Emergency Passports
The good news is that getting your passport doesn't take as long as it once did. At one point a few years back, passports were taking up to a month to process, leaving many people stranded in the United States or in the country where they were visiting. But today, things have been streamlined and you can get your passport quickly, with a little effort on your part.
If you're in the United States right now and you need an emergency passport, the first step to take is to go to the U.S. State Department's website and look for the option that leads you to "Apply for a U.S. Passport." Here, you will find that there are numerous choices available to you, including one option that is used for when you are in a hurry. You will then be directed to a site that gives you instructions on how to get your passport application expedited.
You will need to fill out a form as you usually would, going to the post office or other passport granting station and label your envelope with 'Expedited.' You should also be prepared to pay $60 for overnight delivery, and you should pay it for both the sending of the passport and the sending back to you of the finished passport – this will insure the delivery process is as quick as possible.
Note that if you do need your passport quickly, even expedited service can take up to 2 weeks to process. This is why many more people are turning to passport processing companies to help with their travel needs. Often, passports can be processed more quickly in this way, giving you the documentation you need to leave the country for emergencies.
Also, if you are facing a travel emergency, you can contact the State Department directly by calling 1-877-4-USA-PPT. From there, you may need to travel to a Regional Passport Agency to fill out the information for the passport documentation and verification again.
If you are out of the country and you need a replacement passport, you will need to find the local U.S. Embassy and talk to them about what steps you might need to take to get a replacement. When you do this, you will need to fill out a Form DS-64 which will then invalidate your old passport. So, if you do end up finding that lost or stolen passport, you will not be able to use it again.
No one wants to be in a situation where they are unable to travel to a place they need to do. And while passport emergencies are rare, that doesn't mean they don't deserve immediate attention.
