I recently needed a new passport faster than the 6-8 week turn around, and even faster than the 2-3 week rush service you can pay extra for from the Department of the State. Searching online I found a bunch of Hand Carry services, and I decided to try RushMyPassport.com and here is a quick overview of what happened.

First – The service is 90% automated (very nice), along with a few customer service calls to make sure I knew what I was supposed to be doing. My service agent was Barbara – who was very friendly on the phone, and helpful to make sure I was well organized, knew exactly what I was doing, what I had to include, where the closest “Sealing Agent” is, and probably more information that I have since forgotten.

What’s a sealing agent you ask? I’m glad you asked. Here’s the run down. You can hire a hand carry agency to walk in to a Department of State office, and work on your behalf. If you live in San Francisco or Philadelphia (and I’m sure there are others) then you would not have this problem, since you can do this yourself in person. Living in a state like Arizona, without a local Passport office, you have to look for other options. Now, just any Joe off the street can’t show up and say - “Um, I’m here for Mr. Cate’s passport...” So how do they do it?

Here’s where the sealing agent comes in. There are probably a lot of government places that will do it, but I chose my local post office. One thing I learned here is that you can make an appointment, but not a same day appointment. If you need same day services, call around, and some of the post offices have walk in hours for Passport services, on a first-come-first-serve basis. This is what I chose to do.

When it’s your turn, present the “Sealing Agent” all your paperwork. (S)He’ll go over it, making sure you have everything in order, and will put everything into a 8X11 envelop, and put  special seal on it. This is kind of like a high end notary, but with a package instead of a signature. They seal it, and then put a bunch of stamps around the seal to make sure it can’t be tampered with.

Then you send FedEx the sealed envelop, along with copies of everything in the Envelop to the Hand Carry agent. They do the rest, and within a few days a new passport, along with your original documents show up via FedEx, in plenty of time for your time.

I chose the 3-4 business day option, and as promised, I’m now holding a new passport :)

Since there are a bunch of these services online, and I had success with RushMyPassport.com I thought I would write a quick review and let you know of the success I had with them. I really like that it’s mostly automated. Automated by email that is. When I first signed up, I got a payment confirmation, and a nice note outlining what was going to happen over the next week. After I followed the directions, I got all my paperwork in place, I was contacted by Barbara. (I knew she would be calling because an email said - “Your case is assigned to Barbara who will be calling you today”). Once she confirmed I had everything in line, she emailed me a pre-paid FedEx print out. After I sent the overnight FedEx, I received email confirmation that the package was received. Then an email saying it was processed, and finally an email with a tracking number stating that my new Passport is on it’s way back to me.

All in all, I’m very happy with the services from RushMyPassport.com and I would recommend them to anyone else who finds them selves in a “OMG I need a new passport” moment like I did :)