There once was time when people would get sick to their stomachs when they realized that they had a trip coming up and had forgotten about renewing a passport. Thankfully, online services are now in place to alleviate that sick feeling. They may tap your wallet for a few bucks, but it is better than seeing an entire trip fall by the wayside.

There are many websites available that will take of all the paperwork for you and expedite the renewing of a passport for a minor fee. This fee will be separate from any government based renewal fees, which are necessary no matter which route is taken and any shipping costs, if applicable. These service providers are located online and their websites detail the range of options for renewal with their assistance.

For those finding the need for a speedy renewal due to a spur of the moment trip or emergency, these websites may be a blessing. They offer a service whereby the passport renewal may be expedited up to and including an overnight service. The other options leave the time frame hovering somewhere between 4 to 6 weeks depending, on if all the paperwork is correct.

All of the forms are available right on the government website as well as the site for many of these expediting companies. There should also be a list of documents that will have to be included with the forms for the passport application to be accepted and pushed through. Knowing how sensitive these documents are, it is may be best to use an overnight service so that the documents get to where they are needed and back to you as soon as possible.

Any decent site will tell the applicants to use something like FedEx or UPS overnight delivery. This is not because they have an allegiance to these services; it is more about the fact that they have guaranteed overnight delivery and all documents can be tracked from one location to the next. Documents are much less likely to be misplaced when using this type of service over any other.

Once the shipment has been received by the processing agency, they can begin to expedite the renewal. There are a few items that will need to be included in this shipment in order to allow them to complete the renewal for you. The website will require that a minimum of 2 color photos accompany the paperwork for the new passport. These may be obtained at a local photographer or passport photo authorized provider.

Other things that should be in the package are proof of citizenship and a valid, government issued ID. Proof of citizenship would be something such as a birth certificate and a drivers license will suffice for the ID. The agency required all documents to be original, so you can see why it is so important to use a guaranteed delivery service.

You will find renewing an American passport is easy as long as everything is in line. Check to make sure that all the documentation is original and that everything that is needed is in the envelope before shipping it off. By using an expedited online pass port service, next week’s trip can still happen as that little blue book can be in hand in just a few days.