Alurra71 said:
Because she stated that she was already staying in Canada with her hubby. If she is driving only to stay at 'home' you can assume that they would not accept that as needing same day services as there is no pressing urgent need to have it right now. She can in fact return home without her passport.
If she has a trip planned to the US (for anything from shopping to visit family to changing her name on her passport) she will not be able to reenter Canada without a new passport. Therefore, if she were planning to head (albeit back) to Canada that same day, she would qualify for service as when she was at the Passport Agency, she would have a trip abroad planned within 5 days.
Her situation really isn't any different from someone who had a trip abroad planned for several months but only settled on the exact date a few days ahead of time (for whatever reason: work, great fare, friend's calendar) and therefore has a trip to Europe planned in less than 5 days? Or from someone who forgot their passport expired until they went to pack a couple days before their trip? Or from someone who naturalized as an American and needs to get a US passport before a trip planned the following day?
That being said, several Passport Agencies (incl. Buffalo) don't even ask for proof of travel per the link in my first post in this thread.
Alurra71 said:
I don't see any reason why she would also want to pay that kind of money as I do believe it is roughly double the price of a normal passport.
Actually adds about half. The expediting fee is $60. A normal passport for adults is $110 alone or $140 with passport card. A name change is free if her prior passport is under a year old; otherwise costs the same as a renewal.
Alurra71 said:
I know I just renewed my passport via mail and regular renewal last year. I made a photocopy of my passport, had it notarized (in case I needed to travel out of Canada) paper clipped my visitor record to it and then mailed off my passport forms and fees in standard mail. I got my new passport back in 4 weeks at my address in Canada where I was 'visiting' with my hubby. No extra fees involved.
Thank you for helping me understand your perspective. It seems we have different preferences.
I wouldn't be comfortable choosing to be in a foreign country without my passport (e.g., even if the OP were a dual citizen she must enter the US on her US passport) since it would limit my ability to travel if needbe. In the eventuality that family in the US had some sort of emergency and the OP had to hop on a plane, the airline would most likely deny boarding without a passport (except perhaps if she's at an airport with a pre-clearance facility and she can convince CBP to clear her and help convince the airline to let her board). So, in all likelihood, she'd have to go to the nearest US Embassy and Consulate and get an emergency passport before flying, taking up valuable time. Alternatively, the OP could drive to the border and plead her case, but that again would take up valuable time.
Also, the OP is in her 7th+ month from application and may get her passport request (or CoPR) any day now. It would stink if she got the passport request, knowing it may take 6-8 weeks before she has her new passport (4-6 weeks processing time per US State Department right now plus processing time plus mailing time, for which 2 weeks from US to Canada is not uncommon). Or if she needed to send the CoPR back and things got delayed. I'd want to get my new passport to CIC as soon as possible to keep things going smoothly.
So, for me, $60 to expedite my passport for the peace of mind of knowing I would have my passport back in my new name so my CoPR is issued in my married name and that I could travel if I wanted/needed to is well worth it.
And that's before considering other variables like when the OP did her medical, which if needed to be redone, would cost way more than $60 as would having to go through a formal name change procedure afterward.
