I too chose the standard service when I applied in April, I thought that would have been plenty of time to get a passport for late August, guess I was wrong :(

An update, I contacted my congressman on a Friday, she took my info and said she would follow up with them that weekend. I checked it online and sat afternoon it was finished, on my doorstep the following Monday. ^

Maybe I'm a chump for not lying about my travel date, but I can report that the two-week window for expediting worked in our case. We had applied regular with 12 weeks to spare, as the local agent said theirs were getting done in 10 weeks, no problem! It appears the state dept. hadn't really started to work on it until it hit the 2-week window. But with a few pleading calls, they moved it to the front burner, and I didn't have to drag my son down to the regional office to reapply for the passport. The passport showed up as complete the night before our scheduled appointment.

FYI, if you do need to go to the regional office, they require just new photos, but not a new birth certificate (at least that's what they told me over the phone).

someone lied to you I think, I've been told by everyone that you'll need a new BC in addition to photos and applications. It's like starting the process all over again, AND you have to pay for a new one (but they will issue a refund check for the one you already requested if you ask about it)

I thought it would be wrong to lie about it for the longest time, but I really cannot afford to miss my fly date, as a student I would be screwed beyond screwed if I couldn't make my flight because if you don't sign in on the first day you're out of the program, and I'd have been out ALOT of money. So yea, I lied :P

Renewal in less 3 weeks for regular service!
 

I applied for regular service on 7/23 and got an email indicating that it will take 10-12 weeks. Today, I got another email saying that my passport has been mailed and I should have it by 8/12. That's less than 3 weeks! One thing I did that may have helped, I sent my renewal via Fed Ex overnight, but requesting for regular service.

Expedited renewal - less than 3 weeks
 

I sent in my passport renewal application to the NH address 3 weeks ago, paying for expedited service but NOT special mail delivery. The new passport arrived by Priority Mail (no signature required) yesterday...less than 3-week turnaround.:eek:

So it looks like renewals are speeding up and LIFO may be the current mode, if older renewals are still stuck.

Mailed in my RENEWAL (to PHL) on Tues (7/31) and today (Thurs 08/09) it showed up online as rec'd and in process ^ I sent it regular mail for regular service. We'll see how it goes...

I used an expedite service and it took about a week.

Even though I had sent a letter inside and outside the envelope stating that they should give the expedite service the passport back, the passport office decided to mail it themselves.

The expedite service told me that due to all the new people the passport office has been making a lot of mistakes.

I would NOT consider NOT using a expedite service.

If you're traveling more than 20 weeks away I would recommend saving the money and going for regular service but anything within the next 10-12 weeks I would get expedited....it's very expensive but worth it to receive your passport within 2 weeks.

We are into our 14th week and the renewal passports just showed up...two weeks before our trip.

It required a call and several emails to our US Congressman to grease the skids and get the passports out of the queue.

In hindsight, I would also recommend expediting and paying whatever to make sure you get your passports in a timely manner.

This 14-20 week thing will only get worse as it gets closer to 2008 and everybody wakes up at the same time and realizes they MUST have a passport to leave the US.

FYI for anyone still waiting......

My wife submitted her passport for renewal in late May/early June (Unsure of the exact date). Normal service and the travel date we put was early October.

Just got a email from the State Dept. saying the passport is completed and in the mail (confirmed with a tracking number).

So that works out to be 10-11 weeks, which is pretty much in the normal range. I guess the rush is over?

If you purchased your international ticket online rather than your friendly travel agent, then your'll get no help in getting an itinerary with an earlier departure date from Travelocity or Orbitz. Who do you speak to for personalize help at an online site.

The travel agent that I use consistently helps me and members in my performance group when in a tight fix, such as one of them finds out their passport is expired or lost. My agent tells me what date to input in the automated call system of my regional passport center so that it will give me an appointment within 2 weeks and then produces an E-ticket invoice for an international ticket for that early date even though the trip is not in the 2 weeks range. Although using a travel agent amounts to a agency service fee because the arilines now give agents zero commission, if your a regular customer, I'm sure ,your knowledgeable travel agent, knowing all the angles can help you out whether with canceled flights or passport.

Congratulations on your good luck but based on what I've seen, heard and experienced, you guys lucked out.

IMO, the rush has yet to see it's worst days.

Has anyone sent in their passport lately to get extra visa pages put in it? (I don't need to renew for 3 more years) About how long has it taken? Should I expect it to be longer or shorter than the new/renewal apps?

Just update from my mom's status from her passport is completed. They will send in the mail immediately. I just got emailing from US Passport. It is all done the processing her passport. It should be gets it in the mail next week. It would be sent by priority mail to my house. I will get renewal passports sometimes in 2008 while I am expiration my passport. I will fill out the applications. It was almost 10 weeks now. It was take so long time while they are in processing my mom's passport.