So my wife and daughter are getting ready to go to Europe for a couple of weeks. Has been in the planning stages for a long time.

One stupid oversight - discovered this morning my wife's Passport expires right before she leaves. That's only 12 days away!

We live near Washington DC, but in checking with the main passport office in DC, they are booked for appointments until after she's supposed to leave!

I have heard there are services (really expensive) that will get passports done in like a couple of days...Anyone use one of these services before? Wife is in panic mode...

My wife and I used VISAHQ.com a few times for visas and passport services. I just looked and they still offer 3 day turnaround. (for a price!) I had good results. They emailed me every step of the way. (when they received my documents, when they verified everything was good to go, when they submitted it, and when they sent it all back to me) I was nervous about giving someone I don't know my passport/etc, but it all turned out fine for us.

Check with your local post office. I'm in Woodbridge, and the local PO here did a friend of mine very quickly at a separate office inside the PO building. She paid out the ass, but she was able to keep her schedule on traveling out of the country. Granted, this was a few years ago so hopefully you can still get this done.

We just did a NORMAL renewal for the wife, and two new passports for the 3 and 5 year old. We got all of them back in less than 12 days, NORMAL service, not expedited!! The passport renewal form has a spot for travel dates... perhaps if you put your travel dates one week out they rush it?

I would not count on doing an expedited passport through the US post office etc. and expect to get it back fast enough.

You either need to go in person with all of your documents to the official passport center (like Miami,FL for my area) and they can do it the same day. Must bring your airline ticket or something showing you need it renewed right away.

Or, use one of the passport renewal services. I did my renewal and got it back in 2 days, simply pay the $99 I think it was, fedex it to them, they fedexed it back it was easy peasy. Unfortunately I forget which service I used.

rushmypassport.com


Used it recently. Not cheap, but was exceptionally professional. You deal with a knowledeable person over the phone and they walk you thru it step by step. You are sent email updates literally every step of the way. IIRC, I did the 3-day option.

Connot reccommend them enough. Quite a few others I know have used it as well with similar feedback.

I've done expedited; did one not long ago for one son.

I had a second passport of mine expedited recently, but it took extra time due to a couple of needed visas.

quote:

Originally posted by btanchors:
So my wife and daughter are getting ready to go to Europe for a couple of weeks. Has been in the planning stages for a long time.

One stupid oversight - discovered this morning my wife's Passport expires right before she leaves. That's only 12 days away!

We live near Washington DC, but in checking with the main passport office in DC, they are booked for appointments until after she's supposed to leave!

I have heard there are services (really expensive) that will get passports done in like a couple of days...Anyone use one of these services before? Wife is in panic mode...

The State Department has a service for this situation and you don’t need a 3rd party.

It has to be less than 14 days and you have to have tickets in hand. My passport was set to expire while I was living in Canada and I was traveling too much to send it in for renewal. I did expedited at the Houston office. My appointment was first thing in the morning and I had a renewed passport by 3 PM. It cost a little extra but was worth it.

https://travel.state.gov/conte...-passport/hurry.html

Wow - Thank you all for the suggestions, we are looking into ALL of them. Currently, my wife is on her way to the USPS walk-up line. If this does not/will not work, she will be looking into the other options. I went to the state department "hurry" link above - it states it is for life or death emergency, which this is not. She gets on a plane tomorrow to go to Spokane. The plan was to watch my daughter graduate, then they were going to take off for Europe on the 18th. So she's leaving home in Virginia tomorrow morning, but not actually going to Europe until the 18th. Her passport expires by then.

I will update this with what happens, perhaps it will help someone else.

quote:

Originally posted by btanchors:
Wow - Thank you all for the suggestions, we are looking into ALL of them. Currently, my wife is on her way to the USPS walk-up line. If this does not/will not work, she will be looking into the other options. I went to the state department "hurry" link above - it states it is for life or death emergency, which this is not. She gets on a plane tomorrow to go to Spokane. The plan was to watch my daughter graduate, then they were going to take off for Europe on the 18th. So she's leaving home in Virginia tomorrow morning, but not actually going to Europe until the 18th. Her passport expires by then.

I will update this with what happens, perhaps it will help someone else.

The USPS walk up line is NOT the place you need to go. There is a very good chance you will not get it back in time. It usually takes 2-4 weeks to do it this way, usually closer to 4 weeks.

Either go through the State Department and an actual US government passport issuance office as mentioned by Tatortodd (it will take a full day of your time).

OR- pay a passport expedition service $99 and get it to them and get it back in time, 100% for sure.

Rescheduling airline tickets will cost far more than trying to save a buck on renewing the passport.

quote:

Originally posted by btanchors:
Wow - Thank you all for the suggestions, we are looking into ALL of them. Currently, my wife is on her way to the USPS walk-up line. If this does not/will not work, she will be looking into the other options. I went to the state department "hurry" link above - it states it is for life or death emergency, which this is not. She gets on a plane tomorrow to go to Spokane. The plan was to watch my daughter graduate, then they were going to take off for Europe on the 18th. So she's leaving home in Virginia tomorrow morning, but not actually going to Europe until the 18th. Her passport expires by then.

I will update this with what happens, perhaps it will help someone else.

Row 1 in table was life or death, row 2 is the under 14 days like I wrote about

What tatortodd said. I’ve done this (well, I sent somebody who works for me to stand in line for the day to do this when I needed a renewal fast for a biz trip). Works perfectly.

Don’t hesitate to use this service. Your case sounds exactly like what this is designed for.

Relavent article including the link that tator posted, also explains expeditor services.

https://www.cntraveler.com/sto...passport-in-24-hours

If you can get to a Passport Agency office, do that, there will very likely be a line, be prepared for a long wait. Getting your pictures taken and having forms filled-out prior would also be a big help.

Update:

Just as jimmy123x pointed out, wife has determined USPS won't work, as the soonest they can do it is 14 days, which would necessitate changing travel plans, at a huge cost.

I had her call the people at rushmypassport.com, which was entropy's suggestion, and it sounds like they can accomplish in 24 hours. It will cost over $500, but I am willing to spend that at this point.

Wife is heading home to fill out the online paperwork for rushmypassport.com. Will keep you all posted!

All,

Well, Sigforum comes to the rescue -- AGAIN!

Wife has completed everything for rushmypassport.com. She is heading to FedEx now to submit everything. They have told her over the phone that the new passport should be ready by Wednesday, and they are FedExing this directly to her in Spokane. Assuming it works like they have stated, this problem is solved!

If you're wondering more how this works - rushmypassport.com told my wife they reserve appointments with the state department years ahead of time. When an application is received by rushmypassport.com, they hand-walk the information directly over to the state department. They can do this because they have a continual set of appointments each day.

Like I said, if this works as advertised, this problem is solved! My wife was so frustrated and upset at herself this morning she was in tears, which never happens with her. Many many thanks to entropy and others who came to the rescue due to our own stupidity and forgetfulness to check our passport expiration date. I will update this thread once more once wife has her passport in hand.

Thanks again everyone, and have a great weekend!

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You should try walking into the passport office. My wife needed hers for the I9 for a new job that started a week after hers expired. She was told over the phone that she did not qualify for the expedited walk in service. She went anyway and had her new passport the following day.

Glad you are getting it done.

One thing to note for others many countries want to see that your passport is valid for six months from the date you enter.