Be sure to tell the Acceptance Agent that a expediting service will deliver the materials to the Passport Agency. This Department of State policy is called "Hand Carrying of Executed Applications". The policy is detailed on pages 10, 31 and 44 of the Acceptance Agent Manual. You do not want the Acceptance Agent to send your application to the National Passport Processing Center. If this occurrs you will not be in control over the speed at which your application is processed.
The Acceptance Agent will check your proof of identity, endorse the documents and seal them in an envelope marked: "To be opened by authorized passport officials only." Do NOT open the envelope after it is sealed!
Some Acceptance Agents do not seal a Letter of Authorization in the envelope. In this case, you MUST send it (with original signature) and a copy to us. We will attach the original to the sealed envelope and submit it to the Passport Agency for processing.
Once your application is properly sealed and executed by the Acceptance Agent you must send us the sealed envelope as soon as possible. Properly sealed envelopes must be submitted to the Passport Agency no later than five (5) business days after the execution date. For reference the date is part of the seal on your application envelope affixed by the Acceptance Agent. Applications received after this date will not be accepted by the Passport Agency and will not be processed. The sealed envelope will be returned to you and you must then revisit the Acceptance Agent Facility and have the application re-executed.
Print your name, departure date and date of birth on the outside of sealed envelope. Often times we receive sealed envelopes with no way to know what is inside. If this happens it will cause delays in processing.
