If your old passport has expired or you’ve never applied for a passport before, you’ll need to arrange a new passport application in order to travel outside of the US. Applying for a new passport can sometimes seem like a 
confusing process, especially if this is the first time you’ve done it. So if you need to apply for a new passport, where do you start?
Two Options for a New Passport
When it comes to your new passport application, you have two options: apply the standard way through the Department of State Web site, or choose to apply though a private passport expediting company.
What’s the difference? Speed and efficiency. If you apply through a private service then you will be helped through every stage of the process to make it easier for you and to prevent you from making any mistakes. If you send your application form off to the Department of State and there is a mistake it can hold the process up for weeks. But a private passport firm will check through everything first to make sure it’s all correct so you won’t have to worry.
A private passport company can also offer a new passport service in as little as 24 hours, whereas the standard passport application can take anywhere from three to six weeks. If you need your new passport in a rush you only really have one option.
Passport Application Process
Whichever service you choose for your new passport, you will still need to send in the same information. This will include a completed DS-11 application form that has been signed at a passport acceptance facility, two passport photos, fees, travel documentation, and a few other things. For full details of exactly what you will need to send, see our section on new passports.
Once you’ve collected all of the relevant information, you simply need to send it either to the US Department of State or to your passport expediting service who will do the rest for you.
All you have to do then is wait for a few weeks (or as little as a day with a passport expediting company) and your new passport will arrive through your door. Easy!
