gpolkin

I am a travel newbie and just learned I need to be three months from passport expiration to travel to France. Leaving in 15 days. Anybody have a recommendation on which expediting company to use?

Tks,

Greg

pinniped

Travisa handles my visas and has always done a good job. 15 day turn on a passport renewal should be well within their capabilities. (Assuming U.S. passport and no other unusual circumstances.)

Kagehitokiri

can also walk in to passport agencies (ignore claims that you cant)

edit - indeed assuming US (may apply elsewhere?)

MSPeconomist

If there's a passport agency near you (assuming USA citizen) go there with your old passport, forms, photos, and a credit card. You want to request expedited renewal. To get the passport really fast, including same day, you need proof of travel within two weeks (or a need to apply for visas), so also bring printouts of your itinerary and ticket receipt for air travel. IMO it wouldn't hurt to also bring copies of hotel reservations, etc., if you have this information handy. They can gives you a new passport the same day, but their offer is more likely to be that you can come back in a day or two to pick up the old and new passport, including a passport card if requested. They'll also mail this stuff to you, but this will obviousaly add several days to the process.

There's no need to use a passport agency. In fact, this simply adds a few days to the process and can be very expensive on top of the passport fees you pay to the USA government.

Kagehitokiri

3rd parties can guarantee faster than direct, in some cities but not all
i dont understand why government doesnt offer at same/higher price..

Doc Savage

I used rushmypassport.com a couple of months ago. A little expensive, but professional and fast. I was pleased.

Long Train Runnin

I used thepassportguys about a year ago when I filled up my passport. Overnighted it to them on Tuesday. They processed it Wednesday and was in my hands Thursday morning. Not the cheapest thing, but quick and much easier then loosing a day at a passport agency.

pinniped

I've never used a passport agency for a basic passport renewal, but I find their services pretty valuable on visas. On several of my visa apps, their QA process has informed me of unwritten rules or pitfalls in my documents before submitting to the consulate. Flaws or ambiguities in business introduction letters, incorrectly-formatted foreign addresses, photos that don't meet extremely precise specs, or other little things that the agency knows that particular consulate is known for rejecting visas for. Fixing errors with the agency in 1 day saves potentially weeks in back-and-forth with the consulate. The errors are things I'd never have known about otherwise.

Granted, I think I could get a passport renewal right the first time, and if I lived in a city with a same-day option I'd probably do it that way. But if you have to use an agency, you'll have peace of mind that they'll meet or beat their promised times. It's their entire business model to do so.

MSPeconomist

I agree totally. I use a visa service agency for visas where the application must be delivered to the consulate in person or where I'm concerned about the rules, but I refuse to pay lots of additional money for passport renewal.

I also double check visa rules myself as I've found that some visa service agencies (and airlines like DL with website links to such) tend to advise everyone to get a visa in advance even when it isn't required.

Furthermore, I suspect that some of these visa services are fly by night operations, so everyone should be sure to use one through an employer or otherwise check them out before sending them anything.

Kagehitokiri

fastest expeditors are 24 hours i think, but some agencies will only do 48 hours for expeditors, at least i heard something like that

in 2011 with appointment, agency gave me same day a few hours later, in 2015 as walkin it was a few days later

GUWonder

Even last year, I've seen people go into our Passport Agency offices in the Eastern and Central time zones first thing in the morning and pick up their passports in the late afternoon so as to make evening flights out of the country.

Kagehitokiri

i would assume common for same day flights, they have codes/priorities, i noticed >
mostly C, started with C - appointments
then A - some kind of priority
then E - some kind of priority (before 'customer' even checked in / finished checking in. from state dept 'upstairs'?)
then B - walk-in with same day flight
then D - other walk-in
with other than C being mixed in occasionally and perhaps to certain windows

T2A

Passport regional office is totally the way to go. Last time I went, turned in the required documents, went to lunch and it was ready when I got back.

JY1024

Moving to USA forum for further discussion. Thanks. /JY1024, TravelBuzz co-moderator

abefroman329

I requested expedited service when renewing a passport last spring through the normal channels and also sent via USPS overnight delivery - it was a week from the day I sent it in to the day I received my new passport.

Your Senator or Member of Congress' constituent services department can also help.