When A Death Or Other Disaster Happens, An Emergency US Passport Might Be Necessary
No parent wants to get the phone call that their child has been hurt. Imagine getting that phone call when the child is on a trip abroad and not having a passport. While this can be a very stressful situation, it is made easier with emergency American passport services. There are services that will allow someone to forego all the normal waiting periods and have a passport ready to go in as little as a single day.
If there is 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 cannot offer an appointment that is 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.
However, many people in the midst of a family event of great seriousness may wish to opt for using a private pass port expediting service, especially when it is a weekend or other time when government representatives may not be available. These for-profit agencies specialize in cutting through the red tape to move an emergency passport through the process at lightning speed. For a non-critical application, they can get the job done in two to three days.
When 24 hour turnaround is the only option, these firms can do this for you. In the case of a family already struggling with the illness of a member abroad, even the expedited government process can seem onerous. It is a simple fact that when one is stressed and consumed with other necessities, it becomes far easier to make mistakes in the application, which could cause it to be delayed even more. A private agency takes this burden away and allows the family to concentrate on other needed activities such as arranging transportation.
To find these private agencies, all you need to do is get online and do a search. We would issue a word of warning though to make sure that the agency is checked out. A great way to do this is to check with the Better Business Bureau to see if there are any live complaints against the company or to see if they have a history of unsatisfied customers.
Naturally, the cost of using a private agency 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.
Receiving an emergency passport can be accomplished relatively quickly and there are options beyond simply the Department of State’s process. Looking into the services of a private passport expediting company before an emergency strikes is well worth a little bit of time. Knowing where to go and what it may cost is valuable information for everyone, especially when faced with a family death or other serious situation.
