When planning to travel outside the US, you need to have a valid US passport. This small document allows you to reenter the United States, and also facilitates travel in nations friendly to the US. If you do not have a valid passport, you should apply for one as soon as you know you are leaving the country.

Standard service on a US passport takes about six weeks. You apply in person for your passport from a passport acceptance facility (located in US courts, post offices, and libraries), and the facility sends your application on to the State Department. The State Department approves your application and sends your passport to you in the mail. However, many times travelers cannot wait six weeks for a passport--especially those who pack shortly before departure only to discover they can't find their passports!

What to Do in a Travel Emergency

In this case, you can either apply for an emergency passport or pay for express service on your passport application. Emergency passports can be hard to get, expire quickly, and are of limited validity, and are (as the name suggests) strictly for emergencies. Thankfully, both the State Department and private passport expediters offer express services.

For an additional $60, the State Department will shuffle your application towards the front of the line, and you should get your passport in two weeks. A private company does not itself issue the passport, but puts all your paperwork in order and rushes your application through the system, typically in 7-10 days. Faster services is available only through private expediters.