San Diego Passport Agency

[thecatlady 0]

Hello!

I have my oath next week, Jan. 21st, in Los Angeles. I'm traveling March 6th to Europe and I want to get my passport done same day through a passport agency. It looks like the San Diego does NOT require any travel documents, but will the process be same day OR will it be one of those 'you go in, do the paperwork/pay, and they mail it back to you 2-3 weeks later'.

Here is what the gov. website listed under the san diego agency: "When calling the automated appointment system, you will hear that proof of travel is required, but it does not apply to this agency unless you have a life or death emergency."

Thanks!!

[JimmyHou 611]

Hello!

I have my oath next week, Jan. 21st, in Los Angeles. I'm traveling March 6th to Europe and I want to get my passport done same day through a passport agency. It looks like the San Diego does NOT require any travel documents, but will the process be same day OR will it be one of those 'you go in, do the paperwork/pay, and they mail it back to you 2-3 weeks later'.

Here is what the gov. website listed under the san diego agency: "When calling the automated appointment system, you will hear that proof of travel is required, but it does not apply to this agency unless you have a life or death emergency."

Thanks!!

I have no experience with the San Diego passport agency, however the very last part of the line that you quoted says "unless you have a life or death emergency" The way I read that is that they do not require proof of travel to allow you to do a walk in appointment, however they will ask for proof of travel if you need same day or rushed service. My reasoning is that if they offered to same-day service to anyone, they wouldn't need to say that proof of travel was required in case of a life or death emergency, because everyone would be able to ask for same-day service. Why would they ask for proof of travel in the case of a life or death emergency, unless they only did same-day service with proof of travel? Course, that may be a general guideline and they may give you the passport the same day anyway.

You have a lot of time to apply by mail, but if you really don't want to apply by mail for whatever reason, you can wait until two weeks before your trip in March and schedule an appointment at the Los Angeles passport center. However even then there's no guarantee of same-day service, because they may tell you that they will be on the passport back the next day or within 48 hours. The only way to really guarantee same-day service is to make an appointment in Los Angeles or to do a walk-in in San Diego the day before your trip. I think that's a very risky and I wouldn't do it, but I do know someone who did exactly that in DC.

[thecatlady 0]

Thank you!! That's what I thought. Another question, would the agency mail your passport and cert. Of naturalization, if so I might as well mail out in or wait until my fight is within 2 wks to pick it up...

[JimmyHou 611]

Thank you!! That's what I thought. Another question, would the agency mail your passport and cert. Of naturalization, if so I might as well mail out in or wait until my fight is within 2 wks to pick it up...

I'm not really sure, but I think I have read about cases where the agency has asked people to come back and pick up their passports the same day, or within a few days. I assume that if there's no rush, the agency would mail back your passport and naturalization certificate just like any other place you can apply for a passport.

If you are concerned about these documents being lost, of course it is a possibility, but that is how 99% of passports in this country are delivered. Furthermore, the passport and naturalization certificate are sent in two separate mailings - often a few days apart. So it's very unlikely that both would get lost. If you have experienced on reliable delivery at home, you can have your documents sent to an alternate location like your office.

Honestly, I would be more worried that I may not be able to get an appointment within two weeks of travel. And even if you do go in within two weeks of travel, they may just tell you that they will rush deliver the passport to you by mail within 48 hours.