subject: How Can I Expedite My Passport Renewal? [print this page] How Can I Expedite My Passport Renewal? How Can I Expedite My Passport Renewal?
When you apply for a passport renewal, you will often be kept waiting for a period of 6 weeks or more while the Department of State processes your application. If for some reason the State Department is dealing with a backlog of applications when you submit yours, the wait time could be even longer.
With such a long processing time, it's natural to ask yourself, "How can I expedite my passport renewal?" The answer, however, is not exactly straightforward there are three different methods that you can use to expedite your passport renewal, and the one you should choose depends on a number of factors including how quickly you need it done and how much money you can afford to spend.
The cheapest and simplest way to expedite your passport renewal is simply to order to expedited service from the Department of State. To do this, you'll need to pay an additional $60 along with the normal passport renewal fee of $110. It's also recommended that you pay for overnight shipping to and from the passport office. Write "Expedite" on the envelope to ensure prompt processing. This will reduce the processing time to about 3 weeks.
If you have imminent travel plans within the next two weeks, you can expedite your passport renewal by making an appointment at a regional passport agency office. Making the appointment is free, but you'll still have to pay the $60 expedite fee and since the offices are spread out across the country, you may also have to pay for travel expenses to get there. However, once you get your application in at the office, you should have your passport within 24 hours.
Another option is to use a professional passport expediting company. These companies will deliver your application to the passport agency for you and ship your passport back via a shipping service like FedEx. They can often get your application processed in 24 hours, and you don't have to make an appointment or travel to a passport agency office to get it. However, they don't work for free, and the fastest processing options naturally have the highest fees.
