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Expedited United States Passport – Getting A Passport Is Easy
By CruiseDirector | March 13, 2010
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 one might imagine, there is an additional cost for quicker processing. The typical application fees are $95 for an adult passport book and card and $25 for execution, a total of $120. For the book alone, the cost is $75 with the same administrative fee. For minors the same costs are $70 and $60 respectively and of course the same $25 fee applies to all processes except for the renewal of a valid passport.
To receive an expedited passport, expect to pony up and additional $60 and this can only be done by applicants within the United States. It is not possible for a citizen residing in a foreign country to request expedition. Add to the cost, which is now $180, the Department of State’s strong emphasis on using overnight delivery to receive the new passport book. After spending the extra money to rush the paperwork process, it simply does not make sense to rely on regular mail service to receive the much anticipated document.
The overnight delivery will cost about $15 in addition to all of the other fees that are being charged. While some people may be rolling their eyes at this point as the costs continue to add up, this is a fee that is money well spent. The documents will be secure and able to be tracked this way and considering how important they are, $15 is nothing compared to the aggravation that would ensue if they were lost.
If expedited service is requested, the form that has to be filled out is the DS-82. This is in addition to the regular forms and does not replace the standard application. When mailing in the forms and documents, be sure to write “expedite” very large and clear on the outside of the envelope. The agents are trained to look for this and will make sure that the envelope is rushed through processing.
Some expedited pass port 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.
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