What Do You Need For a Passport? - Expedited Passports

What do you need for a passport? That’s a good question, and one that you need to have answered before you apply. The required documents will vary depending on whether you are applying for a new passport, applying for a passport renewal, or replacing a US passport that was lost or stolen.

For a New Passport

To get a new passport, you must apply in person at a passport acceptance office. These facilities are generally found in post offices, but acceptance services may also be available in libraries and municipal buildings. You can search for the most convenient location at the Department of State’s website.

You will need to bring the following documents with you:

• Proof of identity, such as a driver’s license or state ID card.
• Proof of citizenship, which could include a birth certificate, naturalization certificate, or certificate of citizenship.
• A photocopy of your ID.
• 1 passport photo
• A completed copy of passport application form DS-11. Please note that while it’s okay to fill out the form in advance, under no circumstances should you sign the form until the person taking your application instructs you to.
• An acceptable form of payment to pay the fees. Contact the acceptance office to see what they accept. For a new US passport book, you’ll need to shell out $135. (more…)

One question we get with some frequency here at RushMyPassport is this: “Do I need a passport to go to Hawaii?”

It’s easy to understand why there might be some confusion about this issue. After all, depending on where in the mainland you’re starting from, Hawaii is anywhere from 5 to 12 hours away by plane. It’s also an exotic place, with its own tropical culture and its own language (though just about everyone speaks English).

Via Wikipedia, here are some additional fun facts about what makes Hawaii unique:

• It is the only state that not geographically located in North America.
• It is the only state that is completely surrounded by water.
• It’s the only state where coffee is grown (and if you visit, send me back a bag of Kona, would you?)
• It is the only state that has royal palaces.
• Finally, it is the only state without a single straight line in its boundary.

However, no matter how far away it is or how different it is, Hawaii is part of the United States. It became a state in 1959. The 50th star on the flag? That’s for Hawaii. (more…)

As long as you’re an American citizen, you qualify for a US passport, which allows you to travel to almost any country in the world. But how many Americans have actually taken the government up on this offer?

According to social travel start-up Tripl, 115  million Americans currently have passports. That may sound like a lot, but it’s only about 37 percent of the population. To put that number into perspective, 155 million Americans, or 50 percent of the population, have an account on Facebook.

So, at least for now, more Americans are on Facebook than have a passport!

Why don’t more Americans have passports? There are probably a number of factors at play. For one thing, America is a big country, so there’s no shortage of potential vacation spots that don’t require one. For another, getting a US passport involves a significant up-front cost, especially if you have a family. There’s also the perception that the passport application process is cumbersome and time-consuming.

Still, looking at Tripl’s infographic, there are some tantalizing hints that perhaps the rise of social networking sites may eventually help increase the number of Americans that travel abroad. For instance, 96% of US college students are on Facebook. 52% of those students said that they had planned trips based on photos their friends posted on Facebook, and 45% said that Facebook had inspired them to visit a friend in another country.

If you need a US passport, keep in mind that it does generally take about 6 weeks for a passport application to be processed.  If you apply for expedited processing, you can cut that down to three weeks, but that still means you need to plan ahead.

If that’s not fast enough, you can make an appointment at a regional passport agency office. These offices issue emergency passports and are generally located in major cities; there are currently 24 of them in the US. A more convenient option is to use a private expediting company like RushMyPassport. We take your US passport application right to the Department of State for processing in as little as 24 hours!

Before you leave the country, it pays to check the back of your passport and make sure you have a few blank pages left. Those pages can fill up faster than you realize!

A full passport might seem like an enviable problem to have, but what happens if you try to travel without any blank pages? It’s tempting to think that you could make it work as long as the passport itself is still valid, but in most cases, you would be wrong. The vast majority of countries simply won’t let you in if you don’t have a blank page for them to stamp. After all, a passport stamp is more than just a souvenir- it shows how and when you entered the country and in many cases indicates how long you can stay.

If you try to travel without any blank pages, you’ll more than likely be turned away at the airport. If you do manage to get on the plane, what happens next will depend on the policies and procedures of your destination country. However, you are almost certain to get hassled, you could be detained and in many cases you’ll simply be escorted on to the next available flight back to the United States — at your own expense, of course.

The good news is that it’s easy to avoid this predicament. Simply check your passport before you travel and either add passport pages or renew your passport as necessary. To add pages, send your passport in along with a completed copy of Form DS-4085 and a check or money order for the $82 fee. Within 6 weeks, your passport will be send back to you with new pages added in the back.

If you need to add passport pages but you can’t wait that long for your passport, paying an additional $60 expedite fee will get it delivered in about 3 weeks.

If your passport expires in the next 9 months, you’re better off renewing it anyway.  See Passport Renewal by Mail for details.

Whether you need to add pages or get a renewal, RushMyPassport can make the process quicker, easier and more efficient. We hand-deliver your application to the Department of State, so it gets processed in as little as 24 hours.

Need to add passport pages at the last minute?  We’re here to help – contact us today!

When you apply for an emergency passport, whether it’s at a Passport Agency office or through an expediting company, the Department of State requires you to prove that you do in fact have an emergency. When you make an appointment at a Passport Agency office, you must bring a hard copy of your itinerary to show that you will be leaving the country within the next 14 days. If you’re using an expediter, you must include proof of travel in the package you send to the company.

For most trips, the State Department will only accept one of the following documents:

• A copy of your airline reservation, or a printed email confirmation if you’ve purchased an electronic ticket.
• A reservation with a travel agency
• If you’re traveling on business, a letter on company letterhead describing the dates you plan to leave the country and what you’ll be doing on your business trip. Someone else at the company needs to sign your business letter, even if you’re the CEO.

But what if you’re visiting our neighbors to the north or south? The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative requires most travelers to carry a passport or a passport card for land travel to and from Canada and Mexico, but if you’re driving, you obviously won’t have a plane ticket to present at the passport office. Increasingly, travelers tend to book their trips independently, without relying on a travel agency. Does that mean you’re out of luck if you need an emergency passport for a road trip to these countries? (more…)

Getting a passport for a minor can be a bit of an ordeal. Once you finally have your child’s passport in hand, another question arises: Who signs it? Do you, or does the child? What if your child is too young to write?

You’re not alone in wondering – this is a common question for parents to ask. The answer depends on the age and writing ability of your child. You have to make a judgement call: can your child sign the passport legibly, in pen, within the space provided? If the answer is yes, then he or she can do so. If your child is too young, then either you or the other parent must do so instead. Here’s how:

• On the signature line of the child’s passport, print the child’s name.
• Sign your name in the space next to the child’s name.
• After your name, write “mother” or “father” in parenthesis.

When it comes to child passports, there are a couple of other important things to remember. For starters, if your child is under the age of 16, his passport will only be valid for 5 years. Adult passports are valid for 10 years, so it’s extremely common for parents to overlook their children’s expired passports until the last minute. Considering that the standard time frame for processing a passport application is 6 weeks, this common mistake has ruined many a family vacation.

If you do need to get a passport for your child in a hurry, RushMyPassport can help. We’ll walk you through the paperwork, step by step, to help prevent common mistakes that could cause delays in processing. Then, we’ll personally deliver the application to the Department of State for processing in as little as 24 hours.

Getting a passport for a minor can be a complicated, lengthy process. We make it easy and quick. Contact us today!

Having two passports sounds like a privilege reserved for spies and secret agents. Actually, though, you don’t need a double life filled with dark secrets to get a second American passport. All you have to do is request one, and prove to the Department of State that you actually need it. Here’s how:

Fill Out a Passport Renewal Application

To apply for a second passport, you’ll need to fill out Form DS-82, which is normally used to apply for a passport renewal. You do not need to go to a post office to request a second passport.

When you send in the form, you’ll need to include one new passport photo and your current passport, plus passport renewal fees of $110 for regular service.

Include a Letter of Explanation

You’ll also need to include a signed statement explaining to the Department of State why it is that you need a second passport.  Please note: “I want one” is not a good enough reason. The Department of State issues duplicate passports at its discretion when one of the following conditions apply:

• You travel often, and having just one passport is interfering with your travel plans by preventing you from obtaining the visas you need while you’re home between trips.
• You need a second passport for safety reasons, generally because you travel or are planning to travel to both Israel and anti-Israel states.

For a sample letter requesting a second valid passport, see our example here.

If you need to get a second passport quickly, RushMyPassport can help. Just select “Passport Renewal” and our trained, professional representatives will answer questions and walk you through the application process step-by-step. Especially when you’re doing something unusual like applying for a second passport, this level of assistance is invaluable, helping to prevent common errors that could keep your request from being processed in a timely fashion.

Need a second passport? Apply with us today!

Nobody likes having to keep track of important numbers, and we all have too many to remember: social security numbers, driver’s license numbers, bank account numbers and passport numbers.  We often get asked whether or not the passport number on a passport renewal will be the same as the passport number on the existing passport. Unfortunately, it won’t be – when you get a new passport, you get a new passport number to keep track of and you’ll need to update your records accordingly.

According to the Social Security Administration, a passport number is used to indicated which passport office the passport was issued in. By looking at a passport number, you can tell where it was issued and possibly where it was applied for. For example,  if your passport number starts with “01,” it was issued at the Washington Passport Agency. If it starts with “04″, it was issued in Miami, and so on. If it was issued at the National Passport Center in New Hampshire, it will start with a “15″,  ”20″ or “21,” depending on when it was issued. Passports that start with the number “60″ were issued with no fee to military dependents. “80″ is the prefix for “official” passports, while diplomatic passports always start with “90.”

If you had to get your passport replaced at an embassy or consulate overseas, your passport number will begin with the letter “Z” or the number “70.” Both indicate that the passport, if issued after 2002, was issued as an emergency passport and is only valid for a year.

To get your passport renewal, you should ideally apply for it at least 9 weeks in advance. Regular processing times average 6 weeks or longer, especially if the passport office is busy. If you spring for the government’s expedited processing, you’ll end up paying an additional $60 and still waiting 3 weeks or longer. For faster service, you can either make an appointment and wait in line at one of the 21 regional passport agency offices in the country, or you can engage the services of a passport expediting company like RushMyPassport. We deliver your application directly to the Department of State for processing in as little as 24 hours.

Let us help you rush your passport renewal today!

Costa Rica is an incredible country. Whether your goal is to explore the jungle or simply lounge on the beach, you’ll find what you’re looking for here. But do you need a passport to go to Costa Rica? What do US citizens need to get into the country?

According to the Department of State, you definitely need a passport to enter Costa Rica. If you don’t have one, get one before you travel. Equally important, if you have a passport already, check the expiration date. To enter Costa Rica, it’s not enough simply to have a valid passport. Your passport has to be good for at least 30 days after you arrive. If your passport expires in less than 30 days, you won’t get into the country. You’ll also need to show proof that you plan to leave: either a ticket home or a ticket to another country.

The passport requirement for Costa Rica exists even for visitors who arrive on a round-trip cruise from the United States. You will still need a passport to enter the country.

As you plan your Costa Rican adventure, make sure you allow enough time for your new passport to arrive. Currently, it’s taking at least 6 weeks for passport applications to be processed. If you spend an extra $60 for expedited processing, you’ll still be stuck waiting at least 3 weeks for your passport to arrive in the mail.

However, there is still hope if you’ve waited until the last minute or just happened to notice that your passport expires in less than 30 days from the day you plan to enter Costa Rica.  If you’re traveling in less than 14 days, you are eligible to make an appointment at a regional passport agency office. These facilities can issue passports in 24 hours or less, but there are few caveats you should be aware of.

First, there are only 21 passport agency offices serving the entire US at this time, although the Department of State plans to open more over the next year. That means you may have to travel a significant distance to get to the office. Second, these offices generally have limited hours of operation, so you’ll probably have to take off work to get there when they’re open. Depending on your employer, this might be easier said than done.

The easiest way to get your passport in time is to use a private company like RushMyPassport. We’ll meet with the Department of State on your behalf to submit your passport application, resulting in processing times as low as 24 hours.

Need a passport in a hurry? Let us help!

As reported by Reuters, Disney just announced a new addition to its fleet of luxury cruise ships: The Disney Dream. The vessel is currently docked in Port Canaveral, awaiting the start of its maiden voyage on January 26.

From the Disney Cruises website, here are some of the ship’s stats:

“Boasting 14 towering decks, a ship length of 1,115 feet and a maximum width of 125 feet, the 130,000-ton vessel includes 1,250 staterooms and has the capacity to comfortably accommodate 4,000 passengers—along with the over 1,458 Crew Members who tend to the needs of every cruise Guest each and every day.”

Not only that, but the Disney Dream is also the only cruise ship to have an attached water ride. Disney calls the AquaDuck a “water coaster.” Basically, it’s a gigantic enclosed water slide that takes you all around and over the ship, finally dropping you off in an onboard lazy river.

If you just have to see this for yourself, there are still some slots open on the ship’s second voyage, which leaves for the Bahamas on January 30th. But will you need a passport?

Technically, since the Bahamas cruises are “closed-loop” cruises, which begin and end at the same US port, you should be able to board with just a copy of your driver’s license and a birth certificate.

However, Disney would prefer it if you had a passport, even though it’s not technically required. Here’s what they have to say about the benefits of having a passport:

“In addition to providing you and your family with valid identification, having a passport prepares you to travel wherever you desire. It also offers an extra level of security while overseas. For example, in the unlikely event that you experience a family emergency during your cruise and need to return home via air from a foreign port, you would already possess the appropriate identification needed to travel.”

Getting a passport for your Caribbean cruise is generally a smart move, even if your itinerary doesn’t require it. If you’re in a hurry, RushMyPassport can help. We’ll forward your application to the Department of State for processing times as low as 24 hours.

Apply for your passport today!