Because of increases in COVID-19 cases and changing local health conditions, agencies and centers are offering extremely limited in-person services if you need to travel internationally in the next 72 hours (3 business days). Plan ahead and apply early.

Life-or-Death Emergency Service: To prevent the spread of COVID-19 and protect our workforce and customers, we are prioritizing in-person appointments at our agencies and centers for customers who are traveling internationally in the next 72 hours (3 business days) due to a qualified life-or-death emergency. If you need this service, you must call us. Appointments are extremely limited due to our limited staffing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Agencies and centers in phase zero of reopening are offering this service only. 

Urgent Travel Service: Some agencies and centers are also offering extremely limited appointments for customers who have urgent international travel in the next 72 hours (3 business days) for reasons other than a life-or-death emergency. To make an appointment, check first for availability on our Online Appointment System. The date of your appointment must be within 3 business days of your international travel. If you need a foreign visa, the date of your appointment must be within 10 business days of your international travel. Because appointments are extremely limited, you may not be able to make one on your first try.

Consider the following alternate options if you cannot make an appointment online for Urgent Travel Service:

1. Continue to check our Online Appointment System several times during the day as other customers may cancel their appointments.
2. Apply for expedited service to receive your passport in 4-6 weeks.
3. Call wait times are longer than usual. If you call us to try to make an appointment, understand that customer service representatives do not have access to an alternate reservation system. What you see online is what they will share with you by phone.  

Select this option if your international travel date is in the next 4 to 10 weeks. 

You must use Form DS-11 when applying at an acceptance facility. If you need to renew your passport, you should use Form DS-82 and mail it to us. Here's how you expedite at an acceptance facility: 

• Fill out your DS-11 application and collect your documents. See How to Apply to find the right form for you. 
• Be sure to include the $60 expedite fee in addition to the normal application fee. See Passport Fees for more information.
• Find the acceptance facility nearest you to turn in your application and fees. Contact the facility before arriving to determine if an appointment is required.
• Purchase USPS' Priority Mail Express for faster shipping of your application to us.
• The expedite fee does not include the optional 1-2 day delivery fee of your completed passport.

Select this option if your international travel date is in the next 4 to 10 weeks.

Form DS-82 must be mailed in unless you are eligible to renew in-person at a passport agency or center. To find out if you are eligible to use Form DS-82, see our Renew a Passport page.  Here's how to expedite a renewal by mail:

• Fill out your DS-82 application and collect your documents.
• Be sure to include the $60 expedite fee in addition to the normal application fee. See Passport Fees for more information.
• Clearly mark "EXPEDITE" on the outside of the envelope. 
• The expedite fee does not include the optional 1-2 day delivery fee.
• Purchase USPS' Priority Mail Express for faster shipping of your application to us.

You may choose to pay for 1-2 day delivery for your application. When you pay for this service, you're not paying for your passport to be completed in 1-2 days. You're paying for your completed passport to be shipped to you 1-2 days after we print it.

If you need your passport for urgent international travel in the next 2 days, please make an appointment at a passport agency or center.

• If you are only applying for a passport card, we will send it to you via First Class Mail. We do not use 1-2 day delivery services for passport card only applications.
• You may choose one or both of the following shipment options:
  • Delivery to us: Purchase USPS' Priority Mail Express at a post office or other passport acceptance facility for faster shipping of your application to us. The price for 1-2 day delivery service varies depending on the area of the country.
  • Return to you: Include the $17.56 1-2 day delivery service fee with your passport fee in your check or money order payable to the U.S. Department of State for faster return shipping.
  • You may receive your passport and your supporting documents submitted with your application in separate mailings.

Passport expeditor/courier companies are private entities, some of which are registered at our passport agencies, and are allowed to submit expedited passport applications on behalf of customers. To learn more about passport and visa expeditor/courier companies, please visit our Passport Expeditor/Courier page.