passport advice? (ot)

[alsih2o]

has anyone here used one of the p[assport services that promises to get you your passport in a much speedier time frame than the normal one?

i saw one advertised that promised a passport in 8 days for $60..instead of 5 weeks, a small price to pay for an impatient geek like me if this is a legit service.

 

[Airwolf]

It has been a while since I got my passport. IIRC, you can pay extra at the passport office to have a faster turn around. I seem to remember it being less than $60. It has been about 4 years though.

 

[tarchon]

has anyone here used one of the p[assport services that promises to get you your passport in a much speedier time frame than the normal one?

i saw one advertised that promised a passport in 8 days for $60..instead of 5 weeks, a small price to pay for an impatient geek like me if this is a legit service.

http://travel.state.gov/ppt_time.html
See Expedited Services. Sometimes if you go in person and give them a good spiel, they'll turn it over faster, but it usually has to involve dying grandmothers and such things ("Life or Death Emergencies"). There is also some variation in the level of busyness so knowing which office to go to when probably buys a little time.
Note too that expedited service gives "within two weeks", with 2-day delivery each way, which means max 10 days processing time, which may be including the worst case scenario for weekends (-4 days), so your private service is probably a guy who goes to the office in person to deliver the app and pick it up, counting business days only, maybe with a little insistent nagging thrown in. $60 is exactly what expedited costs without the delivery charge.