Passport Question

[Bixby17]

Okay, the husband and my passport's have expired. So we are going to do the mailin passport. (I'm going to get the kids their first passport, and boy howdy, Jessica's passport picture is the cutest thing I've ever seen, I'm jealous).

In any event, I go to the website to see how to get an expedited passport and I do not understand the directions at all:

If you can, then How Do You Renew Your Passport By Mail?
1. Complete Application For a U.S. Passport by Mail , form DS-82

Click here to download the DS-82 Application form.
Be sure to sign and date your application.

2. Attach to it:
Your most recent passport
Two identical passport photographs
And, a $75 fee payable to the U.S. Department of State.
If you need your passport urgently, you may request Expedited Service. (Click here for information about Expedited Service.)
NOTE: Your previous passport will be returned to you with your new passport.

3. If your name has changed since your passport was issued:
Enclose a certified copy of the legal document specifying your name change (e.g. marriage certificate, divorce decree, adoption decree, or court order).
No photocopies accepted.
NOTE: If your name has changed by other means, you must apply in person. (See How to Apply in Person .)
4. Mail in a padded envelope to the address indicated on the form.

NOTE: Please note that overnight service will not speed up processing time unless the $60 fee for expedited service is also included.( Click here for information on Expedited Service .)

So I click here for expedited service, and this is what that page says:

Cost, in addition to regular application fees, is $60 per application plus overnight delivery costs.
Two-way overnight delivery is strongly suggested.
If you mail in - clearly mark Expedited on the envelope.
Anyone may request expedited service for any type of application (e.g., first-time applications, renewals, amendments of existing passports, etc.) See:
How do I change my name on my passport?
How to add extra visa pages to my passport?
How do I apply to renew my passport?
Passport applications sent together or at the same time do not necessarily remain together.
Passports will be mailed separately.

Okay, this is my question. If I want expedited service in a mail in, how much money do I make out the check for? What the heck is two way overnight delivery, and if they are sending it back separately, do I need to put enough for overnight delivery back for both?


If I were to pay 75+60 for each, this is something I can understand. But isn't there different prices for overnight mail?

[mrkelley23]

Don't take this as authoritative, but the way I read it, you make the check out to State Dept. for $135. You take it to the Post office and request two-way overnight delivery service. They charge you whatever, and include a prepaid envelope for you to put in with your application. State Dept. does the paperwork, then uses your prepaid envelope to send it back.

Important thing is they don't want to hassle with the Postal Service. So you make the arrangements for overnight service, and pay them separately from the passport dept.

In my town, the main post office and the passport department are so close, I wouldn't use this option. I imagine it's different for you, though.

[minimetoo26]

My local post office is also the passport office, so I have to go there anyway to mail off the sucker and I may as well ask the passport folks WTF. I am just so totally jinxed with passports, you don't want to ask me. I had sent mine off to change it to my married name, they changed it, mailed it back, and I never got it. And the postal service didn't have a tracking number, so we don't know where it ended up. So I had to go to my congressman for a rush job.

Then my latest one came back with a typo in my last name....

[Appa23]

From my reading of the instructions, MrK nailed it in one!

The easiest thing would be to pay at your local USPS office for overnighting your application package and for the return of the passports.

You can go to the USPS website to fiund out the cost of overnighting a large envelope. (It might be $16.25 now)

[PlacentiaSoccerMom]

Are you sure you need an expedited passport? I got Maddie's passport in less than two weeks.

By the way, I got it through the post office. If you call the post office, they are pretty good at knowing exactly what the fees are.

[Jeemie]

Are you sure you need an expedited passport? I got Maddie's passport in less than two weeks.

By the way, I got it through the post office. If you call the post office, they are pretty good at knowing exactly what the fees are.

I was going to ask the same question.

My wife just went to get hers last week, and was told to expect her passport, via normal channels, in three weeks.

The backlog is history now- they're all caught up.

[nitrah55]

Some friends of mine had a similar issue, trying to get expedited passports.

They went to the post office and did everything the postal clerk told them.

A few days later, they got a call from the clerk at the State department telling them:

- everything the postal clerk told them was wrong, so they nearly overpaid ($400 v. $150);
and, since the State department clerk had nothing else on her desk, they didn't need expedited service, and the clerk took care of it that afternoon.

I recently renewed my passport, and got it back in three weeks. Non-expedited.

[Bixby17]

Are you sure you need an expedited passport? I got Maddie's passport in less than two weeks.

By the way, I got it through the post office. If you call the post office, they are pretty good at knowing exactly what the fees are.

I was going to ask the same question.

My wife just went to get hers last week, and was told to expect her passport, via normal channels, in three weeks.

The backlog is history now- they're all caught up.

Interesting. Their website still says 4-6 weeks.

[mrkelley23]

They're caught up with the backlog in passport applications. Website updates, however, are still running 2-3 years behind.

It is a bureaucracy, after all...

[PlacentiaSoccerMom]

Are you sure you need an expedited passport? I got Maddie's passport in less than two weeks.

By the way, I got it through the post office. If you call the post office, they are pretty good at knowing exactly what the fees are.

I was going to ask the same question.

My wife just went to get hers last week, and was told to expect her passport, via normal channels, in three weeks.

The backlog is history now- they're all caught up.

Interesting. Their website still says 4-6 weeks.

They told me that it would be 4 - 6 weeks, but it took less than two weeks. I actually got her passport back two days before I got her birth certificate back in the mail.

[gsabc]

They're caught up with the backlog in passport applications. Website updates, however, are still running 2-3 years behind.

It is a bureaucracy, after all...

GW and I renewed ours between the two major flurries of activity (when they first said that the "passports would be needed at border crossings" rule would go into effect, and when it actually went into effect). It was only a couple of weeks then, too.

Web updates? Who needs those, when your victims, er, customers can just call our information line, listen to options and punch buttons for hours?

[PlacentiaSoccerMom]

I was going to ask the same question.

My wife just went to get hers last week, and was told to expect her passport, via normal channels, in three weeks.

The backlog is history now- they're all caught up.

Interesting. Their website still says 4-6 weeks.

They told me that it would be 4 - 6 weeks, but it took less than two weeks. I actually got her passport back two days before I got her birth certificate back in the mail.

I also ordered a credit card for Maddie on one of my accounts the same day that we ordered the passport.

The passport was delivered faster than the credit card.

[Bixby17]

Thanks all for the comments.

I decided against the expedited passport because it really is probably not going to be necessary anyways.

I just put them in the mail today. I'll let you know when I get my non-expedited passports back.

[KillerTomato]

Are you sure you need an expedited passport? I got Maddie's passport in less than two weeks.

By the way, I got it through the post office. If you call the post office, they are pretty good at knowing exactly what the fees are.

I was going to ask the same question.

My wife just went to get hers last week, and was told to expect her passport, via normal channels, in three weeks.

The backlog is history now- they're all caught up.

Interesting. Their website still says 4-6 weeks.

If they get slammed with a million applications, it can take some time, but I got mine back in October in 11 days from Post Office to my mailbox.

[gotribego26]

Okay, the husband and my passport's have expired. So we are going to do the mailin passport. (I'm going to get the kids their first passport, and boy howdy, Jessica's passport picture is the cutest thing I've ever seen, I'm jealous).

In any event, I go to the website to see how to get an expedited passport and I do not understand the directions at all:

If you can, then How Do You Renew Your Passport By Mail?
1. Complete Application For a U.S. Passport by Mail , form DS-82

Click here to download the DS-82 Application form.
Be sure to sign and date your application.

2. Attach to it:
Your most recent passport
Two identical passport photographs
And, a $75 fee payable to the U.S. Department of State.
If you need your passport urgently, you may request Expedited Service. (Click here for information about Expedited Service.)
NOTE: Your previous passport will be returned to you with your new passport.

3. If your name has changed since your passport was issued:
Enclose a certified copy of the legal document specifying your name change (e.g. marriage certificate, divorce decree, adoption decree, or court order).
No photocopies accepted.
NOTE: If your name has changed by other means, you must apply in person. (See How to Apply in Person .)
4. Mail in a padded envelope to the address indicated on the form.

NOTE: Please note that overnight service will not speed up processing time unless the $60 fee for expedited service is also included.( Click here for information on Expedited Service .)

So I click here for expedited service, and this is what that page says:

Cost, in addition to regular application fees, is $60 per application plus overnight delivery costs.
Two-way overnight delivery is strongly suggested.
If you mail in - clearly mark Expedited on the envelope.
Anyone may request expedited service for any type of application (e.g., first-time applications, renewals, amendments of existing passports, etc.) See:
How do I change my name on my passport?
How to add extra visa pages to my passport?
How do I apply to renew my passport?
Passport applications sent together or at the same time do not necessarily remain together.
Passports will be mailed separately.

Okay, this is my question. If I want expedited service in a mail in, how much money do I make out the check for? What the heck is two way overnight delivery, and if they are sending it back separately, do I need to put enough for overnight delivery back for both?


If I were to pay 75+60 for each, this is something I can understand. But isn't there different prices for overnight mail?

Not sure how fast you need it back - I sent my passport using the mail renewal option on February 7 and recieived it back last Friday (the 22nd).

No guarantees, but they are doing much better now than they were last summer.

You have to appear in person for the kiddos anyway - why not just have them do yours also. Preprint the applications from the website - I spent less than 10 minutes getting both kids done.

[PlacentiaSoccerMom]

You have to appear in person for the kiddos anyway - why not just have them do yours also. Preprint the applications from the website - I spent less than 10 minutes getting both kids done.

Both parents have to show up at the passport office for children under the age of 14.

[Bixby17]

You have to appear in person for the kiddos anyway - why not just have them do yours also. Preprint the applications from the website - I spent less than 10 minutes getting both kids done.

Both parents have to show up at the passport office for children under the age of 14.

I thought that you could get a notarized affidavit from the non-attending parent for the kiddos and bring it to the passport place. The logistics of actually finding a time when the passport office is open and both the husband and kids are available would be hard.

I wanted to get ours done quickly because there is a possibility we might visit some Mexican border towns when the husband and I do our rambling West Texas/NM/AZ Spring Break road trip. If we get the passports, then cool it gives more flexibility, but yeah, it wasn't probably worth the additional expense.

[PlacentiaSoccerMom]

I thought that you could get a notarized affidavit from the non-attending parent for the kiddos and bring it to the passport place. The logistics of actually finding a time when the passport office is open and both the husband and kids are available would be hard.

Maddie is 14, so I called ahead to find out if Jeff needed to come with us. Because she is 14, they said that only one parent needed to come. They said that if I had a child under the age of 14, that both would need to come.

They didn't give me the option of having a notorized statement.

[peacock2121]

You have to appear in person for the kiddos anyway - why not just have them do yours also. Preprint the applications from the website - I spent less than 10 minutes getting both kids done.

Both parents have to show up at the passport office for children under the age of 14.

I thought that you could get a notarized affidavit from the non-attending parent for the kiddos and bring it to the passport place. The logistics of actually finding a time when the passport office is open and both the husband and kids are available would be hard.

I wanted to get ours done quickly because there is a possibility we might visit some Mexican border towns when the husband and I do our rambling West Texas/NM/AZ Spring Break road trip. If we get the passports, then cool it gives more flexibility, but yeah, it wasn't probably worth the additional expense.

Yikers.

I hope you will be packing some heat.

Not sure I would make that kind of trip. Doesn't seem worth the risk to me. Too many people being kidnapped and held for ransom down that way. If it was a place I wanted to visit, I would risk it..... but really..... what's there?

[Bixby17]

Both parents have to show up at the passport office for children under the age of 14.

I thought that you could get a notarized affidavit from the non-attending parent for the kiddos and bring it to the passport place. The logistics of actually finding a time when the passport office is open and both the husband and kids are available would be hard.

I wanted to get ours done quickly because there is a possibility we might visit some Mexican border towns when the husband and I do our rambling West Texas/NM/AZ Spring Break road trip. If we get the passports, then cool it gives more flexibility, but yeah, it wasn't probably worth the additional expense.

Yikers.

I hope you will be packing some heat.

Not sure I would make that kind of trip. Doesn't seem worth the risk to me. Too many people being kidnapped and held for ransom down that way. If it was a place I wanted to visit, I would risk it..... but really..... what's there?

Nah, border towns are just like any big town--there's crime anywhere. As long as you are sensible and go to the right places at the right times, you should be just fine. Lots of back and forth border shopping and eating in this part of the world.

[PlacentiaSoccerMom]

There was an article in the newspaper recently that mentions the decline in tourism in Tijuana.

Accompanying the articule was a picture of a Jeep full of Mexican soldiers with guns.

I didn't find it very reassuring.

[Bixby17]

Hurray for the Bored.

The husband and my passport came in the mail today.

Feb 25th put in the mail. Nice turnaround.

[peacock2121]

Hooray for saving money!

[Bob Juch]

The husband and my passport came in the mail today.

He was too cheap to fly economy?

[Bob78164]

I thought that you could get a notarized affidavit from the non-attending parent for the kiddos and bring it to the passport place. The logistics of actually finding a time when the passport office is open and both the husband and kids are available would be hard.

Maddie is 14, so I called ahead to find out if Jeff needed to come with us. Because she is 14, they said that only one parent needed to come. They said that if I had a child under the age of 14, that both would need to come.

They didn't give me the option of having a notorized statement.

I just saw this thread. I signed a notarized statement allowing The Little Guy (who is now 8) to travel to Canada with Ms. 63. I didn't need to show up anywhere in person. --Bob