Expedited Passports

As national security measures become ever more strict, even Americans who have lived here all of their lives sometimes have a hard time getting a new passport.  This is especially true of older Americans, born in a time when record-keeping was not as strict. For example, June Cloud was born 61 years ago at home in Kilgore, Texas, and the doctor who delivered her did not submit the necessary paperwork for her to be issued a birth certificate.

According to an article on  KLTV.com, she applied for a new passport so that she could go on a cruise with her husband, but the delayed birth certificate she got from the state of Texas was not accepted by the Department of State.  The article notes:

Unless she comes up with proof of her first five years, Cloud will remain without a passport, missing the trip of her dreams. She says Congressman Louie Gohmert’s Office, along with the Gregg County Clerk’s Office, are now helping her in her quest for a passport.

Fortunately, this story does have a happy ending. Their efforts were successful, and last week KLTV noted Cloud had been issued a passport after all, just in time for the August cruise.

These stories highlight how important it is to apply for your passport as early as possible.  If you have any reason to be concerned, you might also want to consider using the services of a professional passport expediting company. While these companies can’t change the Department of State’s decision on whether or not to issue you a passport, they can get your application processed more quickly. That way, if there are any problems, you’ll know about them more quickly and can deal with them as soon as possible.

Need a new passport? Apply for one today!

Jimmy Woodson had no idea it could take so long to get passport services.  According to the South Bend Tribune, the Niles, Indiana man applied for a new passport 6 months ago, at the same time as his wife and 11-year-old son. They got their passports a few weeks later, but Mr. Woodson is still waiting.

The problem? He was born in Nacogdoches, Texas in 1951. Instead of going to the hospital to give birth, his mother chose to have him at home with the help of a midwife. Unfortunately for Mr. Woodson, his mother thought the midwife had also taken care of filing the birth certificate. She didn’t. Mr. Woodson’s mother didn’t find out that the birth certificate wasn’t filed until 6 years later.  She filed for a birth certificate for her son at that time, but any birth certificate filed more than a year after the birth of a child raises red flags at the State Department.

In the South Bend Tribune article, Mr. Woodson described how frustrating the process of applying for passport services has been for him:

“They refused me, because the birth certificate my mother applied for was six years late,” he said. “They sent me two affidavits to be filled out by relatives, so I did that. Then they sent me two more affidavits. They said the information wasn’t acceptable.”

Currently, Mr. Woodson’s Congressional Representative is attempting to resolve the issue for him.

Mr. Woodson’s experience illustrates why it is important to apply for your passport well in advance of a planned vacation.  If your birth certificate was filed late, you can increase your chances of having your application processed on the first try by also submitting early public records, such as census records, baptismal records, records of post-natal care,  or a family Bible record. See the Department of State’s web site for more information about secondary proof of citizenship.

However, if you are relying on secondary proof of citizenship, be aware that the State Department considers each of these applications on a case-by-case basis.

A private expediting company like RushMyPassport.com can help make the process of applying for passport services easier and less intimidating. Although we can’t make the Department of State issue a passport if they’ve determined they need more documentation, we can help you avoid common mistakes that can hold up your application.

Plus, we hand-deliver your application to the Department of State for super-fast processing times-often as short as 24 hours!

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Except for the time he spent fighting in the Philippines, Tony Lopez, a World War II veteran, has never left the United States. According to the Denver Post, that was supposed to change on February 16th, when a combat reunion will be held in the Philippines to mark the 65th anniversary of the Battle for the Recapture of Corregidor, which Mr. Lopez participated in.

Mr. Lopez, who was awarded both a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star for his service, was supposed to “raise the colors” in the ceremony, but when he applied for a new passport, he was turned down. The reason? His birth certificate wasn’t issued within a year of his birth. According to an earlier article from the Denver Post, he was born in a very small town in New Mexico, and getting a copy of his birth certificate was a challenge:

“The Catholic church burned down, and all the records were lost,” he said. “In 1990, my brother and I traced our baptismal records to Santa Fe. The state took those and gave us our birth certificates based on that.”

Unfortunately, since Mr. Lopez applied with normal processing, he didn’t find out about the problem until 6 weeks later, when his wife got her new passport back and he got a rejection letter from the Department of State.

This is another illustration of how easily problems can arise when current requirements for documentation are applied to people who were born in times and places where strict-recordkeeping wasn’t the norm.  It’s also another good reason to expedite your passport application even if you think you have plenty of time.

Sen. Michael Bennet was able to get a one-year temporary passport for Mr. Lopez, but it didn’t reach him soon enough for him to make the necessary arrangements.  Fortunately, he will get a second chance:

“It’s all right. There’s another reunion on March 3, the anniversary of MacArthur accepting the island back from the Japanese,” he said. “Maybe I can get to that one.”

If you need to get a passport quickly, RushMyPassport.com cen help. We’ll assist you with the paperwork and hand-deliver it to the Department of State for processing times as low as 24 hours! Plus, our unique tracking system tells you where your passport application is at all times. That means that if there are any problems with your application, you’ll know about them as soon as possible, so you can get them fixed as soon as possible.

Need a new passport? Apply with us today!

Usually, getting passport service  is a fairly straightforward process. You fill out a passport application at a passport acceptance facility (often a post office, library, or County Clerk’s office) and provide them with the following documents to send to the Department of State along with your application:

• Proof of US Citizenship (such as a previously issued passport, a birth certificate, a Certificate of Citizenship or a Naturalization Certificate)
• Proof of identity (such as a driver’s license or state-issued ID)
• A photocopy of your proof of identity
• 2 passport photos
• The appropriate fees.

However, for 86-year-old Katherine Young, getting passport service wasn’t that easy.  When she applied for a passport, she had long ago lost her birth certificate.  Usually, this is not a problem-you can simply purchase another copy from the Department of Vital Records in the state you were born in. Or, if you are in a big hurry, you can pay an extra fee to have the Department of State look up your birth record for you. For more information, see How to Get a Passport Quickly Without a Birth Certificate.

Unfortunately for Katherine Young, who needed a passport to go on a Caribbean cruise with her son, the South Carolina Department of Vital Records didn’t have a copy of her birth certificate on file.  And, she was the only surviving sibling in her family.

Don’t worry, this story does have a happy ending: Mrs. Young’s congressman’s office was able to help her obtain passport service, tracking down a 103-year-old woman from her hometown in South Carolina who remembered when she was born. The woman signed an affidavit, the State Department accepted it as proof Katherine Young was born in the US, and she was issued a passport in time to go on the cruise.

If you have all of the documents you need to apply and just need to speed up the application process, RushMyPassport.com can help. Our easy-to-use checklist makes it simple to fill out the paperwork and assemble the necessary documents. Then, once you send them to us, we deliver them by hand to the Department of State, to be processed in as little as 24 hours.

Apply for passport service with us today!

According to the Associated Press, citizens who were denied a passport because they were delivered by midwives near the US border with Mexico may soon have an opportunity to reapply for free.

Here’s the background on the story:  Going back to the 1960’s,  some midwives on the Southwestern border were convicted of fraudulently filing birth certificates for children who may have been born on the Mexican side of the border.  So, the State Department began not issuing passports to people who had been delivered near the border by midwives instead of at a hospital.

However, delivery by midwife is very common along the border because many of the people there are poor and live in rural areas.  So, many people who are legitimately US citizens have found themselves barred from obtaining a passport, which has become increasingly urgent now that passports are required to travel to and from Mexico.

This led the ACLU to file a class-action lawsuit against the State Department. On Wednesday, the lawsuit was given preliminary class-action status by U.S. District Judge Randy Crane.  Judge Crane also approved a preliminary settlement offer by the State Department that allows members of the class to reapply for free and guarantees that the government will either approve or deny the applications, instead of leaving applicants hanging with no resolution.

If you need a passport, make sure to apply well in advance. Obtaining a passport currently takes at least 6 weeks with regular processing, if everything goes smoothly. However, no matter where you were born, it’s always a good idea to apply as far in advance as possible, so that any issues with your application can be corrected in time for you to travel.  A private passport expediting company can also make obtaining a passport easier by walking you through the application process, so that everything goes smoothly the first time. Plus, you’ll benefit from super-fast processing times,  possibly as quick as 24 hours!

Apply for your passport with RushMyPassport.com-We make obtaining a passport easy!

If you need an emergency passport, nothing could be more frustrating than applying and being turned down.  Unfortunately, if there are any mistakes in your passport application,  that’s exactly what will happen, and you’ll have to apply again.

Before you turn in your passport application, you should check and make sure that you have all the correct information, including an original or certified copy of your birth certificate to serve as proof of citizenship. Without an original or certified copy, your passport application will be rejected.  If the birth certificate you have is not the original, how can you tell if the US Passport Agency will accept it?

Anatomy of a Certified Birth Certificate

Take a look at your birth certificate and make sure it has the following information:

• File name
• Your full name
• Date and Place of Birth
• Registrar’s signature
• Authorized seal, which may be raised, embossed, engraved or multicolored, depending on where you were born.
• If you live in Texas or California, you need to include the long form of your birth certificate with your emergency passport application, which measures 8 1/2″ by 11.”

If you don’t have a certified copy of your birth certificate,  order one from the Office of Vital Records for the place where you were born. Or, you can pay an additional $60 and request that the US Passport Agency do a file search by including a completed Request for File Search form with your emergency passport application.

If you need an emergency passport, a private passport expediting company is the fastest way to get one.  An expediting company can provide you with detailed instructions about how to submit your application so that everything goes smoothly the first time. Plus, you don’t have to make an appointment or wait in line.  Order an emergency passport today and your application can be processed in as little as 24 hours!

It’s important to keep a copy of your birth certificate around, just in case. However, it’s also one of the easiest documents to lose since you don’t need it very often.  Your desk can get shuffled around, it can get lost during a move…and unless you double-check its whereabouts periodically, you’ll have no idea that it’s lost until you actually need it.

If you need a passport quick, not being able to find your birth certificate can be a significant roadblock. However, there are ways to get a passport quickly even if you don’t have your birth certificate available.

Do You Need a Birth Certificate to Get a Passport?

Maybe not. If you are eligible to renew your passport by mail, your old passport is all you’ll need.

How Can You Get a Birth Certificate Quickly?

The most straightforward way to get a birth certificate quickly is simply to go down to the Office of Vital Statistics where you were born. However, if you’ve moved from that location, this is probably not an option for you. (more…)