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passport renewal agencies


Hagbard Celine

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search returned nothing, apologies if this is covered in another thread.....

I let mine lapse, next trip is 8 weeks away so i have time for a less-expensive option, do not want to trust passport to the bowels of the government, also want to renew wife's at the same time, so if there is a "combined processing of multiple renewals" product/service looking for that too.....

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8 weeks is plenty of time to do it yourself.  the turnaround's about 3 weeks right now.  

 

that said, we've used austin passport express more times than i care to remember.  it's much more $$ than doing it yourself but in a pinch you'll get your passport for sure.  make sure to take a half day off to get everything done though for a new passport.  you'll need to go to the agency office, then the courthouse downtown, then back to the agency office. 

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if you live in a city with a passport office you can go do it same-day in person yourself. you'll need to make an appointment and it's a bit more expensive than the regular renewal, but it was cheaper than the agencies. saved my ass when i didn't realize mine had lapsed until 36 hours pre-departure.

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25 minutes ago, mr. littlejeans said:

if you live in a city with a passport office you can go do it same-day in person yourself. you'll need to make an appointment and it's a bit more expensive than the regular renewal, but it was cheaper than the agencies. saved my ass when i didn't realize mine had lapsed until 36 hours pre-departure.

This.  You make an appointment, show proof of travel (think I had a printout of my airline ticket), follow the instructions on documentation (used my expired passport), get photos done ahead of time, etc.  Think they only accepted cash/ exact change at the passport office.  Something like an additional $60 to expedite.  Plus $20 for 1-2 day shipping.

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Was in the same boat and was able to do this as others suggested - you have plenty of time (if you live near a Passport Center) to make an appointment and walk out the same day with your new passport. 

Have also used the agencies in the past and yes, they work very well, but the cost is not worth it given how much time you have, unless you simply can't find a few hours from a day to be there in person.

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On 5/24/2018 at 2:22 PM, gsoda3 said:

8 weeks is plenty of time to do it yourself.  the turnaround's about 3 weeks right now.  

 

that said, we've used austin passport express more times than i care to remember.  it's much more $$ than doing it yourself but in a pinch you'll get your passport for sure.  make sure to take a half day off to get everything done though for a new passport.  you'll need to go to the agency office, then the courthouse downtown, then back to the agency office. 

You can get it all done in one stop at the Travis County complex on Airport. Just renewed my whole family of 4 there a few weeks ago. Pics, forms, everything. Took maybe 90 minutes total, including wait time. No appointment necessary & there were no extra fees to pay.  Got the passports in the mail 2 or 3 weeks later.

Edited by wood
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  • 3 years later...
  • 1 year later...

Bump. Similar. I accidentally washed my passport and have a trip to Ireland end of October (10 weeks). I don't know if it's damaged enough to need replacing. But I don't want to show up for my international flight and get rejected.

I have an appointment tomorrow at a post office (official passport office). I'm going to pay for expedited plus pay for 2-day shipping. I should be fine, right? Maybe I get lucky and the post office person says my washed passport is fine. It doesn't seem particularly damaged. FAFO.

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We sent my wife’s in mid-May and got it back Mid July. Mine I had to wait for the 14 day window because I was leaving in June so I had to do schedule roulettes and ended making a trip to do mine in Vermont….

 

Moral of the story is believe the processing time on the website and make sure you have a backup plan.

Edited by Laxtonto
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Thanks for the feedback. I went to a walk-in facility and the processor said my passport is fine. It looks 95% normal and I read online that it's still a legally valid passport even if the chip in it was damaged. I hope he's right and I'm not going to stress it. I have an unrelated domestic flight on Thursday and might try to see if I can get a customs person at the airport to swipe it to see if there's any issue with it. 

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13 hours ago, Orale said:

Thanks for the feedback. I went to a walk-in facility and the processor said my passport is fine. It looks 95% normal and I read online that it's still a legally valid passport even if the chip in it was damaged. I hope he's right and I'm not going to stress it. I have an unrelated domestic flight on Thursday and might try to see if I can get a customs person at the airport to swipe it to see if there's any issue with it. 

Yeah.  I was gonna say it might be easier for you to take a cheap domestic flight and see if it works.  Use it at TSA.  Their machine is the same as the customs machine.  If it reads on that I wouldn't sweat it.

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This thread reminded me to check mine ….. annnnd it expired in May. Shit! Filled out for, paying for expedited service, sent priority, paying for priority back, and the $16 drug store photo makes that an expensive idiotic mistake. Hope I get it back in time for a late august work trip to Spain. I’m doibtufn. 

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This thread reminded me to check mine ….. annnnd it expired in May. Shit! Filled out for, paying for expedited service, sent priority, paying for priority back, and the $16 drug store photo makes that an expensive idiotic mistake. Hope I get it back in time for a late august work trip to Spain. I’m doibtufn. 

You need to make an appointment at an office. Even with expedited it’s 7-9 weeks (I just did mine and it came just under 8 weeks). They are unfathomably understaffed and slow right now.

You’ll be on hold for like 3 hours but when they answer tell them you have booked travel within two weeks and they will try to help. (If you have to, book a refundable flight to Canada for a week out or something, then just cancel it after your appointment).

A few months ago I was almost in the same pickle. For reference, the only appointments available to me were Atlanta or Scottsdale (note: I live an hour from NYC).

Seriously, it might be improving a bit lately but I would not wait.
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On 8/14/2023 at 12:25 PM, Orale said:

Bump. Similar. I accidentally washed my passport and have a trip to Ireland end of October (10 weeks). I don't know if it's damaged enough to need replacing. But I don't want to show up for my international flight and get rejected.

I have an appointment tomorrow at a post office (official passport office). I'm going to pay for expedited plus pay for 2-day shipping. I should be fine, right? Maybe I get lucky and the post office person says my washed passport is fine. It doesn't seem particularly damaged. FAFO.

WE had a great experience with a passport service. We had to wait to get within a 10 day window where we could get an emergency expedite, but they got it done with 2 days to spare, as they predicted. 

It was fairly expensive, but it was worth it. 

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22 hours ago, The Ace of Aces said:

This thread reminded me to check mine ….. annnnd it expired in May. Shit! Filled out for, paying for expedited service, sent priority, paying for priority back, and the $16 drug store photo makes that an expensive idiotic mistake. Hope I get it back in time for a late august work trip to Spain. I’m doibtufn. 

Call now for an appointment, they are booked solid. You should be in your 14 day window, so you should be able to get an appointment now.

  

21 hours ago, ohchaucer said:


You need to make an appointment at an office. Even with expedited it’s 7-9 weeks (I just did mine and it came just under 8 weeks). They are unfathomably understaffed and slow right now.

You’ll be on hold for like 3 hours but when they answer tell them you have booked travel within two weeks and they will try to help. (If you have to, book a refundable flight to Canada for a week out or something, then just cancel it after your appointment).

A few months ago I was almost in the same pickle. For reference, the only appointments available to me were Atlanta or Scottsdale (note: I live an hour from NYC).

Seriously, it might be improving a bit lately but I would not wait.

It really depends. I've called and been on hold for 30 minutes, I've also called and literally waited less than 2. it's really a roll of the dice.

 

Also @The Ace of Aces I hope you haven't sent it yet, you might not be able to get that expedited. Good luck.

 

Edited by Captain Ron
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2 hours ago, Captain Ron said:

Call now for an appointment, they are booked solid. You should be in your 14 day window, so you should be able to get an appointment now.

  

It really depends. I've called and been on hold for 30 minutes, I've also called and literally waited less than 2. it's really a roll of the dice.

 

Also @The Ace of Aces I hope you haven't sent it yet, you might not be able to get that expedited. Good luck.

 

Have great personal contact with a US Senator here so I’m good. Thank for all the tips though! 

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