Forgot your passport at home? Here is how it can be brought to you
If your passport is at home and you are somewhere else, someone at home can hand it to a DocumentJet courier who flies it to you, usually arriving the same day or the next morning depending on direction. A family member or colleague can make the booking for you. For a flight leaving in the next few hours, rebook first; for a trip you can only complete from where you are, a courier is often the only option besides going back.
Someone else can book
A partner, parent, colleague or assistant can arrange the delivery. They confirm you have authorized it; for some routes we ask for that in writing.
Collected from the door
The courier comes to the address, checks the envelope and takes the passport into carry-on. Whoever hands it over needs to be there and awake.
Delivered to you, wherever that is
Hotel, office, a relative's address, or the airport terminal. We let you know the courier's name and flight.
The passport is in the kitchen drawer. You are at the gate, or in a hotel in another country, or halfway through a business trip that needs a border crossing the day after tomorrow. Everyone in the household is asleep in another time zone. This is the situation this page is written for, and it is more common than the people it happens to believe.
There are three realistic ways out: go back and get it, have it brought to you, or get a temporary document from your consulate. Which one is right depends on how far the passport is and how soon you need it. The rest of this page is about the second option, with an honest word about the other two.
What has to happen at home
01
Someone finds it and confirms it is the right one
Sounds trivial. Households with several passports, or an expired one in the same drawer, send the wrong document more often than you would think. Have the person at home read you the expiry date and check the photo.
02
They put it in an envelope, unsealed
Any envelope. The courier may open it to check the contents before accepting it, because anything carried through airport security has to be known to the person carrying it. Do not tape it shut.
03
They wait for the courier, with a phone on
The pickup window is shown before booking and the courier typically calls shortly before arriving, possibly from a foreign number. If the only person available is a neighbor or a building manager, that works, but tell us their name in the booking so the courier knows who to ask for.
04
If nobody is home
The passport cannot be collected from an empty apartment. Options: a neighbor with a key, a family member who can get there, or a locksmith if you own the place. Sort this before booking, not after; the pickup window starts when the courier is dispatched.
Who can make the booking
Anyone who is lawfully authorized by the passport holder. In practice that is you, from wherever you are, or the person at home, or an assistant. The booking asks who is arranging the delivery and confirms that the passport holder has agreed to it. For some routes, and always when the passport is being released by a third party such as an employer, we may ask for a short written authorization from the holder before the courier accepts it. A photo of a signed note sent to operations is usually enough.
Payment is by card at booking. The card is authorized, not charged, until operations has confirmed a courier and flight, normally within 30 minutes. If it cannot be done, the authorization is released.
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How long it takes, by situation
You are at the airport, flight today, passport in the same city
A courier can often bring it to the terminal within a few hours, but the flight boarding in two hours is almost always lost. Rebook first, then let the courier deliver for the later flight.
You are abroad, passport at home in Europe, you are in North America
Often the same calendar day: collected in the morning, on an afternoon nonstop, in your hand by evening local time.
You are abroad, passport at home in North America, you are in Europe or Asia
Next morning at the earliest, on the overnight flights.
You are within a few hours' drive of home
Go back, or have someone drive it. A courier is for distances that need an aircraft.
The alternative: your consulate
If you are abroad and only need to get home, your own country's consulate is the other route, and it is much cheaper.
Emergency travel document
When: Your embassy or consulate is open, reachable, and you can get there.
Most countries issue a temporary passport or emergency travel document to citizens abroad who have lost access to theirs. It usually costs a fraction of a courier and can often be issued the same day, though you may need an appointment, passport photos and proof of identity. It is generally valid for the journey home and sometimes for a limited onward trip. If your plans after getting home do not depend on the full passport, this is the better answer.
A courier
When: The consulate cannot see you in time, you need the actual passport (visas inside it, onward travel, a border crossing on the trip), or you are somewhere the emergency document would not get you.
This is where DocumentJet fits. It costs more, typically USD $2,000 to $5,000 depending on the route, and it delivers the real document with all its visas and stamps to where you are.
One thing we cannot do
Deliver to a person who has no way to receive the passport. If you are in a transit zone or held at a border point, read our page on airport delivery first, or call us. A courier who flies in can often hand it to you in the transit area; where that is not possible, we tell you before you pay.
Questions people ask about this
Can I book a delivery for someone else's passport?
Yes, provided that you are lawfully authorized to arrange transportation of the passport. This is common, for example, where a family member, partner, employer or assistant arranges an urgent delivery for someone who has forgotten their passport. You may be asked to confirm that the passport holder has authorized the transportation.
Do I need written authorization from the passport holder?
Depending on the circumstances and route, we may require written authorization from the passport holder before accepting the passport for transportation. The authorization confirms that DocumentJet, FLYTRIX and the assigned courier have permission to temporarily take possession of and transport the passport solely for the purpose of completing the delivery. Additional authorization may be required where the document is being collected from a hotel, company, embassy, consulate, government authority or another third party.
How quickly can you pick up my document?
In many major cities, a flight courier can be at the pickup location within a few hours. The exact pickup timeframe depends on where the nearest suitable courier is located. If no courier is available nearby, we may need to position one to the pickup city by car, train or air. Your estimated pickup window is shown as part of your instant quote before booking.
How fast can DocumentJet deliver my passport or document?
On the same day or by the next day — for most major international routes. For example, a document collected in Europe can often be delivered to the U.S. on the same calendar day because of the time difference, while many U.S.–Europe deliveries arrive the next day due to flight schedules and time zones. Actual delivery time depends on the pickup location, courier availability, available flights and the final handover location. Your instant quote shows an estimated pickup and delivery window before you book, and our 24/7 Operations Center confirms the final itinerary after booking.
