Once again, I come to DU'ers for advice....

[Upthevibe]

Can anyone give me information on how to get a passport quickly? I have a passport card but I need a real passport.

(I come to DU instead of google first because I try to get first-hand experiences)....

Thank you!

[MOMFUDSKI]

1. I went to my local city hall.

Call them and they may have some help for you.

[Upthevibe]

4. MOMFUDSKI.....

To complicate matters, I'm currently working in Dallas (for a friend at her small business) and won't be home in Los Angeles until June 3. Our trip is supposed to be leaving on July 8th (to San Miguel de Allende in Mexico).

Thank you!

[CincyDem]

2. Depends on what major city you're near and if you have travel booked/paid for.

I have on two instances gotten a passport expedited.

I’ve gotten expedited passports in DC and in Miami…less that a week in one and day of travel in the other.

Can be done but you’re going to have to go to a city with a passport office…in my experience.

Good luck.

[Upthevibe]

6. CincyDem .....

Thank you!

I'm currently working (temporarily until June 3) in Dallas but live in Los Angeles.

[CincyDem]

9. Good luck - here's some tricks that paid off for me.

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/get-fast/passport-agencies/dallas.html

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/get-fast/passport-agencies/los-angeles.html

Here’s the thing…you MUST be in line by 4:30-5:00am local time. It sounds early but you’ll be surprised that even then, you probably won’t be first in line. You’ll be there with a bunch of folks from the various passport services and they’ll have Tupperware bins full of renewals/applications/etc for clients.

You’ll have 3-4 hours in line with them…get to know them, tell them your story, get to be part of the gang. The goal is for one of them to offer to let you go first, before any of them. With only one passport, you’ll be in at 8:00am and out by 8:05 with 4-5 hours to kill waiting for the passport (assuming no background/document issues). Get stuck behind a few of them (depending on how many windows are open) and you would wait 450-60 minutes before even starting the process. In both my experiences, I elicited an invite to go first…kinda like when you’re in the checkout line with a bag of chips behind some guys that have 3-4 carts of stuff.

On the pickup…ya get in line and work your way up to the front…if it’s not ready yet…just walk around and get back in line again. In both my cites the line was about 15-20 minutes long so I just cycled a couple times. I think I got it in 3-4 rounds but I don’t really remember for sure.

Above all, don’t (do NOT) get frustrated with the guy handing out the passports. If your passport isn’t ready yet, he doesn’t have anything to do with it. BUT…if you treat him/her like a jerk because you’re in a hurry…I guarantee he/she will take an interest in having something to do with the timing of your passport. LOL.

Good luck.

Add…it really helps to have your airline ticket with you. Verifies the urgency.

[Upthevibe]

12. CincyDem......

Thank you soooooooooooo much for such a thorough summary!


This is EXACTLY why I wanted to post this here. It's a real-life account of the ins and the outs!

You are awesome

[AllaN01Bear]

14. our passport experiance in tuolumne county ca begins w the county clerk

[Nittersing]

3. Do you have a decent congress critter?

I've read that they can help expedite things.

[Upthevibe]

7. Nittersing.....

I have the wonderful Ted Lieu!

My state reps. are Ben Allen and Al Murasuchi.

They're all wonderful. I'm currently in Dallas working until June 3rd. Maybe I should wait until I get home to Redondo Beach.

[Fla Dem]

5. If you need it expedited you will be charged a fee.

I use my local city office. It took 8 weeks the last time. I tend to get a new one whenever my old one expires, that way I'm not caught w/o an up-to-date passport on a short notice trip.

You might check this. There could be some helpful info on this AAA web site.
https://www.aaa.com/vacation/expedited-passport.html?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwouexBhAuEiwAtW_Zx6JHo2pq4QfruORL8BmXeinKvE-IbIsN6QVoFDcKQTEvKZ-b3vpH4xoCxN4QAvD_BwE

[Upthevibe]

8. Fla Dem ...

Yikes... eight weeks........ I definitely don't mind paying extra to get it sooner.

Thanks for the website. I'm a member of AAA and I'll check it out.

Thank you!

[Lonestarblue]

10. You might check out this government site.

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/get-fast.html/

[SarahD]

11. Expedite and more.

The fastest "normal" way is in person at the post office, county courthouse, or other public passport acceptance agent. Pay an additional expedite fee and wait a few weeks. You can look up current wait estimates on the web. The absolute fastest way is to pay a private company that walks it through for you. This is expensive and not that much faster. Beware of claims about "same day" passports and similar exaggerations. As long as you're doing it, spend a few extra bucks and get the little wallet card that substitutes for a passport when driving to Mexico or Canada. It's a great second ID. Happy travels.

[Upthevibe]

13. SarahD,,,,,,,,,,,

Thank you so much!

I'm absolutely fine with paying more. I'd love to have a company help me and I don't mind paying extra at all. Also, thanks for the heads up to be careful about who I chose. I'll see if I can get some recommendations from someone I know.

BTW, I have the passport card. I can use it as long as I'm driving and not in the air. I realize I would be able to drive to Canada and Mexico but I'm flying which is why I need the full-fledged passport. I've been wanting to have that anyway in case something weird happens here in the U.S.