A Guide To Acquiring A 24 Hour Passport

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 18:58:37 EST

Typically speaking, acquiring apassport is a time consuming process. First time applicants aregenerally advised to give themselves around two months to get apassport. Expedited passports are available at an additional fee, buteven a rush passport can take several weeks to process. Many people donot know this, but it is possible to get a 24 hour passport in direcircumstances.

First, it is important to discuss when it is appropriate to try toobtain a passport in 24 hours, and also, whether or not it ispractically possible. While it is theoretically possible to obtain apassport in 24 hours, there are a lot of variables that make this featexceedingly difficult. Again, this type of request should be limited toextremely dire circumstances.

The U.S. Department of State specifies that a 24 hour passportshould only be given to someone who has suffered a death, seriousinjury, or serious illness overseas to someone in their immediatefamily. In the case of injury or illness, the family member must behospitalized. In the event of such an emergency, applicants areencouraged to call the State Department Passport hotline.

Many external agencies promise to help customers obtain passportsas quickly as possible. While these agencies are often very helpful, itis quite difficult to make any promises regarding passports. Getting apassport in one day is difficult for a variety of reasons.

Obviously, it is much easier to obtain a passport renewal intwenty-four hours than it is to obtain a new passport. Sometimespassport renewals can be done electronically, or temporary emergencyrenewals may be granted via the Internet. Emergency applicants thatonly need a passport renewal often stand a very good chance of havingtheir request granted in a timely fashion.

New applicants face a much tougher challenge. An authorizedwitness must personally witness the signing of the passport and mustpersonally approve new passports. This can be very difficult for peoplewho do not live near a major metropolitan city. Those applicants thatlive close to a major city with an official regional passport agencystand a much better chance at obtaining a rush passport because thesepeople will be able to go to the agency in person.

Even though most agencies require an appointment, they will makeexceptions for emergency situations. Still, it is important to show upas early as possible. The earlier an applicant shows up, the morelikely it is that he or she will get the passport that day. Or thosethat do not live near an agency, many private passport-expeditingservices offer 24 hour passport service. It is best to stick withwell-established providers to ensure results.

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A Guide To Acquiring A 24 Hour Passport