Expedited Passports

[GRETCHEN SOLDAT]

I wonder if anyone out there has experienced getting an “expedited passport”? Either by going in person to the government agency or using one of those 3rd party expeditors? The agency requires “proof of travel” before expediting (for a hefty additional fee) so that means buying airline tickets before having passport in hand. Very scary. The airline tickets have to be for “travel in less than 2 weeks”.

So when a sudden opportunity to spend a month or so at our beach condo near Canoa presented itself, I now find myself needing the expedited passport. (a too-involved backstory on why I never had one before).

I’ve purchased airline tickets for Nov. 3, following the agency guidelines, and next week will “qualify” for an appointment at the “local” agency in Houston. No time for the 2-3 week semi-expedited service available at post offices. This is the 8-day expedited service only available through the major agency, or the 3rd party expeditors out there.

Sorry if this is confusing, just wondered if anyone’s done this….if not, I’ll report back on how it went…so far, it is unnerving but not much choice.

[GRETCHEN SOLDAT]

I’ve never seen a no-reply to a question here, so I’ll add my own reply now that I’ve gone through the experience in the hopes it can help someone else floundering on this issue.
http://www.travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/passports/apply.html

Is the site for passport questions. The individual agencies seem to have no local phone number, so you just get a call center. After reading an article in the Huffington Post on 3rd party expeditors vs. DIY, we decided to do it ourselves and made an appointment by the automated system you get when you call the call center. There is no live person to verify your appointment and it does not repeat, so catch the date when the computer voice first gives it.

If it is your first passport, you must go in person instead of by mail. If you can live with a 2-3 week “expedited” service, you can go to a post office or other acceptance agency, but if your need is more pressing, as mine was, you must go to the local passport agency, of which there are few. We were lucky to be only a couple hours from Houston. The 3rd party expeditors did not necessarily require “proof of travel” (which makes me wonder, since they just do the same thing by courier), but the agency requires it. So we had our travel itineraries (airline tickets) printed out, along with birth certificate, driver’s license, passport photo, and a down-loaded form (DS-11) from the website above. Since my driver’s license was out of state, I needed a 2nd I.D. Divorce papers, vehicle registration, military or student I.D. works for this. Also since my married name is different from my birth certificate, I needed to show my marriage license. I brought my social security card just in case too, but it didn’t seem required, though the number is.

It’s very tedious getting an appointment by the automated system as the first one offered was for 10 minutes from my phone call. Then half-hour increments are offered one-by-one with much info repeated over and over.

We got to the agency office, fingers crossed, and yes, I really had an appointment. The clerks were polite and helpful and I had the necessary paperwork. I expected to have the “8-day” service offered on the website, but I was told I could pick up the passport that same day, 4 hours later! This was great, to skip the mailing delay. The cost was $195. The wait at the agency was not long either, we were pleasantly surprised.

It was scary to purchase airline tickets before having passport in hand, but the agency requires this to expedite. The date of travel must be LESS than 2 weeks from your appointment date. In fact, you can’t even MAKE the appointment unless your travel dates are less than 2 weeks. So I could not even call for an appointment until Oct. 21 for a Nov. 3 departure.

So, that is my somewhat harrowing experience with expedited passports. Hopefully all of you have gotten yours well in advance. And, as you probably know, the passport must have 6 months validity left on it in order to travel.

Hope this helps someone else! It was expensive (travel, motel, fees) but well worth the peace of mind. No mailing valuable documents either…Ecuador, here we come!

[COUNTRY EXPERT – WENDY DECHAMBEAU]

Thanks for the update Gretchen, this is great information. I’m glad everything worked out for you and I hope you enjoy your time in Canoa.

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