Expedited Passports

Here’s some good news for Florida travelers who desperately need a passport: the Department of State just opened an improved same day passport office in Miami.  The  new passport office is located in the Omni Center, and it boasts more than double the windows its predecessor.

The bad news? To get same day passport service, you can’t just stroll on over to the Omni Center and pick one up. You’ll still have to make an appointment first, go to the passport office at the appointed time, and wait your turn.  For a complete description of what you’ll need,  see Emergency Passport Checklist.

Another potential disadvantage to using the passport office is that it is  only open for  a limited time each day, from 8:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. If you work the day shift, you may have to ask for a little bit of time off work.

Another option for same-day passport processing is  to use a private passport expediting company, and let the expediting company handle going to the passport office and waiting in line.  RushMyPassport has an office in West Palm Beach, and we welcome walk-ins from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm,  Monday through Friday, with no appointment needed.

We’re located at 412 Clematis St, West Palm Beach, Florida 33401.

Also, a private passport expediting service is a good option for people who don’t live near a Regional Passport Agency office.  Many Americans don’t live within easy driving distance of one of these facilities, so an expediting company could save you a lot of time and gas, not to mention a stiff, aching back. You can mail in your documents, and in most cases get them processed within 24 hours of the time they are received.

Need a passport in a hurry? Apply for a same day passport today!

The tiny Caribbean island of St. Lucia is an excellent destination for anyone who likes tropical beaches, scuba diving, snorkeling or hiking.  Now, you can fly there on JetBlue. Jaunted covered JetBlue’s inaugural flight to St. Lucia, and notes that it is a good deal cheaper than competing fares from old-school airlines like American.

Your flight may not feature rum and cake, like the inaugural flight did,  but hey, it’s still an affordable way to get to Paradise.

Of course, if you want to fly with JetBlue to their newest destination, you will need to get a new passport if you don’t already have one.

Here’s a brief rundown of what’s required when you fill out a new passport application:

• You must apply in person at a passport acceptance facility (usually a post office, library or county clerk’s office).
• You’ll need proof of identification and proof of citizenship. You’ll also need a photocopy of your identification.
• You must complete a new passport application, form DS-11.
• Submit 2 passport photos.
• Pay the applicable fees ($70 application fee + $25 execution fee + $60 if you want expedited service).
• Wait at least 6 weeks for regular service, and at least 3 weeks for expedited service.

If you’d like to travel St. Lucia  sooner than that, a private passport expediting company is your best bet. With an expediting company, you fill out your passport application at an acceptance facility, then have the documents “sealed.” Send the sealed application packet to the expediting company, and they will forward it directly to the Department of State, putting it on the top of the stack for super-fast processing.

In fact, RushMyPassport.com can often get passport applications processed in as little as 24 hours.

Apply for your new passport today!

When I wake up in the morning, the whole house is chilly, my bones ache, and I envy the flocks of geese and other birds that pass over my yard on their way to warmer, more hospitable climes. Birds are smarter than people-when the weather turns gross and cold, they fly south to sip margaritas on a beach somewhere until spring.

Well, okay, not really. But that’s what I would be doing if I, like many North American songbirds,  were overwintering in Mexico! Like it or not,  most of us can’t afford to put all of our possessions in storage and spend 3 months of  each year south of the border. However, there are some awesome deals on airfare to Mexico and the Caribbean right now, so you just might be able to afford a week or so of sunshine.

SmarterTravel.com has the scoop, with fares starting at $152 round-trip, for a flight from Tampa, Florida to Freeport, Bahamas on Spirit Airlines.  For $176, you can get from chilly Boston to Nassau on American Airlines, and for $194, Continental will take you from Dallas, Texas to Guadalajara, Mexico.

To get your tickets at these prices, you will need to be ready to depart by November 30th, and return by December 15. So, if you don’t already have a passport, you’ll need to get one in a hurry-you can’t fly to the Caribbean or Mexico without it!

There are two different ways to expedite your passport: apply for the government’s expedited service or use a private passport expediting company.  Of the two, a private passport expediting company like RushMyPassport.com is by far the easiest and least stressful option.

If you don’t apply for expedited service, you can expect to wait at least 6 weeks for your passport, by which time this sale will be long gone.  If you apply for the government’s expedited service, you’ll stay wait at least 3 weeks for your passport to arrive.  ‘

You also can request emergency passport service with proof that you are traveling in 14 days or less. However, you have to make an appointment and drive to a Regional Passport Agency office, and there may not be one of those within easy driving distance.

With an expediting service, you can expedite your passport application to get it processed in as little as 24 hours, with no appointments, long drives or waiting in line.  Expedite your passport the easy way with us today!

Americans tend to avoid thinking about death unless they simply can’t help it. But across the border in Mexico, there is an entire holiday centered around death- El Dia de los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead.  The Day of the Dead is traditionally a time to honor dead relatives and friends.  It is believed that the souls of the dead are able to return during the celebration and be with their loved ones again.

The celebration takes place right after Americans get done celebrating Halloween, and it’s actually 2 days long.  On November 1st,  dead children and infants are believed to return in spirit to spend the day with their families. T0 honor them, families decorate their graves and an altar inside the home with little gifts like toys and balloons.

The next day, November 2nd, is the day that the souls of adults come back.  They are honored with more “grown-up” offerings, such as bottles of tequila or mezcal, or atole, a thick, hot drink made from cornstarch.

Both children and adults are also honored with altars and tombstones draped in yellow-orange marigolds, and rich feast of cakes and candies, most decorated with grinning skulls.  Most people visit the graves of family members in cemeteries, and in some areas, more elaborate ceremonies and candlelit vigils take place.

The best places to observe the Day of the Dead in Mexico are generally considered to  be  Mixquic in Mexico City, the island of Janitzio in Michoacan, Oaxaca and Meridia in Yucatan.  It’s not uncommon for tourists to visit these areas to observe the celebrations-just remember to be respectful,  since this is a serious, important holiday for the people who live there.

If you’d like to see the Day of the Dead for yourself, you’ll need to get a passport, quick.  Since June of 2009, passports have been required for all travel to Mexico.  Currently, it takes about6 weeks to get a passport if you apply with regular processing, and at least 3 weeks if you apply for expedited processing.

That doesn’t really give you enough time to get your passport and get to Mexico in time for the Day of the Dead this year, but a private passport expediting company can help you get a passport more quickly.

An expediting company will your passport directly to the Department of State, putting it on the “top of the stack.”  This means you get your passport quick, with processing times as low as 24 hours.

Need a passport quick? Apply with us today!

Commercial space travel is still out of reach for everyone but the richest of the rich. However, Chile’s “Valle de La Luna” (Spanish for “Valley of The Moon”) is as close to walking on the surface of the moon as you can get without actually leaving the planet.

Environmental Graffiti has an awesome post up with incredible pictures of this desolate valley. It really does look like a moonscape-the valley is barren of any plant life, and over the centuries the forces of nature have sculpted the rock and sand into fantastic, almost otherworldly formations.

The valley is situated in between the Andes mountains and the Atacama Desert, and immense, towering volcanoes rise up in the background, providing a suitably “lunar” backdrop for the valley. Dry lakebeds are coated in shimmering salt crystals. The most interesting and famous landforms in the Valley of the Moon are three vaguely humanoid rock towers called the Three Marias.

If you want to visit the Valley of the Moon, you’ll need a US passport to travel to Chile.  When you apply for your passport, make sure to allow enough time for the government to process your application.

If you apply through the mail with regular processing, expect it to take at least 6 weeks for your US passport to make it back to you.  To get it faster, you can request expedited processing from the government and pay an extra $60 to State Department. However, you still allow at least a month for your passport to arrive.

Find a last-minute travel deal that you don’t want to pass up?  A private passport expediting company like RushMyPassport.com can help you get your US passport more quickly.  We help you with the application, provide you with a checklist that helps you avoid common mistakes, and then submit your application directly to the Department of State by hand, resulting in processing times as low as 24 hours.

Apply for your US passport today!

Did you know that this month is National Cruise Vacation Month?  It’s true…the Cruise Lines International Association celebrates National  Cruise Vacation month every October. To commemorate the occasion, cruise lines are offering great deals on exotic cruises.

For example, according to the New York Times, if you book a cruise on Norwegian before October 20th, you’ll only pay half the deposit that you normally would, and you will get an onboard credit to use for whatever your heart desires. Other cruise deals available this month include a 5-night Western Caribbean cruise from Celebrity starting at $279; a 10-night Royal Caribbean Western Mediterranean cruise leaving from Venice that starts at $499, and a 7-night Mexican Riviera cruise from NCL that starts at $229.

To see more cruise deals, check out CruiseCritic.com. Please note that some of these deals are for international cruises-and depending on when the ship leaves port, that means you might need to get a passport, quick!

Under the final phase of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, which became effective in June of this year, passports are required for passengers who travel by boat to Mexico, Canada or the Caribbean.  The exception is if you are traveling to one of these locations on a closed-loop cruise, a cruise that begins and ends at the same US port. If you’re on a closed-loop cruise, you can get by with a state-issued photo ID and a birth certificate or other proof of citizenship.

However, it’s best to have a passport anyway, since you need one for air travel to and from these locations and you want to be prepared in case you have to leave unexpectedly. Also, you definitely need a passport for European and South American cruises.

The easiest way to get a passport quickly is to use a private passport expediting company like RushMyPassport.com. RushMyPassport makes it easy to get a passport quick by hand-delivering your application to the Department of State, resulting in processing times as low as 24 hours.

Don’t let these great deals sail away-get a passport, quick!

Heading to Europe, but looking for a destination that’s off the beaten path?  Look for an European Destination of Excellence.  An European Destination of Excellence, or EDEN for short, is an award given out by the European Commission to highlight relatively “unspoiled” tourist destinations that still offer visitors the chance to experience local culture.

According to this article in the New York Times, European Destinations of Excellence include small, quaint villages with an ancient history, like Carlingford, Ireland Edirne, Turkey. Carlingford features fresh seafood and medieval monasteries, while Edirne has been around since the Neolithic era and claims to be the birthplace of marzipan.

Visiting an EDEN destination is also an environmentally responsible choice, since sustainable development is one of the criteria for winning the award.  In the New York Times article, Ton van Lierop, a spokesman for the European Commission, explains “We want to promote destinations, locations, regions and towns with particular historical and cultural backgrounds, where sustainability plays a role.”

So far, there are 52 destinations that have received the EDEN designation.  Check out the European Destinations of Excellence website here to discover awesome destinations like the Sierra de las Nieves in Spain or the Tourist Wine Route of the Jura in France.

Of course, once you find a place to go, getting a passport should be your first priority. It’s important to allow enough time for your passport to arrive before you plan to leave. Getting a passport takes at least 6 weeks if you apply directly to the Department of State with regular processing, and at least 3 weeks if you apply for expedited processing.

However, if you’ve found an irresistible last-minute travel deal, don’t despair. Getting a passport quickly is possible. The easiest way to get a passport in a hurry is to use a private passport expediting company like RushMyPassport.com.  RushMyPassport will hand-deliver your passport application to the Department of State, resulting in processing times as quick as 24 hours.

Getting a passport is easier with us-apply for yours today!

It’s not even winter yet, but the weather outside is frightful! With fall rains, wind and cold temperatures (even snow!) making most of the country miserable, you may find yourself dreaming of cultivating an off-season tan on a tropical island somewhere.

Can you imagine sitting on a warm beach by the blue ocean, drinking something fruity with a little umbrella in it?

Well, what are you waiting for? For today only, JetBlue is having an amazing sale on  airfares to destinations including Mexico and the Caribbean. For example, you can fly from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida to Cancun for $49 one-way, or to Nassau for $29 one-way.

From New York, you can fly to Barbados or to Montego Bay, Jamaica for $99 one-way. Kingston, Jamaica is $89 one-way  from New York, and Nassau, Bahamas is $79.

Are you ready to leave the autumn chill behind and soak up some sun? Well, you’d better act fast-this sale ends at 11:59 pm tonight! Check out available fares here.

To fly to Mexico or the Caribbean, you will also need a passport.  If you want to leave within the next few weeks, you’ will also need a rush passport.

The easiest way to get a rush passport is to use a private passport expediting company like RushMyPassport.com.  The government’s expedited passport service takes about 3 weeks door-to-door, but an expediting company can have your passport application processed in as little as 24 hours!

Plus, you’ll work with a trained passport specialist and get simple, easy-to-understand instructions that help you avoid common mistakes and make filling out paperwork a snap!

Order your rush passport today!

Halloween is creeping closer and closer.  For an out-of-the-ordinary fall vacation, why not visit get a fast passport and visit the scenes of some of your favorite horror stories?

• London, England:    This city is the scene of horror classics like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Picture of Dorian Gray, and parts of Bram Stoker’s classic Dracula.
• Bran Castle, Romania: This castle, located in Transylvania, is billed as “Count Dracula’s castle” although it was not a primary residence of the historical Count Dracula, Vlad Tepes. However, it’s located in Transylvania and looks exactly like what you would expect Dracula’s castle to look like, so there you go.
• Geneva, Switzerland- In Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, A Modern Prometheus, Victor Frankenstein grows up near Geneva. Mary Shelley first got the idea to write Frankenstein while she and her future husband, Percy Bysshe Shelly, were staying with friends on the shores of Lake Geneva. The weather was horrible, so the group resorted to telling ghost stories to pass the time, and Frankenstein’s monster was born!
• Paris, France: The Phantom of the Opera was set in the old Paris Opera House, although the opera has since moved to a newer building. The famous Cathedral of Notre Dame was, naturally, the setting for Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Of course, to travel to any of these destinations this month, you’ll need to get a fast passport. Actually, you’ll need a really fast passport. Regular passport processing takes approximately 6 weeks to complete, while the government’s expedited service takes approximately 3 weeks.

The easiest way to get faster passport processing is to use a private passport expediting company like RushMyPassport.com.  At RushMyPassport.com, we hand-deliver your passport application to the Department of State, resulting in processing times as fast as 24 hours.

Apply for your fast passport today!

Genealogy is a fascinating topic and a popular hobby. If your ancestors were travelers, one way to find out about them is to look up their old passport applications, if you can.  In 2007, Ancestry.com released a collection of US passport application forms from 1795 to 1925.

What can your ancestor’s US passport application forms tell you about them? Lots! Applications generally included biographical data like names and birthdates, and more personal information like occupations and physical descriptions, plus information about the applicant’s foreign travel plans.  Starting in 1914, passport applicants also submitted photos of themselves.

US passport applications from that far back often seem quite humorous today.  For example, one Ancestry Magazine staffer found a copy of her great-grandfather’s passport that described her grandfather as having a “large” nose and a “common” face. You can read her amusing account of her find here.

However, according to this Ancestry.com blog post, if you’re looking for a female relative before the ’20s, you may need to look under her husband’s name.  That’s because before the 20’s, most women simply traveled on their husband’s passport, and men filled 95% of US passport applications. However, by 1923, women were applying for passports in their own names, and up to 40% of the applicants were female.

Do you have a passport? What will your descendants learn about you from the application?

If you need a passport in a hurry, RushMyPassport.com can greatly speed up the application process for you.  We’ll help you with the paperwork and then submit your application by hand to the Department of State, resulting in processing times as fast as 24 hours.

Submit your US passport application today!