Frustration applying for a [US] passport
 

I would like to relay my experiences with the dysfunctional, citizen-unfriendly and frustrating process for obtaining a passport.

My 10-year-old son’s class at Washington Yu Ying PCS is having a class trip to China next spring and he needs to renew his passport that expired three years ago. I went on the State Department website that contains instructions for completing the application, a list of necessary documents, and locations where passports can be accepted. It listed Ben Franklin Station Post Office at 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW as one of the acceptance facilities, and that this location accepted applications on Thursday’s only without an appointment, although appointments would be needed on Mondays through Wednesdays (with no acceptance on Fridays). This information was contrary to information on the USPS website, which said the location accepts applications Monday through Friday with appointments needed each day. Ben Franklin is in a convenient, Metro-accessible location, so I first tried to make an appointment there. I tried the phone number listed on the State website, which led me to a recording asking me to enter a password. Since I didn’t have a password, I called the USPS information line where, after a wait of a half-hour, a man answered and gave me yet a different phone number to call. This number led to a voice mailbox that didn’t accept messages.

So after this runaround, I decided to accept the assurance of the State site, and I took my son to Ben Franklin Station this morning, with completed application, photo and identification documents in hand. There, the staff told me they did not accept applications at all on Thursdays (contrary to both State and USPS websites) and that I would have to make an appointment. When I told them I had TRIED to do that and no one would answer their phone, they said I could make an appointment at the station IN PERSON – in other words, one has to travel to the station and sign their appointment book and then appear ANOTHER DAY to actually hand in the application! It is shocking that in the year 2014 one cannot make an appointment to apply for a passport by either phone, e-mail or Internet.
So we left, angry and frustrated at how inaccurate and misleading information being disseminated by both State and USPS had wasted our morning. We probably will have to file the application at Brentwood Station’s during walk-in hours, although that office is not conveniently located nor Metro-accessible.

State and USPS need to work together to post accurate information about when and where to file passport applications; and more fundamentally to make the application process easier, more user-friendly and less frustrating.

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry: BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.1030 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)

Welcome to FT!

You can file a complaint with USPS Customer Service regarding incorrect information on the USPS website, as well as the difficulty in making an appointment by phone. If you do so, make sure you get a case number, just in case no one responds to your complaint within a few days.

As for the State website, I just did a Google search and found a page that said the appointments are necessary every day of the week at Ben Franklin Station. Perhaps the page was recently updated, or perhaps you accessed a different page. The State website also indicated that walk-in service is available five days a week at a non-postal location: the D.C. "Notary and Commissions Office"; would that be more convenient for you?

Wow, that sounds frustrating.

Look on the USPS website for a post office that does passports, then call the post office directly at their local phone number. I did that a few years ago. Spent about 10 minutes on the phone setting up the appointment and advice on how to do the paperwork correctly, then 10-15 minutes at the post office getting everything done and sent off.

Sorry to hear all the problems you ran into. To avoid further delay for the next appointment.. make sure you have all the documents with you. Both parents have to be there with the kid and if one could not, you will need a notarized affidavit. And make sure you bring your son's old passport and the birth certificate. I would bring passport pictures too just in case their camera doesn't work or something...

The post office stinks. I'd find an alternative route to renewal than the post office if I lived in a crowded area.

Welcome to FT.

Looks like you've got your answer and are on your way to getting your son's passport.

Frustration applying for a passport
 

I will probably regret posting this but major universities often have departments that handle passports including taking your picture! They are very efficient and have no lines or wait times. Just remember to bring multiple checks.

I don't live in a crowded area, and my county's clerk of courts office has passport walk-ins with less than a five minute wait to see someone to process it. Only annoyance is that you have to go through their hypersensitive metal detectors in order to get to that office.

The local post offices, on the other hand, do their best to make it impossible to get a passport through there.

While this may seem frustrating, it is pretty much how government operates. The government isn't a business, and you can't deflect to the store next door if you are unsatisfied with your experience, so they really have no incentive to improve their service. Getting visas from foreign countries can be much worse than this, so if you are planning more international travel then be prepared for it.

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry: BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.1030 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)

"you can't deflect to the store next door if you are unsatisfied with your experience"

Actually, you can (in this case). As noted above, post offices are not the only places that accept passport applications. And I expect that if the OP were to file a complaint with USPS Customer Service, the problems with the website (and perhaps with the telephone number) would be addressed.

It also would not hurt to bring these problems to the attention of the Constituent Services office of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, DC's (non-voting) Congressional delegate.

You actually can kind of do that now. I've got a friend who is a county government employee and her office has gotten into the passport game because she says they get a little of money back from State for processing applications. And word has indeed gotten out locally that their office is far easier to work with than the post office for passport applications so they've become the go-to place for applications in her area.

I went to that post office several years ago since I worked next door at Ronald Reagan Building. They told me that I would have to mail my documents as they only took new passport applications only. So I did and got them in two weeks.

In DC there used to be a Congressional passport office. You could call your congress person and they could tell you if it still existed. When it did exist, you could literally go there (I think with pictures) and get a passport the same day. In either case this is a great case where calling your elected representative can likely help. I needed a passport fast in NY some years ago and my senators office was very helpful.

And welcome to Flyertalk!

I know this started as a post-and-run, but I might as well add my own empathy for the OP, as I'm in the process of trying to get a renewal done as well.

In most cities, including our tiny little hamlet of the greater Kansas City area, the post office is the ONLY option. And since the USPS has no mechanism to book passport renewal appointments online, you must pick up the phone and physically call each PO on the list.

The problem is that of the 15 post offices I called, only 1 of the numbers actually functioned. The other 14 either had an old-school busy signal or just rang and rang and never kicked into any kind of voicemail or automated response. The one that *did* work was actually answered by a pleasant person who said they do 4 passports per day, and tomorrow's booked. She connected me to the consumer affairs person for the whole region - another pleasant enough person who is currently trying to find out if any post office in the entire city can do the renewal for me. (She apparently has other numbers to call than what's on USPS.com.)

There is one PO in the entire area that does not reference appointments at all, but I'm not sure I trust it since so little website information seems correct to begin with. It's in a far southeast suburb...I'd hate to drive out there to find out they do require appointments or don't do passports at all.

Worst case, we will all be in Los Angeles in 3 weeks, so I am fairly certain I can find a walk-in processing center there.

Our company has a vendor who can handle all sorts of business-travel passport emergencies, but renewing one for someone under 16 is something they can't handle. Apparently dealing with the post office can't be avoided. :mad:

Silly, don't you realize you have to write a letter to the Post Office requesting an appointment and then allow 12-14 days to receive a response with confirmation of your scheduled appointment? :)