Expedited passport
 

Hello,

my family leaves for the Caribbean in a week. My 6 year olds son passport expired and I just realized. We’re in San Francisco until this Friday. Any hope??

Maybe. Call your Congressman's office in the morning.

Plenty of advice here:

In the early hours of the morning, call an SFO area passport agency office for an in-person appointment. That, and call up the constituent services people for one of your US federal legislators. The DC staff should be taking calls by 6-7 am in California. The passport agency offices can see spots open up even earlier. Do both things.

Get a passport agency appointment ASAP. Be sure to bring all required documents (correct photo, old passport, perhaps birth certificate) as well as proof of upcoming international travel (reservation, ticket receipts, hotel reservations, etc.). Check whether one or both parents are required to appear in person for a child's passport renewal. Passport agencies can product a new passport later the same day or (more typically) the next business day.

Even though the website might indicate otherwise, some passport agencies do accept a limited number of walk in people (I've observed this), so going early without an appointment is a further strategy if you cannot obtain an appointment.

It's going to be tough as there is a huge backlog so best plan accordingly. Where are you traveling? Some exemptions seem to exist for kids with a certified birth certificate.

It's a renewal, not a first USA passport. With proof of immediate travel (usually within two weeks, longer if one needs to apply for visas), a passport agency will issue the new passport in person the next day and sometimes the same day (for example, for emergency travel).

Of course, it never hurts to bring excess documents with you, so the parents would be wise to bring the birth certificate if they have one.

Both parents are most commonly required to show up when doing a child’s US passport application. While there are ways around both parents being required to show up to get a child’s US passport, it will risk slowing things down and could mess up things.

A child’s rather recently expired US passport along with both parents presence with their own valid passports or other acceptable ID works. Having a certified copy of the birth certificate wouldn’t hurt and generally shouldn’t be needed ( but that may vary based on the circumstances relevant to the child’s expired US passport). More importantly, get the photo done correctly. ;)

With in-person morning applications at the passport agency offices, they can do a same-day production for in-person pick-up on the same day or next day. Even now. Make sure to highlight imminent travel schedule as there is some internal prioritization that makes a difference in the turn time.

I understand and have done this several times - but I understand there is no way to make an appointment and no walk-ins at the moment due to staffing issues. They might make an exception for an early morning walk-in but I doubt it and best plan for the worst.

I’ve not had to show up without an appointment this year at a passport agency office, but in prior years I’ve shown up and seen people without appointments let in/up anyway without finding the desperate applicant on an appointment list on those days when I know the appointments were not available for booking in the normal ways. What they said then or now about no walk-ins is not always strictly enforced — and it can vary by not only location but by who is working.

The OP should have had time to contact a relevant federal legislator’s office for constituent services. US Senators and House members have some staff who still do manage to get their constituents openings for applying in-person even when everything looks booked to the general public.