It in not new news that the US Passport office is backed up. A few weeks ago, I heard the delay was around 8-9 weeks.

I just spoke with a client who had to have his renewed. In speaking with him, he mentioned that the Passport Office is now about 20 weeks behind.

Now is a good time to check your passports!

Wendell and AR members,
I am in the midst of a long wait for a passport renewal. Right now, according to the US State Dept. website, the wait is 10 to 12 weeks. I submitted mine for renewal on April 7th and have not received it. You can track where your application is, in the queue via the US State Dept. Website. Mine is "being processed".

An alternative is to expedite the process by paying a higher fee. This may or may not get your passport quicker.

A third alternative is to use a private agency to get it for you at an additional fee as well. I have had success with -

The Visa Center
2630 Fountainview, Suite 216
Houston, TX 77057
713 952 4959

I spoke to them yesterday and have a plan to get my son's passport a bit quicker than 12 weeks. They can also handle all of your visa needs. I have used them for 10 years and found them to be excellent at expediting and helping you avoid delays in the process.

You will pay for this service, but it is worth it.

Good luck.

Good info ...

Twelve weeks is a very conservative estimate. I submitted a renewal on March 15th and have not yet received a new passport. The local post office suggested 4-6 months for routine processing! Use a service and pay the extra cost if there is any doubt at all.

Rem

Preparing for a recent trip to Africa, my girlfriend sent her application in on March fifth for our departure on May 31st. (Her first trip and my third) Beginning May 1st her and I both began calling the passport office and were told that if our departure date was more than 14 days away there was nothing they could do. On the 14th of May we called and after forty minutes of both her and I on hold we finally got through to a real person and told them of our travel schedule. The lady told us we would have the passport by the 25th. As she said the passport did arrive and the trip went smoothly. So it is ppossible to get a passport on short notice but it is a headache and will drive nerves through the roof. Good luck to all who are in this mess.

The bad part of calling the passport people is having to press "1" for English!! Amazing.

I posted this on earlier post but I'll post it again in case anyone is waiting on their passport. I sent mine in January for add'l pages and used one of the passport services then because they were already backed up and I needed it in less than a month.

I don't know if you aware of the passport situation right now but they are/have been very far behind. Even people paying the extra $60 for expedited service are not getting them for months.

I think the time frame for passport renewals is now 18 weeks and expediting doesn't make it much quicker. People applying for new passports have been waiting for up to 4 months to get theirs. They are refunding the $60 expedite fee only if you request a refund.

If you haven't received your passport within 2 weeks of your travel date, you should contact your Congressman's office. Some congressmen have been able to get passports pulled out of the system, processed and delivered in time for people to go on their trips. Or they can get you an appointment at one of the passport offices. Even with calling their congressman, some people are not able to get their passports in time and are having to reschedule their trips.

People with int'l trips leaving within a week or less are being advised to forget about the passport application in the system and take all their paperwork (birth certs etc) and a new application to one of the passport offices and apply in person. Then when you get there, you wait in line for hours with hundreds of other people trying to get their passports.


Cindy
http://www.pbase.com/cjw

who would think that the US Passport agency would be so slow...they may wish to walk down the hall to the IRS dept. and ask them how to stay on top of screwing citizens.

How "early" can you renew your passport?

Mine is good until Feb 09. When should I start the renewal process?

As I posted here previously, I misplaced mine. I filed a "lost or stolen Passport" form, along with my application for a new one. I paid the $60, I sent it overnight, and included a prepaid, overnight envelope with the application. That was a month ago. I have heard nothing, and the website says "no information available".

Of course, yesterday, I was putting away my shot gun, and spotted the damn thing in the bottom of one of my gun safes, but it is useless. I called my Congressmans office and they said they can't do anything until two weeks before departure. I may make up a fib just to get this cleared up. It's making me really nervous. I leave August 8.

N'gagi,
Be careful with what you tell the folks at the passport office. I was asked for proof that I was leaving in two weeks to confirm I truly had an emergency.
Good luck,

quote:

Originally posted by Duckear:
How "early" can you renew your passport?

Mine is good until Feb 09. When should I start the renewal process?

Usually 3 to 5 months ahead of time is enough time. If you are good until 2/09, the delays and current problems will hopefully be worked out to speed up the process by then.

it is one thing to have a passport and misplace it another to not have applied till the trip is nearly upon you...less than 6 months. The Passport Agency has been telling citizens about the new passport regs for 2 years!
How much pity can one have for someone whom just didn't bother listening to the new regs?
My own son and his wife booked a cruise this past Feb and had no passports. They bitched about needing to jump thru the hoops to get them within 6 weeks...his old man had been telling him to take care of it since last October!

quote:

Originally posted by dogcat:
N'gagi,
Be careful with what you tell the folks at the passport office. I was asked for proof that I was leaving in two weeks to confirm I truly had an emergency.
Good luck,

I guess you could always put on your credit card a fully refundable ticket to somewhere.......

I wonder who dreamed up the 2 week rule. I mean, 15 days, dont sweat it,but 14 days and its urgent?????

I just received my passport (renewal). I applied April 10th, received it July 12th.

Received my renewal yesterday - July 13. The application was submitted on March 15th. I have spoken with 4-5 people here in the Washington DC area and 16-18 weeks seems to be the norm.

Well, please be seated, as this may astound you, just as it did me! I was starting to worry, and I've been swamped with work, so I called my congressman, and spoke to an aid in his office.

He called me back in 15 minutes and told me the passport had been pulled from the mountain, and scheduled for processing that day. It arrived FED EX yesterday.

Since WHEN does an elected official keep his word and go out of his way to help??? I'm still astounded. Think I'll donate next term!

Mark: I had my Congressman help me with my passport as well a few years ago. Won't bore you with details, but the dolts at the State Dept couldn't get it through their heads that as a naval officer I HAD to be a US Citizen, but they insisted more data. One visit to the local Congressman's office and one of the aides (who was a BABE!) got it squared away for me. jorge

I sometimes wonder if the congresscritters try to keep the passport office delays so they can be the "hero" when a constituent calls. I am amazed at how many folks call their elected officials to get their passports expedited. I personally know 2 or 3 that had to resort to a US Rep call and all were taken care of quickly.

Hmmmmm, I guess I am a bit cynical to think our .gov would create problems so they can "fix" them and play hero. Silly me.

Duckear,

I don't think that's too cynical at all, but in this case I think it's just a matter of nobody thinking through the consequences of expanding the pasport requirement as they did. I think most legislative screwed-uppedness can be explained by politicians' cynicism or stupidity.

FYI:

Official takes blame for passport mess
Cnn.com

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The current passport mess is rare among government foul-ups: A top federal official has publicly taken the blame and expressed regret.

"Over the past several months, many travelers who applied for a passport did not receive their document in time for their planned travel. I deeply regret that," says Assistant Secretary of State Maura Harty, who is in charge of passports for U.S. citizens. "I accept complete responsibility for this."

In an effort to thwart terrorists, the government implemented new rules on January 23 requiring more Americans to have passports. By summer, more than 2 million Americans were waiting for passports; half a million had waited more than three months since applying for the travel identification that historically has been ready in six weeks.

The massive backlog has destroyed summer vacations, ruined wedding and honeymoon plans, disrupted business meetings and educational trips. Individuals have lost days of work waiting in lines or thousands of dollars in nonrefundable travel and lodging deposits. And Congress has been overwhelmed as constituent pleas for passport help soared from dozens a year to hundreds a month in many offices.

The culprits have variously been identified as inept planning, underfunded preparations, popular misunderstanding of poorly crafted government advertising, unanticipated effects of public debate over immigration, tardy and ill-considered responses to the developing crisis, and even partly on Hurricane Katrina, which damaged the New Orleans processing office.

Some in Congress wonder if the effort hasn't actually harmed security. Others question whether more passports actually contribute much to security at all.