Getting a Passport ... QUICK

I had the same problem. So did my friend. She had her expidited and got it in a week. I didn't and it still came in 12 days. I don't think you have to worry too much! Good luck and have a GREAT time! Cruising is the BEST!!!!

Well I was able to get my passport quick. BUT that was about 17 years ago. When I ordered it I got it in plenty of time for my trip. That was way before 9-11.

Good luck.

Contact a passport expediting service to do it for you (they often will get the birth certificate for you as well). It will cost - but not as much as missing the trip!

Good luck :)

You should have a passport office at your local city hall or post office. The passport website will give you a list of locations based on zipcode. You can expedite a passport from any office it just costs an extra 60 bucks or so. We just did my husbands by taking and turning in his old passport, if you will be getting his birth certificate from his dad anyway just take that and his social security card and a passport photo. We got ours back in two weeks.

1) Get that birth certificate (and yes, of course they take certified copies)

2) Walk into the passport office and ask the people working ... it's a giant pain, but you'll have the most up to date info on wait time and emergency issue -aka the 2 week thing... which can vary... depending on the office.

I expedited for a trip to Canada and got everything in a week (passport and passport card)! It was surprisingly fast! Good luck!!!

I know you already responded with 'so what happened'. I just got our son a passport, a first one not a renewal, toward the beginning of this year. I mailed in the application and birth certificate but didn't expedite anything and we got his passport in about 2 1/2 weeks. It did however take about 4 weeks to get his birth certificate back - they mail it separate. If you are just doing a renewal and paying to expedite I bet you could get it back pretty quick.

We just did this for my husband when we went to China. He went to the Embassy in San Francisco and got it the same day. You drop it off in the morning and then pick it up at the end of the day. We literally did this the day before we left. It does mean a whole day spent in SF. Also, if he has a valid passport that has expired, that will be all he needs for the new renewal. I'm writing from my phone so I can't input the link but you can Google the info. Make sure to go to the OFFICIAL government site with the .gov extension. There are a ton of services that will try and take your money but it's really easy to do this on your own. Good luck!

We just went through this....stood in line at the post office for 2 hours, had the proper documents, paid for expedited passports, and received in 10 days. You will need the original birth certificate though. Good luck!

I got my son's passport and an Indian visa done in a month. You definitely need to get on it quickly. If you can get a copy of his birth certificate overnighted, you can do an expedited passport fee and overnight the application and you might have enough time. Good luck!

you don't need his birth certificate and you can get his passport in one week, just apply (by yourself) expedited. go to post office, the one that has photo option too, get the paperwork, fill it out right there (the information requested is easy to answer) and apply, you'll spend i believe 60 extra for the expedited option but so worth it.
i just got mine and my children's passports, i always do the expedited version because i am afraid it will get lost in the mail, and we applied on monday got it the next monday. you will need to send his old passport along with the paperwork. on the forms there is a question about travel dates, put the travel dates you need it for. you'll get it in one week
good luck

My Friend, we werre able to get our son's passport very quickly when he had only 2 months to move to England for 2 years.
Go to the county office and get a birthcertificate and then find out where the main office is in the Sacramento area.
I had to drive from Oakland to San Francisco to do it and got it done in 2 days.
Good Luck

Here is Ca we're getting them in a few days on rush BUT what about the wait on the birth certificate? They wont take a copy. Talk to your local Post Office they are a good help.

The expedited process works well. It costs more, but we used it two years ago and had success. I don't remember having to show a birth certificate. I think we just turned in my husband's old passport along with the necessary form, fee, and new passport photos. There is even an address where you can send the info by overnight package delivery, like FedEx.

Good luck!

You can also call your Congressman's office. I did this in December when I realized 4 days before the trip that my passport had my maiden name and all my other ID and plane ticket had my married name. Congressman Farr's (Monterey Bay) office manager worked with her contact in DC over the weekend and got it shipped to me with 1 day to spare. No extra cost, either, and I didn't have to go up to SF, just a lot of phone calls!

Hi

As many have said, u don't need a birth certificate if u have the old passpott :) The expedite process works really well, but so does the make an appointment (or walk right in to) at the passport office. It is more of a hassle than going to the DMV but you will walk out with the passport in your hands!!

Enjoy the cruise!

I recommend you read this Yelp page before spending any money on an agency which adds their fee on top of the government expedite fee. Two extra spaces are inserted so the URL will appear. Delete them when pasting into your browser.
http://www. yelp. com/biz/san-francisco-passport-agency-san-francisco

The official passport web site is linked from that page also. That particular collection of advice will save you time and money. My family had three passports to process, with three different circumstances. We had no success at the various passport processing outposts (county recorder's office, post office etc.) so we just showed up without an appointment, prepared for a hassle and equipped with all documentation required according to the official U.S. gov't passport web site. Our experience wasn't hassle-free, but it was better than we were prepared to endure. Best of all, we left with all of our passport issues resolved. Priceless!

As for the birth certificate, it's not required if your husband still has his expired passport. From the U.S. Government web site
http:// travel.state. gov/passport/get/first/first_830.html
(again, 2 extra spaces were added)
"Primary Evidence of U.S. Citizenship (ONE of the following):
+ Previously issued, undamaged U.S. Passport
+ Certified birth certificate issued by the city, county or state

Best news of all is that, if you pay the expedite fee, you can pretty much count on getting the passport renewed within two weeks, per the up-to-date U.S. Gov't web site. Check and see for yourself if you want to verify the processing time:
http:// travel.state. gov/passport/processing/processing_1740.html

Another quote from the gov't official site:
RENEW BY MAIL IF ALL OF THE FOLLOWING ARE TRUE:
Your Most Recent U.S. Passport:
+ Is undamaged and can be submitted with your application
+ Was issued when you were age 16 or older
+ Was issued within the last 15 years
+ Was issued in your current name or you can legally document your name change

SO, in summing up, you can
(a) pay the expedite fee and send in the old passport by mail (use certified or other trackable delivery method); or
(b) show up at the SF Hawthorne St. office without an appointment and prepared with all your materials (review the Yelp comments for very valuable details like when they stop processing for the day); or
(c) make an appointment at the SF office, and bring primary OR secondary evidence of citizenship (see above web link for details); OR
(d) pay an agency $$$ to do the legwork for you. You'll still need to pay the gov't fees as well as the agency service charges.

Bon Voyage, whichever way you get the passport renewed!
Cordially,
Cathi

My ex-boyfriend had ripped the picture off my passport about 12 days before a trip to England because he was jealous of my mother, go figure. Well my mom fronted the extra cash and I got mine 4 days before take off. It was also after WTT attack, so same speed should be expected. But without a handy birth certificate...., I wish you luck!

I work for an interntional company and you can get a passport in 24 hours - if you are willing to pay the price. 24 hour service is $299.00; 2-3 business days is $249.00; 3-5 business days is $199.00; 5-7 business days is $149.00; 8-12 business days is $99.00.

Your husband can get a passport very quickly, through the regional passport office in San Francisco. This is one of the few US passport offices where you can get an appointment in the morning and pick up your official passport the same afternoon, as long as you are really prepared and have everything you need. The process can be stressful, because they will ONLY give you an appointment VERY close to your scheduled travel date. There are services that will see this process through, but many are headquartered in Miami or New York, and charge big fees and Fed Ex charges too -- and ultimately will make no promises. If your husband cannot go to the appointment himself, he can write and sign a letter that allows you (or some other proxy) to submit all the documents to the regional office for him; he would need to go to a regular passport office for them to approve his paperwork and application, and then they seal it all up in an official envelope that needs to be submitted to the regional passport office within 5 days. I made repeated calls to the national passport number and every person I talked to was very helpful and patient (although it took 4 or 5 calls to get all the information I needed). I am not sure about birth certificate issue, since my daughter had hers -- but there are even very complicated ways to get around that (witnesses and such). At the regional office, I stood in line behind a Sacramento woman whose husband suddenly had the opportunity to spend a week in New Zealand, and my daughter got her passport 4 days before her trip -- and I initially found out this was possible through a posting on, of all places, YELP. Best of Luck to you!

All I can say is good luck! The expedited passport still takes several weeks. The only way to speed it up from there is to visit your nearest passport office. We were in the same bind going on the same cruise! My husband was born in Hawaii. We got our passports, but they were incorrect. We expedited them back hoping to get the corrected ones in time. When we got to within 3 days of our trip and still didn't have them, I got my birth certificate which was local, but we had to call Hawaii and beg someone to expedite the birth certificate to us. We got it one day before we left! On the cruise were many people with passport nightmares. some had traveled from Arizona to San Francisco just to get their passports! Again, good luck! Call where your husband was born and tell them the situation and they will probably fed ex the birth certificate to you.

You will have to go to a major passport center. There is one in San Francisco and one in LA. You must schedule an appt over the phone and apply in person. You bring all the required paperwork (inc 2 passport photos and proof of your scheduled travel plans) and they can get you your new passport same day (I had lost my old one.) But you MUST have an appointment and you must bring all the required proof of citizenship and identity. I went in one morning and was able to pick it up that afternoon. But it does take all day.

If your departure date is within a certain amount of time (two weeks I think, but you'll want to check on it) you can renew in person. Take all your renewal materials to the passport office, wait, and leave with your new passport.

This happened to my parents (well actually my mom's passport was still valid, but you now have to have at least 6 months left on it to enter most countries). Here trip was only a month out which didn't leave time to renew by mail, so she waited until she could do it in person a couple of weeks out.

HTH
T.

there are services that you can pay that have standing appts at the passport offices that will hand deliver, stay while they process and deliver back to you overnight, two or three days, etc.
The place I know is in San Jose, it's called peninsula visa, but I'm sure there are a ton of them out there. It's pricey to do, maybe in the $100-$200 range depending on how fast you need it, but it's guarenteed.
good luck
K.