but your overnight delivery
service is reliable, departures within 7 to 10 business days may often
be accommodated by appointments at a nearby passport acceptance
facility. You will need to pay the additional $60 fee for expedited
service and include a self-addressed, prepaid, two-way, overnight
delivery envelope. (We have found that for states not densely
populated and/or far from our Pittsburgh, PA cashiering facility,
overnight service is not always reliable.) For all those customers
leaving within 6 or fewer business days, apply at a passport agency.
Whichever way you apply, be sure to include your departure date and
travel plans on your application."
It is clear to me that no agency will be able to do it faster than
that, or the State department will let you know that special services
are available. All they will do is fill the forms and send them with
your passport to the government for processing. It seems to be it will
be quicker if you do it without going through an intermediary (and
cheaper)
This is not like using a lawyer to do your immigration paperwork,
where advice and experience are valuable, this is a simple government
transaction. I will find out the number of the agency nearest you,
call and ask them, you might suprised how easy it is
My finace and I managed to get a passport within 2 working days. We had to
prove it was needed so we bought a flight ticket for a Friday, applied for
the passport on the previous Tuesday and had it the day before the flight.
Nothing like a little last minute stress :0)
Few months ago I applied for a renewal passport for my son at the
post office (Saratoga, CA). When I told them he'll be travelling in
five and a half weeks, they said - "If less than six weeks -- it must be
expedited !!" and that I should also pay for overnight delivery (even
though I didn't mind waiting few more days); so I had to pay about
$75 + $60 + $22 = $157 for a passport valid for only 5 years ...
That was on a Wednesday; the next Wednesday the new passport
was delivered to my home (which proves that the govt CAN make
a new passport that fast!!)
BTW, they also insisted I put in the SSN, but I refused, so they called
in the supervisor, and eventually I signed on a letter where I declared
that I refuse to give the SSN to the State Dept. And that was the end
of it! (Well, I'm not so smart on my own, but a US consul once told
me that it is my right to refuse to give the SSN, and ever since I don't
put in any SSN)
Take note all you chickens who are scared by the wordings on
box #6 on the DS-11 form (application for a US passport) and
put in your SSN. The great thing about being American is that there
are limits on what the government can do !!
AFAIK, Australian immigration rules require every Australian
citizen seeking to enter Australia to have either an Australian
passport, or else a special stamp (called an Australian Declar-
atory Visa) in a foreign passport in the case of a dual citizen.
References:
http://www.immi.gov.au/faq/general/general08.htm (passports)
http://www.immi.gov.au/faq/general/general01.htm (visas)
I assume the original poster would run into problems trying to
get a visa (or an Electronic Travel Authority -- a visitor's visa
obtained online) for his child, unless he managed to keep the
child's Australian citizenship a secret (and I confess I don't
know how deeply they probe into this possibility when someone is
applying for a visa to visit Australia).
And just to be sure there is no confusion, this means the child
might need =two= passports (US and Australian) for the trip.
I don't know whether getting an Australian Declaratory Visa in
the child's US passport (once the child =has= a US passport) is
easier or more difficult than getting him an Australian passport,
but that might be a viable alternative to getting both passports
for the child on short notice.
