Originally Posted by
bb-miler
Ok - so - chewing fingernails to get kids passport back expedited and make it in 8 weeks with the NH/69 national center being shipped back to CA.
4/28 applied in person California USPS office / Expedited
5/3 check cashed (electronically), locator 69, indicating "National Center" in New Hampshire
5/3 status "In Process"
...
6/24 departure from the US (maybe)?
We didn't read the whole notion that it may have been better to just get an in-person appointment 14 days before departure at one of the CA processing centers (SF, LA etc.) - and now we are sort of in this awkward "maybe it will work" moment. We had 8 weeks to departure when we applied - so - right on the cusp...
Question - based on SOME comments it appears that the "69" processing center has been faster than some others (notably 62), and the latest we saw in this thread was a locator 69, 3/23 application that arrived in the mailbox 5/2 (indicating 5.5 weeks turn around from the NH/69 center). Are we deluding ourselves thinking that we can get it in 7 weeks based on those (sparse) datapoints? Can we make an appointment NOW for 5 days before departure (in June) or do we need to simply wait?
In my research, which may or may not be accurate, you cannot make an appointment until you are within 14 days of travel, if you haven’t already applied, or 5 days of travel, if you have an application in process. The danger with your idea that you shouldn’t have sent them in and should have waited until 14 days ahead is that you may not have been able to get an appointment at all. See the article posted up thread from Frequent Miler (TL,DR: living in the northeast, he could only get an appt in either El Paso or Puerto Rico).
They also will not even speak to you on the phone at the passport agency (877#) until you are 14 days from travel, counting the travel day (so don’t call on a Monday if your travel is on Monday two weeks hence, because that is 15 days for them). My suggestion is to wait until a couple days before the 14 days and, if it still hasn’t arrived or shown as approved online, reach out to your federal representative for your district. They most likely have a contact link on their website for this exact purpose. If it allows you to include an attachment with your query, then attach your e-ticket as proof of travel.
Good luck!