Expedited Passports

Are you considering getting a passport?  You’ll save a significant amount of money of money if you get your application in before July 13. That’s the day that the US Department of State’s proposed passport fee increases will go into effect.  The new fee structure will increase fees for getting a passport and for passport renewals, as well as adding a hefty price tag to currently free services like adding passport pages.

Here’s a breakdown of the proposed changes:

New passports (for first-time applicants or people who are not eligible to renew by mail)

The current application fee of $75 will increase to $110. The acceptance fee of $25 will stay the same, for a total price of $135.

Passport Renewals

The current application fee of $75 will increase to $110. When you renew by mail, there is no acceptance fee, so $110 would be the total price.

Child Passports

Passport fees for minors are increasing from $60 to $80. The $25 acceptance fee remains the same, for a total cost of $105.

Passport Cards

For adults applying for a passport card, the fee will increase from $20 to $30. For children, the fee will go from $10 to $15. Add a $25 acceptance fee if you are submitting your application in person ( required for minors and for adults who don’t have a current passport and aren’t eligible to renew by mail).

Adding Pages

Adding pages is currently free, but come July 13th, it will cost $82 to have pages added to the back.

File Search Fee

A file search fee allows the Department of State to search for records of previous passports or Consular Reports of Birth Abroad for those who are unable to include proof of citizenship with their applications.  As of July 13, file search fees will go up from $60 to $150.

Expedited Service

The fee for expedited service will stay the same, at $60 plus the cost of overnight delivery. However, bear in mind that this expedited service will only cut processing time from 6 weeks to approximately 3 weeks. If you need your passport more quickly, you will need to make an appointment at a passport agency office or use a private passport expediting company like RushMyPassport.

Although using an expediting company to submit your application does cost more money, for many people it is worth it because it is so much more convenient. There’s no need to make an appointment or wait in line, and no need to take off work and spend time and money traveling to a passport agency office. Plus, you get help from a professional passport specialist to help you avoid mistakes that could cause your application to be rejected.

Getting a passport? Let us help!

Two travel industry groups, the ASTA and the Interactive Travel Services Association, are urging the US Department of State to reconsider their plans to institute new, higher passport fees.  The plans, which were announced last month by the Department of State, would increase passport fees for new passports and for replacing lost or stolen passports from from $100 to $135. Fees for passport renewals would go up from $75 to $110.

In addition to increasing fees for getting or renewing a passport, the proposal would also tack on additional $82 fee for adding visa pages to an existing passport, a service that the Department of State currently performs free of charge.

In the statement submitted to the Department of State, the ASTA and ITSA made the following comments:

“While the economy is beginning to show signs of life, it is early days and we have a long way to go before travel returns to anything resembling sustainable growth. This is, therefore, an especially poor time to increase the cost of travel.”

“Respectfully, it is definitely not the time to impose outsized increases in the fee burden for new and repeat travelers which are the groups most affected by the proposed fee increases… Increases of the amounts proposed will place the government at cross-purposes with itself, working, on the one hand, to stimulate business and support the special needs of small businesses for capital and cash flow and, on the other hand, de-stimulating travel by adding costs to the essential instruments of international movement.”

While you might think that foreign tourist establishments are the group that will be most likely to take a hit once passport fees increase, ASTA President and Chair Chris Russo also noted that in reality, U.S.-owned airlines, tour operators, hotel chains and car rental are all harmed by a decline in the number of US citizens traveling internationally.

So, will the ASTA/ISHTA’s entreaties be enough to keep passport fees from going up? At this point, it’s too early to tell. If you need a new passport or your existing passport needs to be renewed, best do it now, before the price goes up.

RushMyPassport.com can make applying for a passport much faster and easier. We’ll walk you through the paperwork, and then submit by hand to the Department of State, for processing times as low as 24 hours!

Apply for your new passport today!