Get Your Passport Application in Now for the Dominican Republic - Expedited Passports

Aarrr, me hearties! If the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie has you craving a taste of the pirate’s life, you need to book tickets to the Dominican Republic this summer. A few years ago, divers exploring the reefs off Catalina island stumbled upon the skeletal remains of Quedagh Merchant, a ship last captained by a real pirate of the Caribbean, Captain Kidd.

The ship, laden with treasure, was captured by Kidd and his crew off the coast of India in 1698. It was one of Captain Kidd’s only successful plunders- he was technically a privateer, or a pirate employed by the British Navy to capture other pirates and prey on the ships of rival navies. So, he didn’t attack every ship he came across. This enraged his crew, which was far less concerned with staying on the good side of the Royal Navy.

Unfortunately, even the Quedagh Merchant was not technically legal prey – although it flew under a French flag, the captain was an Englishman. With a price on his head, Captain Kidd left the boat in the Caribbean with his “trusted” crew, and sailed to New York to try to clear his name.

Of course, as soon as his ship passed the horizon, his crew took the opportunity to sink the Quedagh Merchant and make off with the treasure. Pirates, right? What can you do?

In New York, Kidd was arrested and taken to England, where he was convicted of piracy and hung. His decaying body was placed in a gibbet over the Thames, where it remained for the next 20 years as a warning to others.

What of the Quedagh Merchant? Discovered in 2007, it was dedicated this month as an underwater museum and nature preserve. According to Science Daily, it is expected to become quite popular:

“As the interest in eco-tourism and unique vacation destinations continues to grow, this Living Museum of the Sea is predicted to be a sought-after destination for those seeking underwater adventures combined with significant 17th century maritime history representative of the Golden Age of Piracy in the Caribbean.” (more…)

The Department of State is considering creating a new passport form, and the public comment period on the proposal ends Tuesday, April 26th.

According to San Antonio’s Ken5.com, the new form, which would be called DS-5513, is a biographical questionnaire that the Department of State would send out whenever a passport applicant “submits citizenship or identity evidence that is insufficient or of questionable authenticity.”

In other words, if you have a delayed birth certificate filed more than one year after you were born, or you were born at home with a midwife instead of in a hospital, you would probably need to fill out DS-5513. Take a look at a copy of the proposed form here (PDF). As you can see, it’s very detailed.

Sample questions for people born at home or with delayed birth certificates include:

• Whether there was a circumcision or other religious ceremony to mark your birth, and if so, who participated.
• Your mother’s addresses from year before through one year after you were born.
• When and where she received pre- or post-natal care.

Even if you were born in a hospital and your birth certificate was filed in a timely manner, the government may ask you to complete this form to provide biographical information for all the relatives in your immediate family, as well as the address of every single place you’ve ever lived and worked. The Department of State expects the new form to apply to about 74,000 applicants each year.

Of course, many people simply won’t have all of this information. I doubt my mother even remembers the dates of her prenatal appointments, and I surely don’t remember every single address I’ve ever lived at since birth. What’s not clear is whether or not all of this information will be required in order for the State Department to issue a passport to you if they have questions about your birth certificate, or whether they just want you to get as much information as you can and submit it along with the secondary evidence of US citizenship that they already ask for under those circumstances.

The public comment period on the new form ends Tuesday the 26th. If you’d like to submit a comment, go to the Federal Register website for instructions. After the 26th, the State Department will consider the comments it has received and make a decision. We’ll keep you informed as we learn more about this potential new procedure.

This questionnaire is a good example of the kinds of unexpected occurrences that can hold up an application for a new passport. At RushMyPassport, we can’t stop the Department of State from requesting additional information before they’ll give you a passport, but we can help walk you through the process so that any roadblocks get taken care of as soon as possible.

Need a new passport? Contact us today!

Lost amidst fears of a budget shutdown last week was a bit of welcome news for US citizens living in El Paso, Texas: A new emergency passport office is now open downtown.

The office is the 24th regional Passport Agency office to open in the United States. Unlike your local post office, these facilities only handle emergency applications, typically issuing passports within 24 hours.  Previously, before the office opened, El Paso residents who needed same day passport services had a long trip ahead of them; the two closest agencies were in Houston or Tucson.  Tucson is about 300 miles away, and Houston is 750. Neither office is particularly convenient.

The big question is: What took so long? Located right along the border, El Paso seems like a natural spot for a passport agency office. At the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Passport Services Brenda Sprague  agreed, telling El Paso Inc that “El Paso was very high on our list because we felt we were not properly supporting the borderland. You get these very complicated issues because it’s very common for people here to have business, family, residences on both sides of the border.”

Speaking to El Paso’s KFox14, Sprague said ”This is particularly significant for people who have an emergency outside the border. And for people at Fort Bliss who may have an emergency overseas.”

The passport office is open to citizens who need a passport for travel within the next 14 days, or for travel within the next 3 weeks where a foreign visa is required. The Department of State expects the passport office to issue between 46,000 to 47,000 passports each year.

To make an appointment, simply call 1-877-487-2778. You’ll need to bring a copy of your itinerary with you to the office, along with the other required documents. Keep in mind that the passport agency office is only open from 7:30 in the morning to 3:30 in afternoon, and only on weekdays. You may need to set aside some time off work to head down to the office.

If making an appointment, taking time off work and waiting in line sounds like too much of a hassle, you do have the option of using a private expediting company like RushMyPassport as well. When you use an expediting service, you get the convenience of being able to apply for your passport at the local post office, assuming they accept passport applications, plus having your passport hand-delivered to the Department of State for processing in as little as 24 hours.

Need same day passport processing? Contact us today!

At least, not this Saturday: If you were planning to submit your passport application this weekend during the Department of State’s “Passport Day in the USA” event,   there’s some bad news: Passport Day has been postponed indefinitely due to the impending government shut down.

This Saturday was supposed to be the third year for the annual event, in which passport offices, which normally keep banker’s hours, open their doors on a Saturday to accept passport applications. That’s  a big deal for a lot of people! In fact, in 2009, the first year the Department of State held Passport Day, over 57,000 people showed up to submit their passport applications.

The bottom line: If you work a lot during the week, Passport Day is a godsend. If you have a child (and therefore need to round up both the kid and the other parent and get them into the passport office at the same time), Passport Day is a godsend.

However, since there’s no way to know whether or not the government will still be fully functional come 12:01 am, the State Department decided that the prudent thing to do would be to cancel the event.  Their website now features a pretty banner promoting Passport Day with this statement underneath:

“Because of a possible government shutdown, the Department of State must cancel “Passport Day in the USA,” which had been scheduled for Saturday, April 9, 2011. We regret that this event cannot take place as planned.” (more…)

Last week’s 6.3 magnitude earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand, devastated the city. Buildings are in ruins and at least 148 people are confirmed dead. Christchurch is a popular town for tourists, many of whom struggled to get out of the city after the quake.

At a time like this, your first priority is obviously going to be getting out of the situation in one piece, not keeping track of your passport. Often, natural disasters leave victims stranded in the chaos without this all-important piece of identification. So, what would you do if you were in a similar situation? Although New Zealand temporarily waived passport requirements for evacuation flights according to the LA Times, tourists will still need to get them replaced prior to continuing their journey home. There are some steps you can take while planning your trip that will speed the process of getting a lost passport replaced after a disaster.

First, make a copy of your passport’s information page. Making a copy and keeping it separate from your passport itself is a well-known best practice for international travelers. However, you should also leave a copy with friends and relatives who can fax it to you if necessary. Alternately, scan a copy into your computer and then upload it to a secure, password-protected online storage system like SpiderOak or SwissDisk. That way, the information on your passport is accessible to you as long as you have an Internet connection.

After you get to safety and to the nearest US Embassy, having a copy of the information page from your lost passport accessible will make it much easier to get it replaced.

Before you travel, make sure you know where the nearest US Embassy is in case something does happen. It’s also a good idea to register with them.

While nobody likes to think of their carefully planned trip in ending in disaster, and odds are it won’t happen to you, it does pay to remember the Boy Scout motto and be prepared!

If you’ve always wanted to visit Ireland for St. Patrick’s Day, Irish eyes are smiling on you this year. Jaunted dug up a package from TravelZoo that gets you a 6-night stay in Dublin for $599 per person. Airfare to Ireland and a rental car are included.

The only catch? The deal starts on March 19th, a couple of days after St. Patrick’s Day itself. No worries, though – the Irish treat St. Paddy’s Day kind of like New Orleans treats Mardi Gras. It’s not just a day of merriment, it’s a 6-day-long festival that runs from the 16th to the 20th. So, you’ll still be able to catch the tail end of the celebrations.

In fact, if you manage to get into town early enough and you aren’t too tired from the flight, you ought to be able to catch the fireworks in the nearby Viking town of Wexford.

According to the official St. Patrick’s Day website, “The Wexford Quays provide a stunning setting for the formidable fireworks display where bright colours and amazing effects will light up the skies over the river Slaney. A breathtaking pyrotechnic waterfall will create a 300m wide curtain of cascading silver fire.”

Nice! And it’s hard to complain at that price.

To fly to Ireland, of course you need a passport. Even if you already have one, go dig it out and check the expiration date. If it’s expired, you’ll need to apply for a passport renewal ASAP. It’s already too late to send your passport renewal application in with normal processing, as it takes about 6 weeks for the Department of State to send your passport back unless you expedite it. Expediting your passport with the State Department costs an additional $60 and will get your passport to you in 3 weeks.

For faster service, you have two options: make an appointment at one of 21 regional agency offices or use a private passport expediting company like RushMyPassport. We help you with the application and then personally deliver it to the Department of State for processing in as little as 24 hours, with no need to make an appointment or wait in line at a passport agency.

Need an expedited passport renewal? Contact us today!

New Orleans is famous for the wild party that is Mardi Gras, but the rowdy, bawdy celebration that Americans are so familiar with is just one of many Carnival celebrations happening across the world.

Mardi Gras is New Orleans’ version of Carnival, a festival to mark the beginning of Lent that is celebrated in many countries with a Catholic heritage. “Mardi Gras” means “Fat Tuesday.” The day after, called Ash Wednesday, marks the beginning of the Lenten season, marked by an ascetic diet, prayer and penance that lasts until Easter. The idea behind Carnival celebrations is to cram about 40 days of partying into a single week. Some places stretch the Carnival season out even longer, basically partying twice as hard as normal throughout February.

Here are 5 Carnival festivals around the world that are well worth the bother of turning in your passport application to see them in person: (more…)

“Daily deal” sites like Groupon and LivingSocial are the “next big thing.” These sites allow you to purchase vouchers for products and services for deep discounts, usually 50% and often more. These sales only last for brief periods of time, usually for only one day.

You may have used these sites to save money at local restaurants or to finally treat yourself to that long-overdue massage. But did you know that you can also use them to save on trips to Mexico, the Caribbean and beyond?

It’s true-by carefully monitoring these sites and getting deals while the getting is good, you can get a nice vacation without spending a lot of money. For example, LivingSocial recently offered a four-night stay for two at an all-inclusive resort in Cancun for $1,479. You don’t necessarily have to limit yourself to deals posted in your city, either. When purchasing a deal posted in another city, just read the terms and conditions carefully to make sure that redeeming the voucher before it expires is going to be practical for you.

So, how do you find these deals? Clicking on every single city on every single deal site to find travel deals that you can use takes WAY too much time. Your best bet is to use an aggregator like Dealery or YipIt. Selecting your city on Dealery will show you both local deals and nationwide deals, and there’s also a section exclusively for vacations. To use YipIt, you have to subscribe by email, but you can choose the types of deals you want to receive emails about.

There are also daily deal/flash sale sites devoted exclusively to travel. For example, Jetsetter.com features flash sales from luxury hotels around the world, while Groupenture offers discounted adventure travel packages- the more people who buy a package, the cheaper it gets.

Of course, if you’re leaving the country, you’ll need to get a passport first. Currently, according to the Department of State it’s taking at least 6 weeks to get a passport with normal processing, and at least 3 weeks with expedited processing. However, RushMyPassport can help you get your application processed in as little as 24 hours, with no need to make an appointment or wait in line at a passport agency.

Found a “daily deal” you like? Let us help you get a passport today!

Yesterday, we listed Iceland as one of the Top 5 Reasons to Get a Passport in 2011. Now, Frommer’s has uncovered an excellent, affordable travel deal that will take you there for $499 per person (plus tax, unfortunately.)

The deal includes airfare to Reykjavik and back from Boston, New York, or Seattle. It also includes a two-night stay at the Icelandair Hotel Loftleidir with breakfast served daily and a trip to soak in the healing warm waters of Iceland’s Blue Lagoon. If you don’t mind paying a little more, you also have the option of staying in the Hilton Reykjavik Nordica instead.

Also, if two nights isn’t enough, you can add on up to 5 additional nights for an extra fee of $59 if you’re staying at the Hotel Loftleidir and an extra $89 if you’re staying at the Hilton (per couple, singles pay a little bit more person, unfortunately).

From Icelandair’s website, here’s a little interesting tidbit about the Blue Lagoon: “Blue Lagoon’s guests actually bathe between two continents as the Euro – Asian and American tectonic plates meet at the Blue Lagoon.”

The deal is only good from January 6th to March 27th, 2011, and you’ll need your passport to take advantage of it. Check your passport’s expiration date, as you’ll need to apply for a passport renewal ASAP if it’s no longer valid. Show up at the airport with an expired passport and not only will you not be allowed on the plane, you also might very well lose the money you put on the trip: per Icelandair’s website, “A $400 change fee per person applies to changes made up to 30 days before departure. Bookings cannot be changed 29 days or less prior to departure.”

Yikes! Normally, passport renewals take approximately 6 weeks to process, but if you need yours faster you do have options. Ordering expedited service through the Department of State should get your passport processed in 3 weeks or longer. If you’re leaving in 2 weeks or less, you can make an appointment at a Regional Passport Agency office or use a private passport expediting company like RushMyPassport. We personally deliver your application to the Department of State for processing times as low as 24 hours!

Apply for your passport renewal today!

It’s a new year, and that means it’s time to start planning the places you’ll go in 2011. To help you get started, I’ve hand-picked 5 of the best destinations recommended by travel experts – 5 great reasons to get a passport in 2011!

London, England

Travel experts agree: this is London’s year. The upcoming marriage of Prince William and his fiancée Kate Middleton is expected to attract a flurry of tourists from England, America and beyond, all there to bask in the pomp and circumstance that surrounds a royal wedding.

But the Telegraph has what I personally consider a much better suggestion: skip the wedding. Watch it on TV. Then, go later in the year, after things have died down a bit, and stay in one of the new luxury hotels that are opening in the city.

Turin, Italy

Turin is one of those cities that’s often overlooked, taking a backseat to more famous Italian jewels like Rome and Florence. Not this year. According to the Guardian, art lovers will converge upon Turin in 2011 as the city celebrates the 150th anniversary of Italian unification with stellar exhibitions of both Renaissance and modern art.

Curacao

USAToday notes that “2011 will mark Curacao’s first full year as an autonomous nation within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, adding a new chapter to the island’s rich history.” Why not go out and see the Caribbean’s newest island nation for yourself?

New Zealand

New Zealand is an exciting place to be this year, with the Auckland Arts Festival for art lovers, the World Rugby Cup for sports fans and the filming of Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit for geeks.

Iceland

Why Iceland? Hot springs, breathtaking scenery and a smoking nightlife are combined with prices that are still quite reasonable. Even better, new airline routes make it easier than ever to get to.

Of course, to visit any of these destinations you’ll need to get a passport. Apply early, as it takes about 6 weeks if you apply for regular processing. You can get a passport in 3 weeks if you pay an additional $60 for expedited processing. If you need it sooner, your only options are to make an appointment at a regional passport agency office or apply through an expediting company like RushMyPassport.com. An expediting company is definitely more convenient, as you don’t have to make an appointment, travel to a passport agency or wait in line.

Don’t wait – Get a passport today!