Originally Posted by tartetatin2

I sent the Passport Agency a renewal application for my husband and followed all of the all the instructions to the letter. The $110 check was cashed and then two weeks later we received his passport and application back with a rejection letter, citing that the photos 'were not acceptable'. The photos were professionally done, met the no-eyeglass, neutral expression and face size requirements. One photo was stapled to the application as required and I confirmed that the second identical photo did not need to be supplied with the application. I called the agency information line and the recorded voce told me they could not provide an application update information on the phone; I would need to go online to travel.state.gov to get status updates. I went there and also was advised they couldn't give an update there.

We went to our local post office and spoke with a with a person who has been processing applications and taking passport photos there for many years. He could see no reason for the app to be rejected. He said this was the third rejection this week he experienced, with no apparent errors. The agency is overwhelmed with applications, but I find it incredible to think they use rejections as a tool to thin the workload. His only insight was that the photo may have been a tiny bit darker than the old passport's photo.

Has anyone here run into this issue and what did you do? How do you find out what is needed to ensure the application isn't bounced again? We are calling our state representatives for help. I hate throwing away another $110 to submit another photo (or several different photos) in hopes that one will be acceptable.

Thank you

T2