Posts Tagged ‘emergency United States passport’
If you need to travel outside of the United States, you must have a passport. Since June 1, 2009, persons leaving the U. S. or its territories have been required to present a passport for re-entry into the U. S. (passport cards are acceptable for travel to Canada, Mexico, Bermuda or the Caribbean area). If you have family living outside of the United States, there can be times when you will need to make a visit in case of emergency. In this case, you will need to have an emergency us passport for the visit.
As soon as you find out that a close family member is moving out of the United States, you should apply for your passport. If you ever intend to visit, you will have to have this documentation. Having a passport means freedom to visit family when you want to make the visit.
In order to obtain that passport, you will need to follow the rules that the State Department has established. These rules, as well as the applicable forms, can be found on the website for the U. S. Department of State. The application will need to be returned to a passport processing center. There is at least one in most cities of any size. Currently, the return time is four to six weeks.
If you plan to travel in less than fourteen days you can pay an additional fee of sixty dollars for an expedited passport. You can also pay for overnight delivery of the materials to and from the passport agency. You will also need proof of transportation such as a plane ticket for the travel.
If you pay this extra fee, you can get your passport in two to three weeks. For many people this may get the passport in time for their travel plans.
If you are facing a life or death situation, you can get an emergency passport. These emergency passports can be obtained in a 24 hour period, however, you may have to travel to one of the regional passport centers or pay an agent to make application for you. You can call the toll-free number of the State Department to schedule an appointment at the center. Centers are open Monday through Friday during normal business hours and closed weekends and federal holidays. If you take the completed application to the center at your appointment along with proof of travel, you can get your passport immediately.
If travel to the passport center is not possible for you, then you can also hire an new passport agent to make the application on your behalf. You will need to include time to send your documentation to the agent and for the agent to send your passport to you using overnight delivery. Many agents are able to process your passport within twenty four hours.
Employing a us passport agent may increase the price you pay for a passport. In addition to the 5 government fee, you will need to pay for the agent’s services and for shipping costs. While this can increase the cost of the emergency pasport, it is often less expensive than having to travel to the regional center by yourself.