If your passport is expiring or you’re running low on pages, don’t worry! Here’s how to get a 1 day passport renewal in the USA (hopefully), without using a sketchy third party platform!
That’s right, you can use the government passport renewal process, and all you need to do is have proof of an international flight within two weeks of making an appointment, pay an extra fee, and then the harder part is finding an available appointment, but I’ll go over how to do all of that!
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Why You MUST Renew an Expiring Passport or if Low on Pages
I’ve seen several people get DENIED departing a country if their passport is expiring within 3-6 months, or if they have less than two passport pages left!
They had to then drive or fly to the US embassy, and get an Emergency Passport. That may sound like the perfect easy way to get an expedited passport renewal, but it’s not. The Emergency Passport only allows you to travel back to your home country! So if you had upcoming travel plans, you can kiss them and all that money goodbye!
If you have only a couple pages left, you must keep in mind the size of stamps and visas, and also if any layovers require passing through immigration! You may think two pages is good enough to go to one more country, but if that flight has two layovers that require exiting customs, you may get denied!
Normal Processing Times for Passport Renewal in USA
Everyone knows the processing times for a passport renewal in the USA are a bit ridiculous. It’s also terrifying because you have to mail in your beloved passport!
BUT! As I mentioned, if you have proof of an upcoming international flight, you can get one in as little as one day! If you don’t have proof of upcoming travel, here’s the REGULAR processing times:
- Regular Passport Renewal: 4-6 weeks
- Expedited Passport Renewal WITHOUT Proof Of Upcoming Travel: 2-3 weeks
Also, you didn’t hear this from me, but there are websites like “GetOnwardTicket” that will let you pay around $20 for a fake but legitimate (oxymoron?) plane ticket. Use at your own risk!
How to Get a Passport Renewal in USA in 1 Day With Proof of Upcoming International Travel
Here’s easy steps for how to get a passport renewal in the USA in one day with proof of upcoming international travel:
- You MUST make an appointment! You cannot just show up to a passport agency anymore for this! Below is how to make one!
- Have proof of upcoming international travel: This can be a flight, bus, or train confirmation, but it has to be going out of the country. Domestic flights do not count. Print out this confirmation to bring with you to the appointment.
- Use this Fast Passport Renewal link through the US government’s website and follow the instructions there to make an appointment.
- To be eligible, you MUST enter your travel dates. If your trip is sooner than two weeks, and the system tells you there’s no appointments, try moving the date back farther, even if it’s not, as long as it’s not actually in one or two days.
- If when you enter your home town there are no appointments, try searching other states… Yes, it will require you to take a little trip, but do you want to travel internationally or not? I had to fly to California to get mine because there were no appointments in Florida for over a month!
- You will need 2 passport photos, your printed proof of travel, printed proof of your appointment, a credit/debit card or cash, and your old passport if you have it.
- Get to the appointment time early! You have to go to a government building which requires security scans, and that can take a while!
- Wait your turn, hand in your documents, and then they will give you a time when you can come back and pick it up!
My passport renewal in San Francisco was ready in about five hours!
How Much Does an Urgent Passport Renewal Cost?
The government only charges $60 extra to expedite a passport renewal with proof of upcoming international travel!
Regularly a passport renewal is $130, so with the expediting fee of $60, it is a total of $190.
That being said, keep that in mind if you see any third party websites offering to expedite your passport for more than that! I saw one asking for $500 for a 1-2 day service, yet it was only $100 to fly to San Francisco and do it myself!
I also saw an option to pay an extra $50 to ensure it’s ready within 2 days, and I added it when I signed up for the appointment. However once I was there in person, they said they could do it in a day so they didn’t even charge me for that! Therefore, you can add it to be sure, and decide in person if you need it.
If You’re Abroad and Low on Passport Pages
This is what happened to me; since I am abroad most of the year, I started to run low on passport pages, but I didn’t want to go all the way back to the USA to renew my passport. I checked how to get it done near Tulum and also in Sardinia, but I didn’t have enough time for either!
Here’s what I attempted doing for my low passport pages:
- First, I immediately tried using the viral social media hack of putting post it notes (or in my case, hotel stationary) over the blank pages. Then I wrote, “Please do not stamp this page, thank you!! :)” This actually WORKED for SEVEN more countries! The immigration officers either giggled or looked at my strangely, but they stamped existing stamped pages instead!
- Aim to go to countries that either don’t stamp your passport, or have small stamps. You can find this info online.
- Technically you can try to renew your passport in the country you’re in, but it might take a while. More on that below.
Can’t You Just Renew Passport in Another Country?
Technically yes, you can. But I’d only recommend attempting that if you’re living there or staying for at least three months.
In my experience, many countries require you to mail your passport to the consulate or embassy, and then you get the renewal mailed back to you. That can take up to three months, and it can also be unreliable with the shipping companies.
If you want to try that option though, just do a search for “How to renew a US passport in (enter country name here) and it will take you to the US government page for passport info in that country!
Please don’t forget! I work extremely hard to produce these free travel guides and posts! If it helped you, or you enjoyed it, PLEASE give it a share on social media, and follow me to keep up with more posts! You’re two minutes of effort truly helps keep my business running! Thank ya!
xx, Alyssa
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