After an oversight on my part, we needed a passport fast so I worked with the pros at ItsEasy and got everything back in less than 10 days.
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We Made A Mistake
A few months ago, I outlined the process that we used to get my son’s passport back as a first-time applicant. We successfully got that back right around four weeks and nearly broke our arms patting ourselves on the back. We beat the quoted time frames by weeks and we didn’t need to use an expediting service to achieve it.
During check-in for an upcoming cruise, I typed my daughter’s expiration date and panicked. My daughter’s last passport was issued early in 2019. We lost a couple of years of international travel during the pandemic and as children’s passports (15 years and younger) are only valid for five years each.
We Needed Professional Assistance
We were well inside of the standard six months remaining validity that some countries require. In fact, we were just two weeks from our departure and would not have another window of opportunity to get a new passport issued. We needed an expedited passport service as we were unable to apply in person during the period and it was not a life-or-death emergency.
I used ItsEasy Passport and Visa Services, an online service that makes passport applications simple.
The Process
It’s worth noting that some of the pieces we were able to complete with the ItsEasy Passport Renewal & Photo app, and some we were not because it was simply too close in. Different from adult passport renewals and from new passport applications, children’s “renewals” work a little differently.
- We first had to present evidence of urgent travel. This was as simple as including our domestic flight information though we threw in our international cruise travel itinerary just in case.
- We used the ItsEasy app to complete Form DS-11. It automatically generated the government’s specialized barcoded passport application form, to aid in faster government processing. Government agents can quickly scan barcoded applications over the manual data entry of a handwritten or typewritten application. Without the special government scannable barcode, the agent still must re-type the application.
- We took our photos through the app which uses an outline to ensure the right size and framing, passport photos are complimentary when you use the app. ItsEasy.com promptly overnighted me two passport photos that meet governmental requirements, so they’re guaranteed to be accepted.
- We included our daughter’s still-valid passport, AND her birth certificate in our paperwork.
- We made an appointment at a United States Post Office Passport Acceptance Facility.
- We took a print-off of the form, her photos, the itinerary, and her documents to the appointment.
- Both parents were present though we could have used a sign-off form if we weren’t both able to attend.
- We brought our state-issued IDs (but had our passports as a backup)
- Paid a $35 execution fee
The process of applying for a new passport can be a daunting one, especially if you’re running short on time as we were. Because we were so close to departure, we had no room for mistakes. The acceptance facility could not process our passport application as it had to go directly to the Department of State and had to be hand-carried in through the process because of the urgent timeframe that the passport was needed back by. Due to this, the agent at the USPS location checked over everything, positioned it, stapled in her old passport, images, etc., and then sealed the envelope. They gave this back to us to overnight it to ItsEasy ourselves which was tracked through the app.
We followed the passport online as it left Pittsburgh, arrived in New York, and was accepted by their staff. We received a notification through the app when it was completed and the overnight return shipping details.
How Fast Can You Get A Passport?
For those who don’t live in a city in which same-day emergency passport services or don’t qualify (we were both), an expediting process is the only chance to receive your passport on short notice. But just how fast is it? From the day we started the process we had the new passport in our hands within ten days. Considering that included a weekend, and we weren’t able to get into our passport appointment for a day, plus shipping one day in each direction, it’s incredibly fast. It’s entirely possible that if timed right, it could come back inside the same week.
Usually, you have to wait for your supporting documents (prior passport, birth certificate, etc.) to be returned sometime in the future. If it’s the old passport, we want that back (especially if it has valid visas inside for which you can present the old passport with the new passport to maintain validity.) If it’s a birth certificate, we want that back in our hands as soon as possible.
Because ItsEasy hand carried our documents in and received them back, everything came back at once. That alone was worth it for us.
Conclusion
We missed our daughter’s passport renewal date and had less than two weeks to turn around a new one. We were able to achieve it by enlisting an expediting service, ItsEasy which turned the passport around in ten days and it could have been faster. This service usually costs $349. Routine adult passport renewal on the app is $39.95 all-inclusive. We set automatic passport renewal reminders in the app, but honestly, with costs slightly over our own method but with faster results, I probably won’t renew any passport myself again.
What do you think? Have you been in this situation before? How did you resolve it?
Quickly, not quick.
There is a disturbing linguistic trend to not grasp that adverbs modify verbs.
Grammar and LALF don’t mix very well 😀
jfh, aint nobody got time for grammar with all these credit cards and passport service commissions to promote!
“We made an appointment at a United States Post Office Passport Acceptance Facility.” This is probably the most challenging part of the entire process. People that work at USPS are the laziest and less prepared people of any business you can find.
Or for that matter, how do you even get an appointment at a USPS facility? It’s quite literally impossible to find any appointment at a post office within a 50-mile radius of my location (Collin County, Texas, so hardly an area lacking in population or post offices) using the online system anytime in the 4-week window. I’ve asked about this previously in the comments and never saw a response, so I’m hoping Kyle or Matthew can reply with some tips/tricks on how they made that happen.
I’ve used the office in Great Neck, NY and can’t say enough good things about them.
The process was flawless and I have been recommending them to friends and colleagues for years.
It really is ridiculous that in 2023 you need more than a day or so to get a passport issued. If 2-3 working days is all that’s required for the standard service in the Kafkaesque nightmare of a country that Greece, there really is no excuse for places like the UK and the USA requiring multiple weeks for the process… unless of course it’s due to people within the state apparatus using the lengthy process as an opportunity for making money selling quicker turnarounds.
*that is Greece
My wife needed a new Passport ASAP, we didn’t know that an expediting service existed (until your article), so we flew up to D.C. and went to the Passport office there.
They were able to do a same day turnaround, but we were prepared to wait a day or two of necessary.
It amazes me how many people book international travel and don’t give a single thought to their passport. Plan better!
Courier services are predatory. Only clueless people who want to throw money away use them. If you’re organized and prepared, you’ll never need one.
There are people who travel regularly for work and can’t be without their passports for weeks.
Can’t you just use a birth certificate for cruises out of a domestic port? I think adults can too
Perfect timing. Our travel schedule gives us a very short window to get our son’s passport renewed before he goes to Belgium after graduation next spring. I will be using this service between trips.
One of the benefits of living in Puerto Rico is that you can get a passport renewal done faster than anywhere else on US soil. Just make an appointment with the office in San Juan and show that you’ve got an international ticket with travel coming up. You’ll have a passport in basically a few short days. No need to send any papers in the mail, and no huge extra fee to pay.