If you searched for a passport expediter this year, you saw HelloGov. They advertise across search, through the CLEAR travel program, and in retail partnerships. Heavy advertising works. It also has to be paid for, and it is paid for by service fees.
We are 24 Hour Passport & Visas, a registered passport courier based in Los Angeles. People ask us regularly how we compare to HelloGov. Fair question. Here is a direct answer, category by category, with sources you can check yourself.
Price, Side by Side
Government fees are identical no matter who you use: $130 for the application, $60 to expedite, $35 acceptance fee for new applicants, $23.36 for fast return delivery. HelloGov’s own checkout lists the government fee at $213.36 on top of their tiers. The only number that changes is the service fee.
| Timeline | HelloGov | 24 Hour Passport & Visas | You save |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard (2-3 weeks) | Smart: $197 | Standard expedite (10-14 days): $149 | $48 (24%) |
| 6-10 business days | Rush: $399 | Rush: $249 | $150 (38%) |
| 4-6 business days | Express: $649 | Priority: $349 | $300 (46%) |
| Emergency | Emergency (3-4 days): $749 | Emergency (2-4 days): $469 | $280 (37%) |
| No rush, full handling | Not offered | $69 |
HelloGov’s tiers are published in their checkout. Ours are published on our site. On the like-for-like expedited timelines, our fee runs about 40% lower, and on the most common 4-6 day window it is 46% lower. That $300 difference covers your checked bags, your airport parking, and dinner when you land. Note the emergency row twice: cheaper and faster, our window starts at 2 business days against their 3.
Who Is Actually Handling Your Application
This is the difference that matters most and gets discussed least.
HelloGov describes itself as a marketplace connected to registered couriers, with an AI-assisted application flow. You fill out forms online. Software checks them. Your documents move through their network.
24 Hour Passport & Visas is the courier. Our staff reviews your documents by hand, catches photo and paperwork problems before submission, and hand-carries applications to the passport agency. When something goes sideways two days before your flight, you call 310-913-7804 and talk to the person handling your file. Our office is at 8170 Beverly Blvd, Suite 101 in Los Angeles, and we also serve San Francisco, Chicago, and Raleigh.
An app is fine when everything goes right. Passports are a business of things going wrong: a photo rejected for shadows, a name mismatch, an acceptance facility with no appointments. You want a human who has seen your exact problem five hundred times.
Track Record and Accountability
Check any company’s Better Business Bureau profile before you pay them hundreds of dollars. Here is what public records show as of August 2026:
HelloGov AI Inc (Miami, FL): not BBB accredited. Their BBB complaint file includes customers who say they did not understand that government fees were separate, customers refused refunds after a 48-hour window, and one customer who reported paying $415 for a renewal whose government cost is $130. Their Trustpilot profile shows a mix of genuinely happy customers and detailed complaints. Read both and judge for yourself.
24 Hour Passport & Visas: [X] years serving Los Angeles, [X.X] star Google rating across [XXX+] reviews on our LA office. Our reviews are from local customers who walked in, called, or were referred. We put our address and phone number on every page because our business depends on people finding us again.
We will not tell you HelloGov is a scam. They are a real company with real customers. We will tell you that complaint patterns about fee transparency and refunds are exactly the risks you avoid by working with a local courier who quotes the full number up front.
Transparency: The Full Price Before You Pay
Our quote includes the government fees in plain sight, itemized, before you commit. You will never learn about the $130 application fee after you have paid us.
The single most common complaint pattern in this industry, visible on the BBB profiles of several national expediters, is customers discovering that the advertised price excluded government fees. The fix costs nothing: itemize everything up front. So that is what we do.
Where HelloGov Is a Reasonable Choice
An honest comparison cuts both ways.
If you live hours from any expediter’s office, never want to speak on the phone, and your case is simple and not urgent, an online-only platform is convenient. HelloGov’s application flow is polished, and plenty of their customers report smooth renewals. If you are a CLEAR+ member, you get 10% off their fee, which softens the sticker price slightly, though 10% off $649 still lands far above our equivalent tier.
If price matters, if your case is urgent or complicated, or if you want a person accountable to you by name, a registered local courier is the better tool for the job.
Which One Should You Pick?
| Your situation | Better fit |
|---|---|
| Simple renewal, no urgency, allergic to phone calls | Online platform |
| Trip inside 2-3 weeks | Local courier |
| Lost or damaged passport before travel | Local courier |
| Visa needed on top of the passport | Local courier |
| Price is a factor at all | Local courier |
How to Check Us, and Them, in Ten Minutes
- Pull up HelloGov’s pricing pages and note the tier fees and what they exclude
- Pull up our pricing page and do the same
- Read both BBB profiles
- Read the most recent 10 Google reviews on our Los Angeles office
- Call us at 310-913-7804 and ask exactly what your situation costs, all-in
Five of those ten minutes are the phone call, and you will hang up knowing your full price. That call is free. A $649 mistake is not.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is HelloGov legitimate?
Yes. HelloGov is a real company with real customers, and many report smooth renewals. It is not BBB accredited, and its complaint file includes disputes over separate government fees and a 48-hour refund window. Read the fine print before paying.
Does HelloGov’s price include government fees?
No. Their checkout lists a government fee of $213.36 on top of every service tier. This surprises enough customers that it shows up repeatedly in their BBB complaints.
Why is HelloGov so expensive?
Heavy national advertising is built into the service fee. Their tiers run $197 to $749 before government fees. A local registered courier does the same government process for about 40% less on expedited tiers.
What is the best alternative to HelloGov?
A registered hand-carry courier with a physical office. In Southern California, that is us: same speed tiers, fees of $69 to $469, a real address at 8170 Beverly Blvd in Los Angeles, and a person who answers the phone.
Bottom Line
Same government fees. Same processing system. Same passport in your hand. The differences are the service fee, about 40% lower with us on expedited tiers and $300 lower on the 4-6 day window, and whether a person you can call by name is carrying your application.
Get the whole number in one call
Southern California or anywhere in the U.S. with a deadline.
8170 Beverly Blvd, Suite 101, Los Angeles
Competitor pricing and BBB information cited from hellogov.com published rates and the HelloGov AI Inc BBB profile as of August 2026. Both change over time. Check current sources before relying on any number in this post.
Related reading: How Much Does It Cost to Expedite a Passport in 2026?