Anyone who has a passport knows that the process from time of application to receipt of the actual passport can take up to eight weeks. A person who has planned a last-minute getaway may not be able to wait this long. In these situations, the person may wish to take advantage of expedited U.S. passport processing.

Many online companies offer expediting services for obtaining a passport. An Internet search will yield a list of such companies. These companies allow the traveler to select from a variety of times within which the passport is needed. Some services will process the passport application and supporting documentation within one to two business days.

The U.S. government also has an expediting service for passport applications. The timeframe is quite a bit longer than that offered by private companies. The government’s expedited service will return a passport within eight weeks. This may not be feasible for the last-minute traveler.

In order to aid these services in speeding the process along, all the necessary paperwork needs to be filled out completely and correctly the first time. All the necessary forms can be found on their websites and printed out. They will assign a service agent to each applicant in order to answer any questions they may have in the filling out of the forms or any other paperwork that will be needed.

Copies of identification papers will be necessary in order to receive an expedited passport. The main one will be a copy of the applicant’s birth certificate. This must be a copy from the city, county or state of birth and has to have their seal on it. Ones without a seal will not be accepted and this includes certified copies as well.

The completed passport application, additional required forms, copies of required documentation, and two identical photos will need to be mailed in a package to the processing company. These companies usually recommend that the applicant mail the package via a traceable method, such as UPS or FedEx. This is because the package contains highly confidential material and the customer may want to track his or her shipment in order to ensure that it arrived at its destination.

The expediting service company will process the information in the package upon receipt. The company will work with the federal government agency to push through the application in an expeditious manner. They know that time is of the essence for those needing a passport at the last minute, and they make every effort to deliver 100 percent satisfaction.

For the last-minute traveler, passport companies provide a much-needed service. They can turn a passport application into a new passport within as little as one business day. The traveler will have the express United States passport in-hand and be ready to board the plane in the blink of an eye. In addition to the speediness of this transaction, the traveler will find the entire passport application process stress-free.