How much and how long does it take to get a passport?

How long it take to get a rushed australian passport?

• Hi, i want to go overseas on 7th july 2010, next month, but have not gave in my app yet at the post office, which i will be doing on monday, 2 days from now. how long it take to get a passport without being rushed? and how long will it take to get a passport if it was rushed and how much? passports now cost $208 i believe so maybe over $300 total up?? if i don't get it rushed do you think i can get my passport before the 7th, also i will need a chinese visa since im going china, will all this be done before the 7th of july? i will ask on monday but thought i'd just ask here before hand since im curious to know. thanks.

• Answer:

  You can forget about your travel plans if you don't get your passport rushed. In general passports are processed within 10 working days; this does not include the time required for postage from the post office to the passport office and from the passport office back to you. The priority processing fee is $78.00; processing time will take two working days plus the time for postage. https://www.passports.gov.au/Web/TimeRequired.aspx .. To get a Chinese visa on a straightforward application will normally take 4 working days, however you can speed up the process to three days by paying an additional fee of $30.00 or to two days by paying $50.00 http://au.china-embassy.org/eng/ls/t286322.htm .. This again is a good example to see that early travel planning pays off. You would have saved a lot of money if you would have started the application process early in advance.