Passport 10 Weeks Plus
 

Ok, I allowed 12 weeks and that was when the time for a regular passport was 8 weeks. Right after that I heard 10 weeks. 10 weeks has come and I have called and they are expiditing tha passports. Any other advice or experience with sending a passport in with regular service and then having it expidited. Do I have any hope. I have a lot of money in this trip

Thanks

I called yesterday to see if I could add the expedite process, and the gal told me it had been mailed just the day before! What luck, only took 4 weeks.

phxitgeek,
When is your trip? If it is within 14 days, make an appointment at the closest passport office http://travel.state.gov/passport/abo...ncies_913.html
and go there with your tickets and other docs.

I got mine that way.

My wife got hers in seven days! I was stunned. Hers was lost in a move. . . She cancelled the old one then a couple of weeks later she applied at our local post office, paid the $60 expedite and express mail fees and off her application and birth certificate went. Seven working days later, her new passport was back.

Now about the listening device implanted in the cover . . . .

Yes our trip is within 14 days, but we would all have to fly to LA to get the passports as these are passports for children and in this case both children and the parents have to appear. I allowed 12 weeks there is no way I should have to fly to LA to get a passport.:(

Outlook not good
 

I don't like what I'm seeing right now.

We applied on March 3 (normal processing) for travel on June 10 (14 weeks)

All along, we have been reading "up to 10 weeks" for processing.

Now suddenly, I am seeing many reports of people waiting 10 weeks plus with no passport :)

1-877-4USA-PPT has message that says "Don't call unless you are travelling withing 14 days"

Has anyone called to upgrade application to "expedited"?

My mom submitted her renewal application (non-expedited) in late March. The aunt just passed, and she needs her passport to goto the funeral services.

I called the 877 number, managed to speak to a person. Oy Vey! The person on the other end of the line made an over-seas call center seem more productive. :td: :td: :td:

Final resolution.... you can't upgrade an application to expedited service.

However, the person said that she sent a message to the processing agency explaining the situation and requesting that the renewal be "increased in priority."

The person also re-confirmed my mother's mailing address and telephone number.

contact your senator and representative... they can get it pushed forward

I recommend that my family and friends ALWAYS wait until within 14 days of travel to go get it same-day. It's easy if you're in a major city (at least Philly, NYC, and DC, where I've done it) and you have none of the stress stretched over three months hoping you'll get it in time for your trip.

It isn't realistic for everyone, but it's a sure thing.

peace,
~Ben~

As far as I can tell they are in total meltdown, massive government failure mode.

So, is this about a new marketing program from the Easter Egg Coloring people? (Paas?)

:D

It's a crap shoot, isn't it. I had to get a new passport because of my name change early last year. I didn't pay for expedited service as I was in no rush. Consequently, my new passport arrived in just 3 weeks. Go figure.

My son paid for expedited service but the status screen showed he paid only for standard. He called and the first person he talked to ended the call because his travel was not in 14 days. Then he kept getting the phone message with no real option.

I had him use the option for travelling within 14 days and told him to start talking immediately explaining his problem when someone answered.

Long story short, it was an ordeal, but he did get his passport in 4 or 5 weeks using the expedited service.

He did discover that calling right at 7AM, he was able to talk to someone in just a few minutes. When he called in the afternoon he was on hold for about an hour.

Sheila

No wonder the State Dept doesn't accept credit cards. Had he used his credit card, he could have disputed the charge and won because the vendor didn't fulfill the service for which your son paid. :td:

Not true in my experience - I was deployed to a project overseas last summer while passports for my family were in the standard processing queue. I was indeed able to call the number provided on the application and upgrade to expedited processing, and for the second wonder of wonders, it only took about 5 minutes of hold time in the middle of the day. Granted, this was prior to the current overload, but my experience calling them in the past recalls hold times of hours.

YMMV.