We didn't realize that our minor daughter's passport had expired. We've already paid for the plane tickets and started booking hotels.
Is there any quick way of renewing a passport in three weeks. I saw some things advertised on the web, but was not sure if they are legit.
Thank you!
Get the information directly from the source at the state department:
I'm not sure where the closest passport agency is to you, but I recently had to have mine renewed quickly also. I didn't want to risk an expedited one getting to me in 3 weeks as stated on the department of state website, so I waited until my flight date was 14 days out, & made an appointment to get it renewed an official US Passport Agency (Chicago in my case). I went in on Friday afternoon, and my passport was ready for pickup on Wednesday. I overheard others who had flights more urgent, and they were able to turn them around next day if needed.
You can find US Passport agency locations at the official site: www.travel.state.gov
That is the advantage to Chicago. We showed up at the passport office at 8AM one morning and had a passport by 11:30AM. I think our passport office is Seattle. The pressure to renew is off so I think you will be fine if you expedited it via the post office.
A word to the wise, always check your passport dates prior to beginning the planning process. This isn't the first posting with this problem.
Thank you all. I have been on that site, but didn't want to wait until the 18th to make the "14 day appointment". Good to know that it is a quick turn around. Helping me with my panic attack.
Yes, we're kicking ourselves for not checking our daughter's passport. We didn't realize that a minor's was only valid for 4 years.
Good news, there is a Passport Agency in Aurora, CO.
I think minors are good for five years. If we have an agency in Aurora, why did I have to mail our renew to Seattle. Maybe it is new.
Sorry, I meant only valid for 5 years.
Here is the link for the Regional Passport Centers with a "dot" in Colorado.
http://travel.state.gov/passport/passport_4312.html
Colorado Passport Agency
Cherry Creek III
3151 South Vaughn Way, Suite 600
Aurora, CO 80014
Hours: 8:00 a.m.- 3:00 p.m.,
local time
And don't I know it! :)
But does it process passports? That may be the bigger question. Where did the post office say you had to sent your application? And, hopefully, both of you are the child's natural parents.
Yes, it does process passports but it only sees people within 14 days of travel...and by appointment only.
Most passport by mail applications are sent to the Philadelphia office. (Not every passport agency processes mailed in passports.)
If needed your congressman/woman or senator can assist you in expediting renewal. Luckily it sounds like you won't need to contact them.
Correct, the Aurora passport office only processes expedited items - we used it last year to add additional pages to my wife's passport since we were going to be hitting around 9 countries on our Middle East trip.
Regular issues and renewals for us in Colorado are handled out of Seattle.
Did you try just going to your local post office? I thought it would take about six weeks for us to get ours, so I got them early. It only took a week, though.
A friend of mine realized her passport had expired last week. She used fastpassport.com and she had it two days later and was able to make her Monday flight to Switzerland. I did a google search and several websites popped up all claiming to get the passport to you in days. You could always call or email someone from the travel.state.gov to see if they recomend one over the other. Good luck.
This might be a little late for your urgent question but....There are a variety of good passport expedition services out there. They will even go so far as to personally go to the regional passport agency on your behalf (requires several notarized forms) and wait in office while your passport is processed that day. I got a passport expedited in just a few days via this method. However, be forewarned, they cater to business people (with expenditure accounts) and thus they are not cheap. Mine cost somewhere around $150 a few years back I think. Its been awhile since I did this, so I lost the name of my agency, but I'm sure a google search will come up with some options.
Regarding the Chicago post above....be careful about these agencies. Some regional offices are very good and some are very bad about being efficient. I remember my expidition service processed my passport through Miami because it was supposibly one of the quicker offices in the nation at that time (even though I live in NE).
