Expedited United States Passport – It’s Simple To Apply For A US Passport Today
Everyone has been in a situation where something unexpected happens. In many cases, this just calls for some minor adjustments to our plans. When unexpected travel is thrown into the picture, there is a lot more that has to happen in order to pull it off. First and foremost, the person is going to have to get an expedited passport so that they can get their overseas ticket.
While the government may try and make the process quicker and easier, their idea of quick may not mesh with what the average person thinks is quick. Granted, they are quicker than they have ever been, but expedited services can give the whole process a much needed boost to get the passport back even quicker. By paying an extra fee, rush service can be ordered and the passport should come back in about two to three weeks.
This “rush service” that the government offers is the time it takes for the application to be accepted until the passport arrives in the applicants mailbox. This can be expedited even further by going to a private agency, but they are going to charge extra fees over and above what the State Department charges. When quicker service is needed, a passport can be had in as little as 24 hours.
As you can imagine, there are some significant fees for any service over and above the standard processing fees. For regular service, the applicant will have to pay $120 to get both a passport and passport card. Getting the book alone is $20 cheaper, but is a good idea to have them both. Fees for minors are slightly less.
If expedited service is needed, there will be a $60 fee tacked on to all of the other standard charges. In addition to these fees, the forms should be shipped via overnight mail for security reasons. Sending documents like this via regular mail is simply not recommended. This can be ordered when filling out all of the forms at the passport office.
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.
The form to fill out for expedited service is the DS-82. Yes, the government has a form for everything, so be prepared to write. If this is not the first passport being applied for and expedited services are requested, write the word “expedite” boldly and in plain sight on the outside of the envelope. This will ensure that it gets to the right department upon delivery.
The process for receiving an expedited pass port is little different than the regular requirements. The key is to use overnight delivery services and to make certain if one opts for regular mail, for goodness sake, use a certified or registered process. This is the only way that it will be possible to track the US passport in the event of a snafu. One final tip is to be certain to use good packaging materials like a Tyvek mailing envelope to protect critical identification documents.
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