With the growing changes in international travel, having a US passport has become a necessity instead of a choice. Just recently simple excursions to and from Canada or Mexico for US citizens has been turned into a major nightmare. The US Department of State’s official travel site travel.state.gov posted this information recently:
- Beginning January 23, 2007, ALL persons, including U.S. citizens, traveling by air between the United States and Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Bermuda will be required to present a valid passport, Air NEXUS card, or U.S. Coast Guard Merchant Mariner Document, or an Alien Registration Card, Form I-551, if applicable.
- As early as January 1, 2008, ALL persons, including U.S. citizens, traveling between the U.S. and Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Bermuda by land or sea (including ferries), may be required to present a valid passport or other documents as determined by the Department of Homeland Security. While recent legislative changes permit a later deadline, the Departments of State and Homeland Security are working to meet all requirements as soon as possible. Ample advance notice will be provided to enable the public to obtain passports or passport cards for land/sea entries.
Granted these changes are for the safety of the general population, however, they do put a great many travelers in a quandary asking:
How do I get a US passport quickly in a short period of time?
Well, there are a number of options:
Option 1: Mail in your US passport application via the USPS or County Clerks Office.
- Although this option is fairly simple. The process will take anywhere from 6 weeks to a few months depending on what part of the country the applicant is in, which US passport agency covers that area, and how busy that US passport agency is.
- Now, you can apply for an expedited passport through the USPS or County Clerk . An expedited passport is an emergency passport or a passport that needs to be processed in a short period of time, generally two weeks. However, the process takes at least two weeks, sometimes more, again depending upon the region and which agency is involved.
Option 2: Go directly to the US Passport Agency.
-Yes, you heard right, you can go to the US Passport Agency yourself. I was shocked to hear this bit of information myself. You can make an expedited passport appointment with the US Passport Agency and usually get your expedited US passport in as soon as a day (I got mine in less than 24 hours) up to a few days. Again, remember, it does depend on the US Passport Agency and how busy they are.
-The problem, however, lies in that there are only 13 US Passport Agencies throughout the United States and your departure date has to fall within a certain period of time. That period of time is 14 days. Keep in mind, just because you’re travel date falls within that time period, does not guarantee you an expedited passport appointment. With millions of people (over 12 million last year) also trying to get an expedited US passport, those expedited passport appointment times could very well be full.
-What if you can get an expedited passport appointment time? Well then you go to the closest office to you; if you can afford to take a day off from work to get your necessary documents together, a day to attend your expedited passport appointment time, and a day to pick up your US passport after it is processed.
Oh yeah, you would have to live near one of the 13 US Passport Agency offices. That, of course, brings us to the next question.
What if you don’t?
In that case let’s look at…
Option 3: Use a US passport courier service.
-There a great number of courier services out there that will help you get an expedited passport. All you have to do is a search online. From my searches I found that all of the companies operate pretty much the same. Their sites are somewhat easy to navigate and the prices are all comparable.
The process in getting an expedited passport is the same for each company, also. You send them the necessary documents and they represent you to the US Passport Agency. They aren’t subject to the same expedited passport appointment rules as the general public. The US Passport Agency sets aside a certain time frame everyday for these companies.
So how do you choose?
Well, I got lucky and was referred to a particular company by a family member who used their services.
In all honesty, thanks to them, I didn’t have to use their services.
I do, however, recommend their services.
Before actually doing business (or not doing business) with this company I did a little comparison shopping. I checked a few websites and spoke to a few representatives from a number of companies. Again, as I stated before, they were all pretty much the same. Not bad, but not very impressive;
Until I spoke with Last Minute Passports™. What impressed me about them was their honesty and willingness to offer me information and solutions to my situation that none of the other companies offered.
They informed me, after I explained my situation, that I could go into the US Passport Agency myself and explained the process in detail.
Since I work from home and control my own schedule, I was able to meet the expedited passport appointment time.
Their candidness, however, told me they were sincere in actually helping people in need.
They didn’t make a single cent in helping me, but were happy to do so anyway. Now that’s service!
Regardless of whether you take my advice or not I encourage you to do your own research.
Good luck to you and happy travels. www.lastminutepassports.com
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