I'm in a passport panic?!?!

[Karenj2]

I know, I know, I should have thought of this sooner, but I just realized that my hubby and I need to either have passports or "official" birth certificates!

We have less than a month 'til our cruise - which is easier/quicker to get?

I know I have a passport, somewhere, from about 12 years ago, but I've moved & changed names since then. Hubby has nothing, that I know of.

What do you think I should do???

 

[mcnuss]

The problem is that you need you birth certificate to get your passport, and passports generally take about 2-3 weeks to process.

First, call your mothers if you can. Suprisingly, mine had my official BC up until I got married. You never know. If that doesn't work, immediately call the state in which you were born to find out how to get the BCs. In some states it's easy, in others, not so. In fact, in some states you go to the town or county. You just have to find out. (You can also check on the web.)

Good luck.

 

[JLSE50]

Some large cities have offices that can expedite your passport application. Chicago does. Maybe Philadelphia does too. Let your fingers do the walking and get on that phone.

Jan

 

[din]

A word of caution expedite still takes time.

Emergency passport processing is only for emergencies that requires sudden departures. You will need to prove via a letter or airline ticket to get the 24-48 hour turn around in some of the major cities.

For faster processing you can pay extra and also for the express postage. You may want to check your local post office for the information or this link

http://travel.state.gov/passport_expedite.html

 

[Dave_from_Marietta]

As mcnuss said, you need to have a certified copy of your BC in order to get a passport, so if you don't have a certified copy of your BC, getting a passport is a moot question.

Although your profile says you live in the Philly area, you didn't indicate whether you were actually born in Pennsylvania. If you were, you can get certified copies of your BC in person in Philly.

Here's a <a href="http://webserver.health.state.pa.us/health/cwp/view.asp?a=168&Q=202324"><font color=blue>link</font></a> to info about that office.

If you weren't born in PA, you'll want to use <a href="http://www.vitalchek.com"><font color=blue>VitalChek</font></a> as soon as possible.

 

[Karenj2]

Thanks, folks -

I just talked to my hubby, and he has the proper birth certificate, so he's fine... and y'all made sense, so I'll just get the BC for myself. I was born & raised in PA, so thank you, Dave for that info. I feel much better now.

Thanks for talking me down