Emergency Passport Services Are Available When Needed
By Advisor. Filed in Florida |
Unfortunately, tragic events often unfold when people are least prepared for them, and this is especially true when it comes to a life threatening accident, illness or even death of a family member. When this takes place abroad, an already difficult situation may seem almost insurmountable as the family struggles to rushed travel arrangements. In today’s world, a valid passport is a travel necessity and not everyone has one. The comforting news is that it is possible to get an emergency American passport in a couple of different ways.
If there’s an emergency, the first thing that needs to be done is contact the Department of State’s Passport Information Center. The people there are prepared for this type of situation and will be able to guide the family through the process of getting a passport as quickly as possible. The situation will have to fall into their guidelines, but if it does, a passport may be in hand in as little as 24 hours.
They have an automated system to make appointments and live operators from 6am-midnight EST to answer any questions pertaining to emergency passports. If the automated system can’t offer an appointment that’s quick enough, talk to one of the live operators instead to see what can be done. More than likely, they will be able to expedite the situation or put you in contact with an agency that can handle the task at hand.
While it would be nice to think that our government could handle this task without any issues, they are sometimes not able to process the application quick enough for your liking. When this happens, there are passport expediting agencies that are set up that can bypass all the normal channels and get a passport much quicker than we could on our own. Having them handle all of the details can turn out to be a blessing in disguise.
If the passport is needed in 24 hours, services like this can usually make that happen without a problem. They’ve been known to put a passport in people’s hands by the end of the same day. Because of this, the family can get their tickets that much quicker and be on their international flight as soon as possible.
To find these private agencies, all you need to do is get on the internet and do a search. We would issue a word of warning though to make sure that the bureau is checked out. A great way to do this is to check with the Superior Business Bureau to see if there are any live complaints against the company or to see if they’ve a history of unsatisfied customers.
Naturally, the cost of using a private bureau is going to be more than simply going the government route alone, but it is true that time is money. The comfort of leaving the details to someone else can be worth its weight in gold. A two to three day turn around will cost the applicant about $200. Bear in mind that the government fees will also be assessed on top of the agency’s fees, so figure that everything will cost about $300 or more.
While it would be great to think that we would never get caught in a position of needing an emergency USA passport in a situation like this. Life happens and there’s nothing that we can do about it. It is suggested that everyone have a passport, even if they never plan on traveling abroad because you just never know what life is going to throw at you. However, in those cases where it is necessary to get one on short notice, it is nice to know that there are
