Expedited Pasport – It’s Simple To Apply For A Passport Today

Sometimes life has a way of throwing some interesting curve balls our way. We think everything is going great and then all of a sudden something happens and we have to jump on a plane to Europe on short notice. If you don’t have a passport or it is expired, expedited passport services can make this problem go away in a snap.

First it is helpful to realize that the Department of State processes this paperwork each and every day and it is necessary to take one’s place in line so to speak. In the fiscal year 2009, nearly 13.5 million passports were completed. What is considered fast in government documentation is not necessarily the same as the overnight delivery options that are available when it comes to online shopping. Currently a rush document from the Department of State takes two to three weeks to receive.

The two to three week period is considered door-to-door, meaning that it accounts for time in the mail in each direction. There are some ways to short-cut this a bit, such as taking the document directly to a designated passport center, generally the local post office. In some cases, persons apply for a passport in the traditional manner but then request expedition due to a change in travel plans. In this case, it will take about five to seven days to track online the document’s process after asking for a rush on it.

As you can imagine, there are some significant fees for any service over and above the standard processing fees. For regular service, the applicant will have to pay $120 to get both a passport and passport card. Getting the book alone is $20 cheaper, but is a good idea to have them both. Fees for minors are slightly less.

If expedited service is needed, there will be a $60 fee tacked on to all of the other standard charges. In addition to these fees, the forms should be shipped via overnight mail for security reasons. Sending documents like this via regular mail is simply not recommended. This can be ordered when filling out all of the forms at the passport office.

Overnight delivery can easily be arranged during the expediting process by simply asking for it when completing the necessary paperwork. It will cost another $14.96 fee per application, but again, when it comes to needing this travel documentation, it is a small price to pay. Do bear in mind that the $60 rush costs as well as the overnight fees are for each document requested.

If the rush is requested for a renewal, the form used is DS-82. If the submission is done by mail, the word expedite should be written in clear bold letters on the outside of the mailing envelope. Here again, the Department of State suggests that overnight delivery is the best bet.

Some expedited American passport services may cost a few extra bucks, but it does make the process go much quicker. Instead of waiting for god only knows how long, the passport should be in hand in just a few weeks. The American passport can actually be had in as little as 24 hours, but it will cost a pretty penny in order to make that happen. When you just can’t wait or are in an emergency situation, these services are in place to get the passport in hand in no time at all.