Get Your Passport Application: Passport Day is This Weekend! - Expedited Passports

Been meaning to turn in that passport application? Life does get hectic, and it’s easy to just keep putting chores like that off. However, you shouldn’t wait until the last minute to apply for a passport. It’s just a bad idea. Now, thanks to the Department of State’s annual Passport Day in the USA holiday, you don’t have to.

This event has been held for the past three years, and it gives people who don’t have a lot of time during the week a chance to submit their passport applications at a more convenient time. During Passport Day, all twenty four of the Department of State’s Regional Passport Agency offices are open on Saturday, with no appointment required. Many local passport acceptance facilities like post offices, libraries and clerks of court are open for the day, as well. Usually, Regional Passport Agency offices are only open for limited hours on weekdays, and you need an appointment to get it.

If you just got back from a summer vacation that took you out of the country, you’re probably thinking something along the lines of “Oh well, better late than never!” Why didn’t they hold Passport Day before the summer vacation rush?

As Bob Sullivan, customer service manager for National Passport Center, explained to MLive.com, it wasn’t a matter of choice:

“Our initial event was on April 9 but we rescheduled due to the possible federal government shutdown. Now is a good time because students who are studying abroad or travelers planning to go to the Olympics in London or on winter vacations can get them done.”

To find a participating office, click here to visit the Department of State’s website.

To help reduce lines and waiting times, the Department of State requests that you go online and print off the relevant forms, then fill them out ahead of time. Of course, you should also gather up all relevant documents. For more information, see:

How to Apply for a New Passport

How to Replace a Lost Passport

Passport Renewal: Cutting Through the Red Tape

Also, bear in mind that the only services available during Passport Day are regular service, which takes about six weeks, and standard expedited service, which takes two to three weeks. For faster service, you have to apply during the week at one of the Regional Passport Agency offices, and you’ll need an appointment. Or, get your passport application expedited with RushMyPassport for processing in as little as 24 hours!

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…)

The Department of State just announced that it will celebrating “Passport Day in the USA” later on this month, providing citizens with an opportunity to submit their passport applications during special Saturday hours  at regional passport agency offices and passport acceptance facilities around the country.

This is the second year in a row that the Department of State has celebrated Passport Day. In addition to being open on a Saturday, for this one day you won’t have to make an appointment in advance to apply for a passport at one of the regional passport agencies. You also won’t have to pay a $60 expedite fee or bring a copy of your itinerary showing that you plan to leave the country in 14 days. There are 23 regional passport agencies scattered throughout the country. They will be open from 10:00 am to 3:00pm.

If you don’t have a regional passport agency office nearby and you need to get a passport, check with your local passport acceptance facility to see what hours they will be open on that Saturday. Passport acceptance facilities are often located inside post offices, libraries or county clerks’ offices-you can find the one that’s closest to you here.

In a statement on the Department of State’s website, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Passport Services Brenda S. Sprague commented on the event:

“Passport Day in the USA is a great opportunity for Americans to apply for their passports. Since it is on a Saturday, people can drop by a passport agency or their nearest passport acceptance facility and still have plenty of time to enjoy their weekend.”

Passport Day in the USA is a great opportunity if you don’t have imminent travel plans and just want to get a passport without having to take time off work. However, it is not for people with urgent travel plans.

The only expedited service available at this event costs $60 and will get you your passport in around 2 weeks or longer as opposed to 6 weeks or longer. If you need your passport sooner than that, you still have to make an appointment at the nearest regional passport agency (an acceptance facility can’t help you)  during normal business hours and bring proof of travel.

If you need to get a passport in a hurry and either can’t make it to a regional passport agency office or just don’t want to take the time, a private expediting company like RushMyPassport.com can help.

Rather than you having to take off work and drive to an agency office that could be hours away, you would simply submit your application to the expediting company and the expediting company will deliver it to the Department of State for you. We offer processing times as low as 24 hours and a level of personal attention and service you won’t find anywhere else.

Ready to get a passport? Apply for one today!