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Emergency US Passport Services Can Be Purchased When Needed
By CruiseDirector | March 17, 2010
No parent wants to get the phone call that their child has been hurt. Imagine getting that phone call when the child is on a trip abroad and not having a passport. While this can be a very stressful situation, it is made easier with emergency U.S. passport services. There are services that will allow someone to forego all the normal waiting periods and have a passport ready to go in as little as a single day.
For U.S. residents, the Department of State (DOS) through its Passport Information Center is one way to approach the need for an immediate passbook or card. The DOS regards a life and death emergency as a serious injury, illness or death of an immediate family member requiring travel within 24-48 hours. One major requirement is that the applicants show up in person at a passport agency, which is usually a local post office.
There is a National Passport Information Center that has an automatic phone appointment system that can be accessed 24/7. If it is impossible to get an appointment time that meets the family’s needs, a live person can be reached at a call center from 6AM to 12 midnight, ET, on weekdays. A customer service representative can supply direction on what to do in this case.
While it would be nice to think that our government could handle this task without any issues, they are sometimes not able to process the application quick enough for your liking. When this happens, there are passport expediting agencies that are set up that can bypass all the normal channels and get a passport much quicker than we could on our own. Having them handle all of the details can turn out to be a blessing in disguise.
If the family is in a position where they are going to need their passports in 24 hours, these services are excellent and being able to make this happen. As a matter of fact, people that arrive early in the day can sometimes get their passports before the end of the business day. This is a great relief to those that know that they need to be on a plane as soon as possible.
Most of the private passport agencies perform transactions online, especially when it comes to renewing an existing passport. It is a great relief to be able to leave passport problems to someone else and to only need to fill out some simple online forms rather than deal with an in-person visit to the post office. These firms specialize in knowing exactly what to do and can conduct most communications with the family via email, leaving phone lines free for more pressing matters.
Naturally, the cost of using a private agency is going to be more than simply going the government route alone, but it is true that time is money. The comfort of leaving the details to someone else can be worth its weight in gold. A two to three day turn around will cost the applicant about $200. Bear in mind that the government fees will also be assessed on top of the agency’s fees, so figure that everything will cost about $300 or more.
While it would be great to think that we would never get caught in a position of needing an emergency passport application in a situation like this. Life happens and there is nothing that we can do about it. It is recommended that everyone have a passport, even if they never plan on traveling abroad because you just never know what life is going to throw at you. However, in those cases where it is necessary to get one on short notice, it is nice to know that there are passport expediting services available to handle these details and get us on our journey that much quicker.
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