Will You Ever Be Able to Apply for a New Passport Online? - Expedited Passports

For many Americans, the ability to apply for a new passport completely online ranks high on their travel wish list. Unfortunately, as of right now, you can only start the process online by filling out and printing the relevant application forms. If you’ve never had a passport before (or you are otherwise ineligible to renew your passport by mail), you still have to go down to the nearest passport acceptance facility (most likely a post office) to turn in the paperwork.

Will you ever be able to apply for a new passport without having to leave your desk? Probably not for the foreseeable future. A US passport is more than just a travel document- it’s also proof that you are a US citizen and entitled to all the rights and benefits that US citizens receive. By making you apply in person, the government helps ensure that only people who have the necessary documentation get a passport.

However, current US passport holders may soon be able to apply for a new passport card online, according to InformationWeek.com:

The State Department aims to simplify another bureaucratic process for Americans as part of its customer service plan—applying for a passport card, which will be valid for travel to Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Bermuda.

The department is developing a pilot so people who already have a valid U.S. passport book can apply for a passport card online by uploading a digital photo and making an online payment. The pilot is experimenting with electronic signatures to see if they are viable for this type of passport processing, which the department does more than a million times a year.

That’s great news, but travelers do need to be aware that the US passport card has both advantages and disadvantages when compared to a regular, full-sized passport. For example, the main disadvantage of a passport card is that it cannot be used for air travel.

At RushMyPassport, we enable people who need passports in a hurry to complete as much of the process online as possible. Find out what documents you need, fill out paperwork and print it. If you’re applying for a new passport, you still do have to make a trip to the post office to get your application package “sealed,” but we walk you through the process to ensure it goes smoothly and with minimal hassles. Finally, we personally take your paperwork to the Department of State, for processing in as little as 24 hours.

Let us help you get your new passport quickly and easily!

After you apply for your new passport, all that’s left is the waiting. If you requested regular service, that’s about six weeks of checking the mail obsessively for an envelope from the State Department.

Passports are sent back via regular mail with a tracking number, but you don’t have to sign for it. So, if you’re not home when it’s delivered, there’s usually not a problem…unless, of course, someone goes through your mailbox.

That’s what Snehlata Oberoi of San Francisco believes happened to her brand-new passport. Ms. Oberoi recently became a US citizen, and one of the first things she did was to apply for a US passport. Unfortunately, Ms. Oberoi told her local ABC affiliate, it never arrived. When she checked with the State Department, though, they told her it had been delivered and gave her a tracking number.

She said:

“So I looked up the tracking number online; it said your item was delivered at 11:15 on June 17 in San Francisco…I just want to know where my passport is, who is in possession of my passport, it’s like identity theft.”

Concerned that her stolen passport could be used for fraud by someone looking to use her identity for their own nefarious purposes, Ms. Oberoi would like to propose a solution to the Department of State:

“It’s a very secure document that needs to be sent in a secure fashion; it should always be sent with signature required on delivery,” she said.

But should it? In a response to the local ABC station Ms. Oberoi went to for help, the department noted that “generally, the Office of Passport Services does not require signatures for the delivery of passports, and millions of passports are delivered every year without incident.” (more…)

From the “not-too-bright criminals” file:

A Clarksville, Tennessee man had it all planned out: he would rob a bank, pay off his family’s bills, and then flee south of the border. Unfortunately, he forgot one minor detail: that perfect getaway to Mexico now requires a passport. If you plan to make your great escape by plane, you’ll need your passport before they’ll let you board. Driving across the border beyond the 20 to 30 kilometer “border zone” also requires a passport. Plus, you are required to show your passport when you re-enter the US.

I don’t know if Mr. Fred Emile Berquez Jr. had been watching too many old action movies or what, but obviously the whole “rob a bank and flee across the border” thing has gotten a lot more complicated since the golden age of Hollywood.

To give credit where credit is due, he did manage to rob the bank successfully. However, he neglected to get a new passport first. Naturally, the bank robbery attracted a good deal of publicity. So, in an attempt to get out of town quickly without leaving his family high and dry, Mr. Berquez paid off three months of overdue rent and his electric bill, then drove to Paducah, Kentucky to try to get a passport. After speaking with his presumably very angry wife, however, he realized he had no shot at making it to Mexico and was going to have to turn himself in. Clarksville Police Department Spokesman Officer Jim Knoll explained what happened next in the Leaf Chronicle:

“He had already spent a large amount of the stolen money and decided that he might be able to recoup some of it by gambling at the casino boat. That idea did not work out so well, and he lost all of the remaining money except for $100, which he used to get back to Clarksville and turn himself in to police.”

Whoops.

For more about passport requirements for travel to Mexico, see Do You Need a Passport to Go to Mexico?

Remember, as long as you’re traveling across the border for a legitimate and LEGAL purpose, RushMyPassport can help you get a passport quickly when necessary. We hand-deliver your application to the Department of State, putting it on the top of the stack for processing in as little as 24 hours.

Get your new passport quickly today!

Studying abroad is often seen as a bit of a luxury. The cost varies depending on the program, but in many cases that’s a fair assessment. However, if you’re interested in living in the land of the midnight sun, you should know that Norway lets all students study at its public universities tuition-free- in most cases, even students from other countries. Huge hat tip to Matador Travel for publicizing this little-known but incredibly useful fact!

Of course, you’ll still have to arrange for plane tickets, a student visa, books, lodging and food. There’s also a small fee per semester that is required to take your exams but entitles you to student benefits and discounts. The good news is that if the Norwegian university you decide to study at is accredited by the US Department of Education, you can apply for financial aid to cover those expenses.

Unless they are insured on their parents’ plan, health insurance is often a struggle for college students. However, if you plan to study in Norway for a year or longer, you’ll be automatically enrolled in their national health insurance plan for students. If you’ll be studying for more than three months but less than a year, you are not automatically enrolled but can choose to enroll voluntarily.

Of course, Norwegian is not one of the languages that American teenagers typically study in high school. So, unless you want to spend some serious time studying the language and building proficiency beforehand, you’ll want to select a program that’s taught in English. There are several Bachelor’s programs available in English and even more Masters’ programs, so there’s a good chance you’ll be able to find a course of study that fits.

To get started, look here to see what programs are available and what the admission requirements are, and read the Matador piece to get an idea of what life is like as a foreign student in Norway.

Once you’ve been accepted into the course of your choice, you’ll need to apply for a new passport as soon as possible if you don’t have a valid one. Don’t wait until the last minute: new passport applications can take up to six weeks to process. Expedited applications are available, but still take up to three weeks. For faster service, the most convenient option is to use a private passport expediting company like RushMyPassport, though you also have the option to make an appointment at a regional passport agency office, assuming that there is one nearby and you can take the time off work.

We hand-deliver your paperwork to the Department of State, which allows us to get your application processed in as little as 24 hours, with no need to make an appointment, travel to a passport agency or wait in line.

Need a new passport in a hurry? Let us help!

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!

Have you ever wanted to drop everything and travel the world for a while? Well, what are you waiting for? When it comes to making a major life change like that, there’s never going to be a “perfect” time to do it, so you might as well start planning now. To help you get started, I’ve collected a list of resources from around the intertubes:

• TravelHacking.org: Chris Guillebeau of the popular travel blog The Art of Nonconformity wants to let you in on his travel hacking secrets. If you’re like most aspiring world travelers, money is an issue, and joining the Travel Hacking Cartel can help you learn how to game the system and maximize frequent flyer miles so you can fly for free.
• Almost Fearless: This travel blog by writer Christine Gilbert describes her life as a digital nomad with her husband and extremely cute baby. There’s also an excellent selection of ebooks and resources to help you take the plunge yourself.
• 11 Reasons to Stop Dreaming and Start Planning Your Round the World Trip: Print this off and tape it somewhere highly visible in case you need motivation to kick yourself in the butt and get moving.
• NomadicMatt.com: Nomadic Matt’s site is an awesome resource. His blog posts are always entertaining, and the travel guide section is full of helpful goodies like average costs and things to see and do in each country.
• Location Independent: Traveling the world for long periods of time is more financially feasible if you can work from wherever you are. This blog shows you how.

While you’re daydreaming about living it up in India or Thailand, don’t forget to make arrangements to get a passport if you don’t have one already. You should allow at least 6 weeks to get a new passport if you apply with regular service, and at least 3 weeks if you use the government’s expedited service. Also, note that if the government shuts down for any length of time, passport processing services will be affected. And when they start back up again, there may be a backlog of applications in the system that could increase processing times.

If you need your passport in a hurry, your best bet is either to make an appointment at a regional passport agency office or use a private passport expediting company like RushMyPassport. We’ll hand-deliver your application to the Department of State for processing in as little as 24 hours, with no need to travel to an agency or wait in line.

Apply for your new passport today!

The US Department of State has announced that they’re bringing back “Passport Day in the USA” for the third year in a row on Saturday, April 9th. Just like last year, acceptance facilities (post offices,etc) and regional passport agencies alike will be to open and waiting to accept your new passport application.

During last year’s event, at least 57,000 people used the opportunity to turn in their passport applications on a weekend (per Jaunted). Since many acceptance facilities and all of the regional passport agency offices are usually open weekdays only, events like this make it easier to apply for a new passport without having to take time off work.

However, if this year’s event is like last year’s, be aware that it’s not for people who waited until the last minute to apply. There’s some potential for confusion because typically, Regional Passport Agency offices issue emergency or same day passports to people with urgent travel needs and an itinerary to prove it. However, for this event only, these offices will be accepting applications from the general public. Even if you apply at a regional passport agency office on Passport Day in the USA, you won’t be able to get same day service. You will be able to get expedited service for an additional $60, but that only cuts the processing time down to 2 or 3 weeks instead of the usual 6 weeks.

If you’re leaving the country in 14 days or less and you need to submit an emergency passport application, you must make an appointment at the nearest regional passport agency office and go during normal business hours.

At the moment, there are only 22 regional passport agency offices serving the entire country, and they are open during limited hours on weekdays only. If you don’t live near one, can’t make it to the office while they’re open or just don’t feel like going through the hassle of making an appointment, RushMyPassport can help.

Our passport specialists will help you get your documents together and walk you through the paperwork. Then, we hand-deliver your passport application to the Department of State for processing in as little as 24 hours.

Let us help you get your new passport today!

For most people, applying for a new passport is a minor inconvenience. However, for singer and actor Ben Vereen, best known for his roles as “Chicken George” in the miniseries Roots and as Mayor Ben on Zoobilee Zoo, the quest for a passport unearthed a family secret that no one had ever revealed to him: he was adopted.

Vereen recently recounted his story for BlogTalkRadio.com. It started when he got invited to tour with Sammy Davis, Jr. at the age of 25:

“I didn’t have a passport so he told me to send for my birth certificate. I didn’t think about the fact that I didn’t have one or there were no baby pictures of me. Turns out they didn’t have my birth certificate under the name Ben Vereen but they had Essie Middleton as the mother of Benjamin Vereen.”

When he questioned his mother about it, she revealed that he was adopted. Despite having the birth certificate, it took him decades longer to actually get up the nerve to track his birth family down. He told BlogTalk Radio,

“The whole idea of hearing my older sister’s voice for the first time was just amazing. We were both nervous seeing each other for the first time. Now she’s always on my case. I also discovered I have a brother, Jimmy, and (another, called) Eugene…Both mothers have since gone on (died), so finding aunts and cousins and a whole slew of people who are now in my life and my children’s lives is wonderful and very rich.” (more…)

When you apply for a passport for the first time, you are required to appear in person to do so. Does that mean that you can’t use an expediting company to get your passport quickly?

At RushMyPassport, we get this question a lot.  It’s natural to be concerned, but the answer is reassuring: Of course you can! You’ll still need to appear in person at a passport acceptance facility, but there’s no need to wait weeks for your passport to arrive like it you would if you submitted it without our help.

Passport acceptance offices are often located in post offices or libraries, so there’s almost certain to be one in your area. You can find the nearest one by searching for your city and state on the Department of State’s website.

When you go to the acceptance facility, bring the following documents:

• Proof of identity
• Proof of citizenship
• 2 passport photos
• A check or money order to pay the required fees.
• A copy of your itinerary to show that you need your passport in a hurry.
• An “authorization letter” from the expediting company

At the acceptance facility, you’ll fill out passport application form DS-11, show the acceptance agent your ID and provide them with your proof of citizenship. Let the acceptance agent know that you are using a private expediting company, show them the authorization letter, and the agent will place your documents into a special sealed envelope that you can then send overnight to the expediting company.

This process saves you the hassle of having to make an appointment and possibly travel out of your way to an emergency passport office, while still allowing you to get your application processed in as little as 24 hours. When you consider that standard processing times at a passport acceptance office without the assistance of an expediting company are 6 weeks or longer for routine service and 3 weeks for “expedited” service, the advantage of using an expediting company is clear.

For passport help, contact us today!

A Oregon woman is finally able to apply for a new passport after the US Air Force located a copy of her birth certificate.

According to the Mail Tribune, 21-year-old Vanessa Driskell has been looking for her birth certificate for the past 4 years, ever since she was 16 and wanted to apply for a driver’s license.

For most of us, a lost birth certificate is nothing more than an inconvenience. All it means is that you’ll have to order a replacement from the Department of Vital Records where you were born. Vitalchek even has a service that allows you to apply online, and if you pony up extra for expedited processing and shipping you can have yours in less than a week, sometimes in just days.

Unfortunately, Miss Driskell was born in the Philippines, at Clark Air Base where her father was stationed. In June of 1991, the base had to be evacuated due to the eruption of Mount Pinatubo, one of the most massive volcanic eruptions of the 20th century. In the chaos, her certificate of live birth showing that she was born overseas to US citizen parents was lost. Unable to order another copy, she has basically been in limbo for the past four years, unable to apply for a new passport or even a state ID.

A spokesman for Senator Ron Wyden, who assisted in finding the documents, explained to the Mail Tribune how they were finally located:

“The documents are coming to us from the National Archives in St. Louis. We had contacted them about this case. To their credit, they began an extensive search. They found it in a box in a warehouse in Illinois that was part of the base closure file.”

Now, Miss Driskell can stop worrying about finding the documents for a new passport and can start planning where to go for her first trip out of the country. It’s nice to see a passport story with a happy ending, especially right before Thanksgiving!

If you need help applying for a new passport, RushMyPassport can make the process quicker and easier. We’ll walk you through the application process and deliver your application to the Department of State for processing times as low as 24 hours, depending on the option you choose.

Apply for your new passport today!