Regular in-person passport application processes can be a bit of a palaver, particularly if you have discovered an issue just before you're about to go on vacation, so the idea that an app can deliver your passport in 24 hours sounds promising.

RushMyPassport is an online US passport courier service designed to save you time and a trip to the passport office. It can expedite the delivery of your passport from one to 18 days for a fee. The service has also just announced a partnership with Mobile Passport Control, which utilizes apps authorised by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to permit users to access express immigration lanes at participating airports. It will allow travelers to renew their passport from the app itself, and how it will work is that users will receive a notification to guide them through the process of renewing their passport six months before the expiry date of the existing one.

For those unfamiliar with Mobile Passport Control, it is currently available to US citizens and Canadian visitors and is designed to move eligible travelers through the system with shorter wait times, less congestion and more efficient processing. It permits them to create a profile to submit their passport information and answers to inspection-related questions to CBP via a smartphone or tablet app prior to inspection. They receive an electronic receipt with a QR code, and bring it and their passport and mobile device to a CBP officer to finalize their inspection for entry into the US.

Further information on Mobile Passport Control is available here and RushMyPassport is available here.