OT/ Expedited passport renewal- any luck with services for fee?

[Trboatworks]

We have gotten stuck a bit.
The wife is planning a trip to the UK in eight weeks.
The passport office is saying 7-9 weeks to renew.

What is the bottom line here?
That timeline is cutting it too close.

There are a ton of companies which offer expedited renewals for a fee and are saying 7-10 business days for mid level service at $600 bucks and can’t guarantee due to government turn around of paperwork.
I don’t want to pay that but I want to see my wife being able to take the trip.

Any thoughts or experiences?

Thanks all

 

[EmGo]

Any thoughts or experiences?

Unless they have a crooked guy on the inside, they can't do anything you can't do.

However, it's possible they do have a crooked guy on the inside, I used to use one but they busted him so ... I know the state dep't can go pretty quick, like if you lose your passport overseas and need one to return, but to do that first you have to get there.

Most of those "services" are a fraud

 

[Conrad Hoffman]

How Can You Get Your Passport Sooner? Here's What I Did [2023]

Does contacting your congressman actually work when you desperately need a passport?

www.thepresentperspective.com

 

[BoxcarPete]

It's possible that the service is a fraud, but more likely they run hand-carry couriers all over the place to deliver. If I recall correctly, there's a place in Chicago which can process passports while you wait, or overnight, or something else really fast. But you need to be there in person, and they won't send the documents through the mail.

Looks like you are not in dire enough straits yet for the Chicago renewal place:

Apply at the Chicago Passport Agency

If you have urgent travel, make an appointment to apply at the Chicago Passport Agency.

travel.state.gov

In order to make an appointment there, you need to have international travel scheduled within 14 days. Maybe you could call today to make an appointment for a few weeks from now, but maybe not.

 

[dcsipo]

Make an Appointment at a Passport Agency or Center

Learn how and where to make an appointment if you need a passport and have urgent international travel in the next 14 days.

travel.state.gov

for you DC or Philly is the closest office

 

[rklopp]

This happens with business travelers quite often, and there are legit service providers out there.

 

[EmGo]

This happens with business travelers quite often, and there are legit service providers out there.

Looked at the one skip posted, it's not an agency, it's the state dep't itself special handling. That I can see but as I said, it's not a "service" that charges a bunch of money for what you can do yourself.

I can see the hand-carry part cutting off a few days tho. Pretty expensive for that but if you're desperate ...

And oh yeah, they won't put in extra pages anymore, either. Have to get a new one. Keep that in mind, too.

You know what's really stupid about passports ? They change the number every time you renew. Why the hell would anyone with a brain do that ?

 

[Trboatworks]

Ok- we are overnighting the renewal application to the government office in Philadelphia and we will keep our fingers crossed.

I think we have enough time.

 

[BoxcarPete]

Ok- we are overnighting the renewal application to the government office in Philadelphia and we will keep our fingers crossed.

I think we have enough time.

If you don't, you can still haul your butt into one of those passport centers and get it renewed same-day. Might end up paying twice, but that's better than missing your trip.

 

[markz528]

I believe that if you have a ticket in hand and still didn't get your passport within a certain amount of time (somehow I'm thinking 2 weeks) I believe there is a method to get it expedited.

I applied for mine in Feb and my wife did not expedite it. My boss sent his a few weeks later expedited, and he got his a couple weeks earlier than I got mine. I got mine a couple of weeks ago. But when I was checking the status of mine online, I saw the expedited possibility if you had a ticket in hand. This was all government no 3rd parties.

I think you will be fine.

 

[James H Clark]

What is expediting ? We applied several months ago to re-new our Pasports and only just learned that our checks just cleared. Luckily we don't need them right now.
JH

JH

 

[jccaclimber]

The local travel agency where I worked in TX did passport expediting. There’s a US passport office in Dallas so they ran a courier down once or twice a week and handled running everything around for you IIRC it was only something like $50. Nothing I couldn’t do, but it was worth $50 of my employer’s money for them to save my time. The agency was rather liberal at finding ways to say “So, if XYZ and W all happen then you would need to travel within 2 weeks, we’ll go ahead and check that box.”

Edit for clarification, I did not work at the travel agency, it was near my then day job.

 

[FredC]

In 1996 I needed to travel to the UK and Ireland on business during the government shut down. I flew to Houston and went to the passport office there, seems like I came home with the passport the same day. Maybe they mailed it to me in a couple of days. That was a long time ago, but it was very quick. Ask at the post office they should be able to help you with the name and phone number of the office in Houston.

JCA mentioned an office in Dallas so maybe there are several of them.

 

[kb0thn]

The part that chaps my ass is that you have to send in your current valid passport to get them to process the renewal. So you are without a passport. I have to travel at a moments notice for work. So I am basically unable to do my job while the passport renewal is in process. Or at least that is how it was last time I renewed.

 

[4GSR]

My last past port renewal was at the post office near me back in 2015. Had it a week later. Time before that, we used a expediting service out of Houston. They were located next to the passport office downtown Houston. That service was around $200 bucks back in 2005. Had my passport in three days, sent by FedEx. Probably double that now days.

 

[jccaclimber]

In 1996 I needed to travel to the UK and Ireland on business during the government shut down. I flew to Houston and went to the passport office there, seems like I came home with the passport the same day. Maybe they mailed it to me in a couple of days. That was a long time ago, but it was very quick. Ask at the post office they should be able to help you with the name and phone number of the office in Houston.

JCA mentioned an office in Dallas so maybe there are several of them.

There are a couple dozen of them, mostly on the coasts:

Passport Agencies

Apply at a passport agency or center if you have urgent international travel in the next 14 days and need a U.S. passport

travel.state.gov

 

[chequamegon]

It's all right here Get Passport Fast from the State Department

 

[deltap]

A year ago I renewed our passports for a cruise. From downloading online forms from State Dept. to receiving passports in mail was only about 4 weeks. You should deal directly with the government and forget the middle man. Follow directions carefully and don't make any mistakes. Even the photos can be done with a cell phone camera when you know the requirements. Take the phone to Walgreens and they will print it for cheap.

 

[projectnut]

We just renewed our passports, and it didn't take even close to 9 weeks. We sent the old ones in and forgot about it. Four weeks later we had the new ones in hand. Two weeks later the old ones were returned in the mail.

 

[adammil1]

We need to travel for work and are encountering this issue regularly. There's a company that we use for $600 or so they have appointments with the state dept to expedite and then they get you to cut the line. The catch is that you need a current airline ticket that is within a certain amount of time. However I have 3 coworkers who have used their services some walking away with a passport in 3 days so yes some of them are not a scam.

The whole situation is really unacceptable and one of the major reasons that we should all be suspect of anything that our government does. How is it acceptable that the process is to give them your passport for an indeterminate amount of time (up to 6 months) and then one day it will show up? I have a job that requires international travel with under 2 weeks notice!

Imagine if you had to mail away your cell phone for 2-6 months in order for the government to grant you a new one??

Sad thing is they could eliminate most of this if they processed everything at their leisure and only told you to mail in the old one when the new one was ready.


BTW most places won't let you board the airplane if your passport expires within 6months so expiration date is almost meaningless.