Help with expedited passport

Time for the boss to gas up the Caddy then.

I'm only familiar with taking the forms to the passport desk at the post office who will look everything over and then you, yourself, send it in an overnight envelope to DC with an overnight envelope included in the package for them to send it back to you. Of course, you pay extra for DC to expedite the process of the passport. Years ago, in some major cities, there were government offices that would process the passport within a few hours. Not sure if that exists in your area.

Thank you for your response. The nearest regional passport office is around 4-5 hours away. I think they may use a passport service, but which ones are reputable?

Make the trip. At this stage of the game you don' t have time. Even expediated services take more than a week.

Make the trip. At this stage of the game you don' t have time. Even expediated services take more than a week.

I agree that you have to do it in person. I believe your nearest passport center is in Hot Springs, Arkansas - which, according to Yahoo maps, you should make in about 3 1/2 hours.

I agree, you will need to do this yourself, you won't be able to just email or fax the information needed by the expediting companies, and it will take longer if you send them by a courier service than to drive there yourself.

Even expedited service takes 2 to 3 weeks, unless you go there in person. You MUST schedule an appointment. Do it now!!! http://travel.state.gov/passport/processing/processing_1740.html Hopefully the Arkansas center will have appointments available on Monday morning. Their "will call" service is for travel within 5 days. You may have to make another trip to pick it up; there isn't time to have it mailed. http://travel.state.gov/passport/npic/agencies/agencies_5151.html (And we won't ask how you got into this situation.)

Call your local office for your US Senator or member of the House.

I know that last year the office in Houston was able to issue a passport within about 6 hours. It made for a long day, but only one trip was required from about 4 hours away.

Bob, senators and representatives have better things to do and can't help with this anyway. She needs to GO there with all necessary papers in hand if they want to get it in time.

Thanks for all of the replies. It's not actually for me, but for my boss's daughter.

Here is the company I have used for passports and visas BUT its in NYC. You can give them a call and see if they'll do it by FedEx or if they have any advice. They are pretty nice. http://www.passportplus.net/passports/index.htm

Check the age requirements. At some point, (maybe 16 but check!) the teen can do it alone. Before that, they need at least one parent present.

I think there are different types of expediting agencies. I have friends who used one, and I also had to get a passport replaced with very short notice (days), and I didn't use an expiditing agency. My understanding is that the passport offices, usually one or two exist in a state, in a big city, have limited appointments for people needing last-minute passports. In the case of the agency my friends used, the agency books appointments over the phone, and then as they get clients, they distribute that appointment and handle some of the paperwork. They also charge hundreds of dollars on top of the passport fees. I was able to secure my own appointment in time at the passport office in San Francisco - I was lucky that I lived nearby, because the only other one is in LA - and what you do is go to the appointment with the appropriate forms and pictures already taken, wait a bit, give them that stuff and pay them, then they tell you to come back in several hours. Then you get your passport. I think the best option would be to try to secure your own appointment at the nearest passport office first, and do that, even if it's a long drive away. They will ask for the dates of travel, in my case I may have been able to get an appointment because I was moving with US gov't orders (my friends hadn't been able to get an appointment with the same time frame, but they were going on a vacation). If you can't get an appointment, call one of the expediting agencies and see if they can get you in.

"My understanding is that the passport offices, usually one or two exist in a state, in a big city, have limited appointments for people needing last-minute passports. Not exactly. For an expedited passport, you have to visit a regional passport center or agency. There are only 25 of these. Here's a link to the list: http://tinyurl.com/2wugdcr

Happy ending. She is going on a cruise. ID requirements have been relaxed and all she needs is photo id and a certified copy of her birth certificate. And they are renewing her passport now so she will have it for future trips