Two recent experiences for you all. We have travel planned 4/10/22.

Applied for first adult passport (Expired one was as a minor) using Expedited service with quick-ship option)

• Mailed: Tuesday, 2/8/22 (I assume, since applied at library on 2/7)
• Delivered: Monday, 2/14/22
• In Process: Tuesday, 2/15/22 (42 which is New Orleans I think)
• Check Cashed: Wednesday, 2/16/22
• Approved: Wednesday, 2/23/22 (Showing estimated arrival of 2/26)

Received: Friday, 2/25/22


Also had an adult expedited renewal :

• Mailed: Monday, 2/7/22 via USPS Priority mail
• Delivered: Thursday.2/10/22
• In Process: Tuesday, 2/10/22 (69= Philly?)
• Approved: Friday, 2/25/22 (Showing estimated arrival of 3/2/22)
• Received: Monday, 2/28/22 (old style)

Does anyone know at what point in this process for a new application a photo would be rejected (I'm concerned that it may be too blurry) and if it would be, would it require restarting the whole process again or significantly delay it?

​​​​​​​Nextgen passport?

I guess it depends on how much time you have. If you don't have time, get a new photo. If you do have time, go ahead and send it.

David

I just had this happen (post #1852), and it took about a week. (They received it on 1/27, and I got it back on 2/4.) I'm guessing it's one of the first things they check since they didn't cash my check, and the status on the website never changed to "In Process".

My friend's renewal was rejected for photo -- they only used 3 staples and it looks like the photo bent in the scanner.

The State Dept sent back the whole application along with the uncashed check. So, pretty sure it happens before they cash the check.

Friend was able to staple a new photo to the app and send it in again.

If you're doing a new application in person at an acceptance facility, they definitely look at the photo before accepting it -- but it's possible they would think it's ok and the State Dept would reject it once they received the app.

But at any rate I'm pretty sure it happens fairly early on in the process, and yes you have to start again.

Approved: 02/25/2022
Expected to Receive by: 03/05/2022

sorry just checked. NOT Next Gen.

sorry just checked. Renewal is NOT Next Gen. I’ll update when my daughter picks up her package to check hers (New App)

There were no appointments 14 days out for Southern California for same-day service. The closest center available was in Texas. I followed the advice from chgoeditor on how to get a reservation for a same-day passport by calling a few minutes ahead of the phone center opening. I updated the wiki with this information.

I'd expect a significant delay if your photo is found to not be suitable. We submitted an expedited application in late November that showed a "The U.S. Department of State has received your application..." status with a date in mid December. At some point in late January (over a month later) we received a notification that the picture that was submitted along with the application (taken by the application acceptance office n:rolleyes: less) was not suitable. After a few weeks trying to get new pictures taken (college students have their own timelines) we sent off the new pictures about 10 days ago. The application status has so far not changed and nothing has been received by us as of yet.

Hi,
I sent the renewal via USPS priority mail for mother-in-law. It should have been delivered about five days ago, but USPS' tracking system shows that it arrived in Philadelphia and is in transit to the destination.

Should I be worried?

I sent mine via USPS priority to Philadelphia and, two months later, it is STILL in transit, but I have my new passport in hand. Check the status on the Passport System, which is how I watched the process evolve.

USPS is famous for missing delivery scans (delivered but not scanned as such) and vice versa (delivering it as scanned but it's still on the truck).

I'd check the state dept's status page and/or see if the check has been cashed to see if they received your application.

If neither a delivery scan nor state dept update for 10 days, then I'd become worried.

Covering at least four US Administrations, it's within the range of normal for the State Department passport application status to not be representative of the actual status of the passport application. I wouldn't worry about it.

That the USPS tracking system is off with passport applications after arriving in PHL is also unfortunately not a surprise and also is most often indicative of no real delay in the passport application resulting in the passport getting back to the applicant.

If the check has cleared with the funds out of the current account, then I wouldn't even give this a second thought and just assume the passport would be back in the same range as other applicants whose online status updates were more timely/accurate.