Expedite a Passport Renewal - How to Renew Your Passport Quickly

What do you do when your international trip is only a few weeks away and you just discovered that your passport is expired? How can you expedite a passport renewal in time for your flight? What options do you have?

There are three ways to to rush your passport renewal. A description of each method is provided below so that you can wisely choose the best means to get our passport renewal expedited and avoid missing your scheduled trip. They are ordered from slowest to fastest.

Renew Your Passport by Mail

After you have completed application form DS-82, place it in an envelope with your current passport, photos and payment. The application fee and expediting fee can be combined into one payment.

You need to include a copy of your marriage certificate or court order showing your name change if that is the case. You can only make this request on a passport renewal if the change occurred within the last 12 months. Otherwise, you will have to apply for a new passport using form DS-11.

To facilitate the processing of your application, you should write "EXPEDITE" on the outside of the envelope. The mailing address can be found on the renewal application. Using this method, your passport should arrive in 3 or 4 weeks although it can take more time.

Visit a Regional Passport Agency

Applying at a regional passport agency is an option if you cannot wait for your travel document to be returned by mail. Your departure date has to be within 2 weeks or less in order to apply at a regional agency If you need to get an entry visa as well, you can apply at a regional agency within 4 weeks of your trip.

There are fifteen regional passport agencies in the United States. They are located in the cities of Aurora (Co), Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Honolulu, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, Norwalk (Co), Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington DC. Each agency serves a specific area of the United States.

The first step to expedite a passport renewal at a regional agency is to choose the one that attends your state of residence. Once you have done this, you need to call the toll free number (1-877-487-2778) to schedule an appointment. The appointment scheduling process is totally automated. If you are traveling during a peak travel season, it may take a while to get through. You may have to try several times.

When you go to your appointment, take the completed form DS-82, two passport photos and payment with you. You are asked not to get to the agency more than 15 minutes early or to be over 15 minutes late. If you are very late to the appointment, it could be canceled and you would have to reschedule for another day.

You can get your renewed passport that same day if your appointment is scheduled early enough. If not, you will probably get it the next day.

Apply Through a Private Expediting Service

If traveling to a regional agency is not a possibility for some reason or you just prefer not to, a passport expediting service can turn in your application and supporting documents to the regional agency for you. When you have a lot of preparations to make and little time to get them done, contracting a passport expediter to deliver your application for passport renewal is a good choice.

Rush passport expediting is what private expediters specialize in. You are usually given several choices as to how rapidly you want your passport expedited. Processing times range from 10 business days to as little as 24 hours.

After selecting the processing time you want, provide personal information such as your full name, street address, telephone number and email in an online form. Next, type in information about your trip including date of departure and destination. Confirm whether you have an itinerary or not.

You will also need to download the expediter's authorization form. Mail this form, the passport renewal application, two photos and payment to the expediter.

How Fast Do You Need Your Passport Renewed?

You can opt for one of these three methods to expedite your pasport renewal. Your options are to mail in the renewal application, take it to the regional agency that serves your state or get a private expediter to do the work for you. The choice is yours. You get to decide. You make the decision. What matters is that your passport is renewed and delivered to you in time for you to make your trip.