There are a few different ways to acquire US passports. The most
common is to visit a local post office and provide them with the
documentation required. Processing times can vary from 2 to 8 weeks
during normal periods and up to 3 months during busy season (generally
May through August). You may pay additional for faster return shipping
of your completed passport which will be sent out directly from the
passport office when issued. This is the least expensive way but results
in longer processing times. If you are preparing for a far off trip or
just keeping things up-to-date, this is your best choice.
If you
are lucky enough to live in a city that has a passport office (Boston,
MA, Chicago, IL, Cherry Creek, CO, Norwalk, CT, Honolulu, HI, Houston,
TX, Los Angeles, CA, New Orleans, LA, New York, NY, Philadelphia, PA San
Francisco, CA, Seattle, WA and Washington, DC), you may call the US
governments passport appointment hot line at 1-877-487-2778 and schedule
an appointment to be seen in person. Appointment availability can be as
early as the next day or two but are often booked a week or more out.
An appointment will authorize you to enter to waiting area during a
morning or afternoon session and you will generally be seen in the order
in which you show up. Fulfillment times can be as fast as same day (for
morning appointment holders) or as long as 3 days. This process can end
up taking a full day (or two half days) between waiting to be seen and
retrieving your new passport, but offers a fast turnaround time and
saves on return shipping fees.
Passport expediting firms help fill
some of the gaps. Expediting firms register with the US State
Department and go through minimal screening to ensure that no employees
have been convicted of federal crimes or other public trust crimes and
are issued a number of "slots" or pre-registered appointments. Most
firms receive between 7 and 30 slots with pre-determined processing
times. These times vary from passport office to passport office and
sometimes even within the same office. For instance, registered forms
with the Washington passport office receive 7 same day slots (meaning
the company drops off an application Monday morning and picks up the
completed passport Monday afternoon) and 7 3-day slots (meaning the
company drops off an application Monday morning and picks it up Thursday
afternoon). Expediting firms are not empowered to issue the passports
themselves or even to verify the applicant or documents, those
responsibilities rest on the government. The expeditors simply facility
faster than normal processing and less inconvenience than traditional
methods. For a cost, of course. Prices for these services can range from
$55 to upwards of $300 on top of the governments fees depending on how
quickly the passport is needed.
Although the passport expediting
industry used to be like the wild west where everyone could get in,
through up a web site and start making money, the industry has
consolidated and had some tightening by the government in recent years.
The overall slot allotment is basically still the same as it was in the
late 90's meaning that hundreds of new firms are now waitlisted at
passport offices throughout the country. Some of the smaller firms were
bought outright by larger firms just to gain control of their slots and
gray area mergers of multiple small firms in different cities occur in
order to provide support when one is overloaded with applications.
Corporate travel and large scale agencies have found passport expeditors
to be very useful in ensuring travelers make their flights and their
leverage for higher quality services has brought some of the better
firms up to a new level and consequently left some of the smaller ones
to feed for the leftovers on the Internet. The major players, of which
there are a dozen or so, have an estimated 70 percent share of Internet
and retail customers and nearly 95 percent of the corporate and travel
agent market. These large firms control slots at multiple passport
office throughout the country and often have office in multiple cities,
24 hour call centers and modern technology that provides up to the
minute changes in requirements, processing times, delays, online status
checks and more. These firms also process business and tourist visas for
travel to almost any country.
Expediting firms are easy to use,
provide fast service and are available to assist with questions for what
amounts to a fair price. Competition has ensured the pricing structures
are reasonably consistent and reasonable across the board. If you need a
passport quickly and conveniently, expediting firms exist to serve you.
Try http://www.itseasy.com for more information.
Mark Harris is the General Manager of the New England area for It's Easy Passport and Visa (http://www.itseasy.com).
Mark's background includes Business Development, Sales and Marketing,
training and IT development for multiple organizations including
development of multiple passport and visa providers in the US.
