Call to make a same-day appointment with the Passport Acceptance Facility in your town or city if you are a first-time applicant. Most U.S. Post Office locations and courthouses can serve as acceptance facilities. Check the acceptance facility finder located in the Resources to find your nearest one. If you live in a major city you may be able to go directly to a Passport Issuing Agency, the government facility responsible for issuing your passport. The locations are also listed in the Resources.
Fill out two copies of the application form on the U.S. State Department's passport website. First-time applicants fill out form DS-11 and renewal applicants fill out DS-82.
Take two passport-sized photos that conform to the standards required by the State Department.
Make two copies of your itinerary to prove that you're traveling immediately and require this kind of expedited service.
Gather documents to prove your identity. If you're renewing your passport, then your expired passport will suffice; if you're applying for a new passport you'll need a government-issued photo ID and proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate or naturalization card.
Write checks for the appropriate fees. The passport fee requires a check to the U.S. Department of State for the current new passport or renewal passport fee. You'll also need to pay an execution fee to the passport acceptance facility or issuing agency.
Find a passport expediting service online that can deliver your passport on the same day, if you don't live close enough to a passport issuing agency and can personally travel there. TravelVisaPro.com offers emergency eight hour same-day service for applications received by 8:30 a.m. ItsEasyPassport.com and ExpressPassport.com also offer 24-hour service. If you're not using an expediter, skip to Step 11.
Print and sign two copies of the Letter of Authorization provided by the expediter. This letter, when signed at the acceptance facility, will allow the expediter to take the sealed envelope with your application to the issuing agency in your place.
Include a self-addressed and paid for return envelope for the expediter to return your passport in. Pay the expediter's fee.
Go to your appointment at the acceptance facility or issuing agency with all of your documents in tow. At an acceptance facility, the agent will counter-sign your letter of authorization and your passport photos as well as check your IDs before sealing your information in an official envelope, which you'll send to the expediter. If you're at a regional issuing agency, you can leave your materials there and wait to be called back to receive your passport.
Seal your official envelope in another envelope that you can speedily mail to the expediter. In order to get same-day service, send the envelope overnight so it will arrive in the early morning hours.
