Maybe they're getting back on track. That's about how long it should take (in an ideal world).

At the same time, though, this is troubling. There is still a backlog of passports with waiting times much, much greater than that. It seems that they should finish processing the passports that were submitted weeks ago before they process something that was just submitted. This anecdote indicates that they probably don't have an organized workflow system.

At the San Francisco Passport Agency, numerous travelers describe scenes of chaos, with scanty signage and extensive queues, even people lining up luggage in tow, hoping to still catch flights.

"It's a true mess,'' said David Hochschild, a San Francisco resident who works in solar energy. While he was trying to renew his passport for a trip to China last month, a fire alarm went off and the office was evacuated. After the alarm ended, Hochschild wound up at the front of the line. When he left the building, passport in hand, he was stunned to see hundreds of people still milling around outside.

"No one had told the crowd that the fire alarm was over -- no one had unlocked the doors to let them back in,'' he said. "It struck me as being a Third World situation. The passport itself is beautiful, but I'm glad I don't have to renew it again for 10 years.''

"It's been a banner year,'' said Karl Duckworth, a department spokesman.

"We are hearing of some issues; that's why we hired more people,'' said Duckworth.


http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...NGDEQ6SFU1.DTL

Note: The article did not mention the most important thing...going to your Congressman.

It's been a banner year?
Usually one means that in a positive sense.

Let's write a banner:
"Passport Services overwhelmed and unable to fulfill its only function in a timely or consistent manner!"

Yeah, these stories are a little troubling, in the sense that they suggest the amount of time it will take to process your passport is random. Oh, well, not much you can do.

The "online status check" function is somewhat comforting, but not very informative. About 3 weeks after I submitted by daughter's application, I got the following. It hasn't changed since (I'm now past 5 weeks):
_________________________________________________
Thank you for submitting your passport application! It is currently being processed.

Your passport application locator number is xxxxxxxxx.

Note: We have been experiencing a problem with the online status check system affecting only the application locator number. This does not affect the processing of your application. If the number above is 10 digits long and starts with 10000, please do not worry. If you need to contact the National Passport Information Center, you will have to provide at least your name and date of birth instead of the application locator number. Otherwise, please provide the locator number above.

When you applied, you requested Routine Service and Routine Delivery of your passport. Passport Agencies use Priority Mail.

You should receive your passport within 10 weeks from the date you applied. However, if you are traveling within 2 weeks and have not received your passport, please contact the National Passport Information Center.

I'm glad that I renewed mine a bit early in late 2005. I only had two weeks before my next international flight, so I did pay for the expedite fee. I got it back in about a week after it was sent off. 48 pages, no less.

I also renewed the rest of the relatives last year, since I knew the upcoming storm was coming.

It's now 14 days before my departure date, the phone tricks are not getting me through to the call center, and in trying to decide which member of Minnesota's Congressional delegation would be most helpful, I found this bit of background information, which helps explain exactly where the bottlenecks are:

http://coleman.senate.gov/index.cfm?...th=3&Year=2007

You should contact YOUR congressperson.

Most of us have 3 of them, you know....

Probably the best approach is to contact your House member, as in most cases the Senators have a larger constituency.

If the member is under indictment, that might be an extra bonus, as they want to look good.

Really hoping that this chaos dies down in the next 4 years before I need to renew my passport. 10+ weeks is ridiculous!

One Congressperson, two Senators (Unless you live in DC).

Though usually Congressman/Congresswoman/Congressperson refers to a member of the House of Representatives, it's technically a superordinate for both Representative and Senator.

So saying most people have three is okay, IMHO.

...if the member is running for a higher office, they definitely want to look good.

And even if they aren't, with 2-year election cycles for House members, they're always 'up for election'.

I have several pages on my passport that have stamps on top of stamps. I finally got to the point where I had to send it in for additional pages earlier this year.

I sent it in via UPS Next Day Air to their physical address in Delaware. I wanted to make sure it got there safely and I also enclosed a prepaid Next Day Air return envelope. It took about 6 weeks to get the extra pages added and was sent back from the Charleston, S.C. office.

I did not pay for expedited service to get the extra pages, but I will always pay for the next day courier service to get it there and back. I don't trust the US Postal Service with anything important.