Attaining An Overnight Pasport Could Be Achieved
Nowadays, the global economy means more people than ever before are traveling on last-minute business to parts of the world far away from home. Unfortunately, some people are stymied in their travel quest because of expired passports or because they’ve never had a passport and now need one in a hurry. They should take heart, though, in knowing that it’s possible to obtain an overnight U.S. passport with a little work.
Understand, first of all, that getting an expedited passport out of the government usually means working with one of 14 different regional service centers. This means a fair amount of intelligent planning will need to be undertaken in order to make things go smoothly. As well, working with an express passport business, many of which exist today, may also help.
In this regard, fees can run anywhere from $200 to $600, so expect to put out a fair amount of money to have a company handle almost everything. However, the State Department – the administrator for, and issuer of, all US passports – has a mechanism by which a person can do the legwork himself and possibly obtain a passport overnight.
To get the speediest service possible, travel to the nearest regional service center. There are 14 of them scattered about the country, with a number of them on each coast and in the Midwest. This includes Chicago, Washington DC and Los Angeles. Go online and look over the State Department’s passport website for the location of others that may be closer.
Keep in mind that at every center an appointment will be required before the applicant can have his or her request for a passport addressed. In addition, remember that it will be impossible to get a passport without supplying positive proof of identity and citizenship along with two passport photographs. Unfortunately, none of those service centers are set up to take these photos.
When it comes to obtaining an overnight passport, there are always additional fees attached to doing so. For one, a $60 fee paid to expedite the application will be required. And always remember that, when it comes to getting one of these passports, trusting to the mail and the government to turn it around overnight might be a bit too much. That’s why doing things in person is usually the smartest.
If travel to one of those regional servicing centers is going to be undertaken, it’s vital that an appointment be set before showing up, as was said. Go to the State Department website to find the toll-free number and then try to have the appointment set for early in the day. That’s because passport processing can take more than five hours, in many cases. Also, it may cost up to $300 to obtain one.
Getting an overnight pasport, once one understands the mechanism for doing so, isn’t actually all that difficult. But, the cost of travel to a center and then the fees paid for processing, expediting and other miscellanea, such as American passports photos, meals, rental car and such, can make for an expensive proposition. This is why most people who need one overnight usually choose to work with an expediting service.