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Current US passport wait? (Merged Threads)

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Old Mar 1, 2022, 6:35 am
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: CKDGM
Passport Agency Appointments (same day expedited service)
Appointments for same-day expedited service often go quickly. It is best that you schedule your appointment with the passport agency exactly 14 days before your trip. You will want to call the passport number before the center opens at 8am EST as they will have just opened up one day (14 days out) of appointments at all agencies. Appointment times start at 8am. It is important that you have enough buffer in your travel schedule. For example, if you make an appointment for a new passport at 11am and your time of travel is at 2pm, there will not be enough time for you to get your passport. If you book the 8am slot you may have to wait until the end of the business day to get your new passport or it may only be a few hours.

You will want to have your date of travel, time of travel, your flight itinerary number, name of destination, full name of applicant, and applicant's birth city, and the zip code of where you live (to help them find the closest available center with open slots). Use the following steps to increase your chances of success to booking an appointment as they can go very quickly:
  1. 14 days before your trip, you need to schedule an appointment with the passport agency.
  2. At 7:55 am call the passport number 877-487-2778 (This have to be exactly 14 days before your plane ticket or less. If less, it will get harder to find an appointment)
  3. Click 1 (For English)
  4. Click 2 (New Passport)
  5. Continue to Click 7 to repeat, and keep doing this while watching your watch or using Time.gov to get the exact time down to the second.
  6. When your it hits exactly 8:00 am Click 2 (for traveling within 14 days option)
  7. There will be a delay of 3-4 second and you will wait for the next available agent. If you are very lucky, you will be put straight through to an agent. You may be waiting few minutes or maybe as long as 15-20 minutes.
  8. If you did not click 1 exactly at 8 am, you may have to wait for more than an hour and half
After the appointment slot has been reserved you will be provided with a unique identifier code and reservation number. These details will also be emailed to you.

Credit: chgoeditor

Known office locator numbers (not complete)
Note: The office code (first two digits of your application locator number returned by Passport Status) is the office reviewing your documents and approving your application. It isn't necessarily the address you mailed the forms to (always Irving or Philadelphia for renewals) nor the facility where the book is physically printed and mailed (often Tucson or Hot Springs).

10: Boston
11: NYC
12: Honolulu
14: Stamford, CT
15: Portsmouth, NH
17: Aurora, CO
18: Chicago
19: Washington, DC
20-29: Portsmouth, NH
34-39: Charleston
40-42: New Orleans, LA
45: Portsmouth, NH
50: Los Angeles, CA
51: Miami
53: Seattle
54: Minneapolis
55: Dallas
56: Detroit
57: San Francisco
58: Philadelphia, PA
61-64: Tucson
65: Hot Springs, AR
67: San Juan, PR
68: Portsmouth, NH
69: Portsmouth, NH
71: US embassies/consulates abroad (possibly Portsmouth, NH)
74: Atlanta
75: St Albans, VT
76: San Diego, CA
77: Buffalo, NY
78: El Paso, TX
79: Houston, TX
80: Special Issuance Agency ("Issues diplomatic, official, service, and no-fee regular passports, and facilitates visa processing for those traveling on behalf of the U.S. government.")
95: Online

A list of agencies and their locator numbers is listed on this page under the heading, "List of passport agencies and centers with locator numbers."

H/T Nayef, txviking, and various individual posts both here and on Reddit. If you have a locator not in the above list, check the return address agency name or postmark/ZIP on your returned citizenship docs, or passport card if you applied for one, which may be the processing office, although the address itself is likely to be a PO Box in Sterling, VA in all cases (which appears to be a lockbox location that processes mail for all locations). The passport books are printed in fewer locations, often Hot Springs and Tucson, and may not correspond to the agency where the processing steps occurred. If it doesnt match the list above, please add or correct.
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Current US passport wait? (Merged Threads)

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Old Feb 12, 2022 | 7:31 am
  #1861  
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
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Old Feb 12, 2022 | 7:34 am
  #1862  
 
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Originally Posted by mg89
Application - "Approved".

Applied for Renewal using Routine service
  • Mailed: Tuesday, 1/25/22 via USPS Priority mail to Philly
  • Delivered: Thursday, 1/27/22
  • In Process: Tuesday, 2/8/22
  • Money Order Cashed: Tuesday, 2/8/22
  • Approved/Shipped: Friday, 2/11/22 (Showing estimated arrival of 2/19)
  • Received:
Congrats! This is more like an expedited processing speed, not routine speed. What is your locator #?
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Old Feb 12, 2022 | 10:58 am
  #1863  
 
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Originally Posted by MLTR
Congrats! This is more like an expedited processing speed, not routine speed. What is your locator #?
Thanks! My locator no. was 18. Quite surprised at the speedy processing. Maybe, using a money order vs a check helps.
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Old Feb 12, 2022 | 11:22 am
  #1864  
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Originally Posted by mg89
Application - "Approved".

Applied for Renewal using Routine service
  • Mailed: Tuesday, 1/25/22 via USPS Priority mail to Philly
  • Delivered: Thursday, 1/27/22
  • In Process: Tuesday, 2/8/22
  • Money Order Cashed: Tuesday, 2/8/22
  • Approved/Shipped: Friday, 2/11/22 (Showing estimated arrival of 2/19)
  • Received:
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Old Feb 12, 2022 | 11:25 am
  #1865  
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A second passport in our family is tracking almost to the day as above. Expedited service, a check and Philadelphia locator. Dare I say it might be a good
time to renew? This one isn't up for renewal for a year but took advantage of what seems like favorably response time. Plus, it's not like we are going
anywhere anytime soon.....
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Old Feb 13, 2022 | 7:44 am
  #1866  
 
Join Date: Feb 2022
Programs: Marriott, Hyatt, IHG
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Received the new style passport yesterday by Priority Mail. Total turnaround time from start to finish - 19 days.

Applied for Renewal using Routine service (did not pay extra for return shipping)
  • Mailed: Tuesday, 1/25/22 via USPS Priority mail to Philly
  • Delivered: Thursday, 1/27/22
  • In Process: Tuesday, 2/8/22 (Locator#18)
  • Money Order Cashed: Tuesday, 2/8/22
  • Approved/Shipped: Friday, 2/11/22 (Showing estimated arrival of 2/19)
  • Received: Saturday, 2/12/22 (new style passport - Locator#18)
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Old Feb 13, 2022 | 8:51 am
  #1867  
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And yes, it's been a good time to apply as of late. And better to apply when not running up as much against the Spring/Easter breaks and then summer travel demand.

Originally Posted by MLTR
Congrats! This is more like an expedited processing speed, not routine speed. What is your locator #?
It's more like a return to what had long been the traditional speed for routine processing in the US. The sad thing is that the domestically-applying public has become increasingly conditioned to accept that sub-4 week turns aren't to be reliably and fairly expected unless paying an expedite fee.
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Old Feb 14, 2022 | 12:54 pm
  #1868  
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 71
Originally Posted by serialportme
Hi. Ok. My bad for not realizing my passport was expired. Waited two weeks before flying to call to book same day appointment for renewal. Scored the only one available- but its for the same day I am set to fly out the night of.

Anyone have insights on how long process takes to walk out with a passport assuming all goes well?

Any strategy to call to reschedule - they say people cancel and you can get one a cancellation.

Thank you! Would love some thoughts.
Does anyone know about how long it takes from appointment time to actually walking out with a passport? Nobody on the phone can help.

THANKS!
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Old Feb 15, 2022 | 12:13 am
  #1869  
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Originally Posted by serialportme
Does anyone know about how long it takes from appointment time to actually walking out with a passport? Nobody on the phone can help.

THANKS!
It's going to vary based on a variety of factors, including how urgently they think you need the passport to be in your hands.

When I've used US Passport offices across the country during the FT era and had morning appointments for ordinary passports, I've been able to pick up the passports later the same day or the next (business) day. It still goes this way.

This goes for my use of passport offices mainly in NYC, DC, Chicago, but also some other ones. I've seen it take as little as c. 2.5-4 hours, but that's not something I would want to build into my plans. And my suggestion is to look at the passport when picking it up to make sure the biodata information page is correct for you and that the rest of the book looks fine before walking off and out with the newly-issued passport.
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Old Feb 15, 2022 | 10:47 am
  #1870  
 
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 2
Applied for Renewal using Routine service
  • Mailed: 1/25/22 via USPS to Philly
  • Locator #: 50
  • Delivered: Thursday, 1/27/22
  • In Process: Tuesday, 2/8/22
  • Check Cleared: Tuesday, 2/9/22
  • Approved/Shipped:
  • Received:
harsoni is offline  
Old Feb 16, 2022 | 12:11 pm
  #1871  
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Join Date: Jan 2022
Location: Laguna Beach
Posts: 101
Mailed all documents 1/13
Received by agency 1/15
Listed as In Process 1/18
Got my new passport in hand 2/15

Applied under routine processing
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Old Feb 21, 2022 | 2:21 pm
  #1872  
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Originally Posted by greg5
I live in Switzerland and my US passport is expiring this coming summer, I don't want to send it in as I may have to travel on short notice. Has anyone requested a second passport by going into an Embassy/Consulate in person, and then after receiving the second passport sent the original in for renewal. Is this possible?
Yes, it's possible, when done in person at US embassies/consulates:

Originally Posted by GUWonder
..... at US embassies/consulates .... It’s not been unusual for me to hear ACS tell US citizens (or their parents) that State won’t cancel the applicant’s current, expiring US passport or their in-process-and-yet-to-be-issued renewal/additional passport in case the applicant needs to use their expiring US passport before the new passport arrives at station; and that the station is willing to return the expiring passport for use in the interim. In other words, there is some allowance in practice for a US passport renewal applicant to retain and use the expiring passport for most of the interim between application submission and renewal passport delivery to the applicant if there is a need for such. I saw this being done just a few months ago again at yet another one of our embassies.
It's still being done this month too and there's no change on the horizon in that regard.
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Old Feb 22, 2022 | 12:03 am
  #1873  
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Originally Posted by GUWonder
Yes, it's possible, when done in person at US embassies/consulates
It turned out that I don't have to travel on short notice now. And as my US passport is still good until July, and my Swiss passport is brand new, I figure I don't have to renew the US passport until after my April trip. The US passport will be valid less than 3 months, but I only need it to enter and leave the US. The rest of the trip, I can be Swiss.
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Old Feb 23, 2022 | 2:33 pm
  #1874  
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Originally Posted by serialportme
Does anyone know about how long it takes from appointment time to actually walking out with a passport? Nobody on the phone can help.

THANKS!
Got an 8am appointment at the Passport Agency in NYC. Submitted the paperwork & paid the fees by 8.30am.
My passport was ready by 11.30am.

(total cost $225: $130 passport book + expedited $60 + execution fee $35)
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Old Feb 23, 2022 | 4:25 pm
  #1875  
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 222
Just a data point for a friend that I helped to apply.

Mailed off passport using Priority Mail to Philly 2/4, expedited service
Received in Philly 2/7
Friend received passport today, 2/23
He reports that his check hasn't been cashed yet.
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