Getting an Emergency Passport? Check Your Birth Certificate!

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!