As I stated back in June, "TWA884 - The backlog is what currently, 3 months? Maybe will be 4? I guarantee that those who put their applications in over the last 3 months will see at least that backlog as well as those who put them in now and for the next month or two. However I also envision that those putting in applications in September/October are not going to see any significant backlog. So again if my passport were expiring in December of January or later. especially in the current situation I would just wait it out. OTOH, for the life of me I would never ever do an application through the mail at the best of times, if in the US, I would just go and get it done same day within14 days of a trip, or just do it from abroad where in my experience it has ALWAYS taken less than 2 weeks, often less than a week."