Mar 1, 2022, 6:35 am
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:
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.
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:
- 14 days before your trip, you need to schedule an appointment with the passport agency.
- 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)
- Click 1 (For English)
- Click 2 (New Passport)
- 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.
- When your it hits exactly 8:00 am Click 2 (for traveling within 14 days option)
- 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.
- If you did not click 1 exactly at 8 am, you may have to wait for more than an hour and half
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.
Current US passport wait? (Merged Threads)
Mar 7, 2022 | 7:51 pm
#1891
Join Date: Mar 2022
Programs: none
Posts: 1
Please excuse if a dumb question...Can you explain about the locator no.? Is this something I can request for possibly faster service? Are certain locations/locator no. faster/better? TIA.
Mar 8, 2022 | 2:45 pm
#1892
Join Date: May 2019
Posts: 9
looking for any help/suggestions etc.. I have been calling relentlessly but not at 7:45 AM (and waiting till 8 to hit 1, will do that tomorrow morning)
applied, expedited, in 1st week of November, 2021...nothing yet...they refuse to give any info...local congress woman also submitted a request on our behalf..last week..but nothing yet...
I did make a reservation at a Hilton in Toronto (for next week) and have been telling them I will be driving...how exactly will they check the reservation..do they have a way? they keep asking for the confirmation number..and I give them...but am not sure what they do with the confirmation number
is it better if I actually have a flight confirmation number? I can do that....I just thought they have no way to tell..but once they give an appointment..I can then make a real reservation and take it with me...
1) will it help if I have a real airline reservation? instead of a hotel in canada!!
2) will it help/can I simply just apply for a new passport..marking the old one "lost"...the presumption here is state lost the application/passport...(why would it take more than 3 months...)
applied, expedited, in 1st week of November, 2021...nothing yet...they refuse to give any info...local congress woman also submitted a request on our behalf..last week..but nothing yet...
I did make a reservation at a Hilton in Toronto (for next week) and have been telling them I will be driving...how exactly will they check the reservation..do they have a way? they keep asking for the confirmation number..and I give them...but am not sure what they do with the confirmation number
is it better if I actually have a flight confirmation number? I can do that....I just thought they have no way to tell..but once they give an appointment..I can then make a real reservation and take it with me...
1) will it help if I have a real airline reservation? instead of a hotel in canada!!
2) will it help/can I simply just apply for a new passport..marking the old one "lost"...the presumption here is state lost the application/passport...(why would it take more than 3 months...)
Mar 10, 2022 | 9:20 am
#1893
Join Date: Jan 2020
Programs: SQ Gold, Marriott Lifetime Platinum, Caesars Diamond, Hilton Diamond, Atmos Silver, IHG Platinum
Posts: 2,229
Data point
Applied for Renewal using Routine service
• Mailed: 2/10/22 via USPS
• Delivered: 2/12/22
• Shipped: 3/7/22
• Received: 3/9/22
Applied for Renewal using Routine service
• Mailed: 2/10/22 via USPS
• Delivered: 2/12/22
• Shipped: 3/7/22
• Received: 3/9/22
Mar 12, 2022 | 8:57 pm
#1895
Join Date: Jan 2020
Programs: SQ Gold, Marriott Lifetime Platinum, Caesars Diamond, Hilton Diamond, Atmos Silver, IHG Platinum
Posts: 2,229
Mar 13, 2022 | 7:54 am
#1896
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: DTW
Programs: Alaska, Delta, Southwest
Posts: 1,731
Mine says it's approved as of yesterday (3/12); last time I remembered to check and it still said in progress was Wednesday (3/9). Application was delivered on 2/17, and locator was 34 (Charleston).
Mar 17, 2022 | 2:07 pm
#1897
Join Date: Apr 2002
Posts: 1,374
From eyeballing this thread, it seems like something may have changed with the email system mid-late summer? Looks like no one has reported receiving any emails since July or so.
Mar 19, 2022 | 7:55 am
#1898
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: DTW
Programs: Alaska, Delta, Southwest
Posts: 1,731
Interesting, I hadn't noticed that, but I signed up for email updates and received none. (My new passport arrived last week.)
Mar 22, 2022 | 8:14 am
#1899
Join Date: Apr 2002
Posts: 1,374
Mar 22, 2022 | 9:32 am
#1900
Join Date: Apr 2002
Posts: 1,374
Called yesterday morning Mon 3/21 at 8am on the dot, looking for an Atlanta agency appointment for travel Sat 4/2. (I believe this was the earliest possible for this departure as they're not open weekends... didn't try Friday which would have been 15 days out.) The only options at that agency were 8:30am and 9am 4/1 (which worked for us, so we didn't ask about other agencies).
Applicant already has an expedited DS-11 that's reached the In Process stage. If that gets approved this week we may be able to cancel the appointment.
Folks on Reddit report that it need not be either/or: you can start the process expedited by mail/acceptance facility, and if later going to the agency in person, they can transfer/finish the existing application using the locator number, and charge a lesser fee (possibly $35 for in-person execution, but fees already paid would be applicable). Will report back with a data point if we end up needing to do this. When initially starting this process ~4 weeks before the trip, it seemed like a gamble to choose which route (too close for the official expedited turnaround, though sometimes faster in practice, and too far out to know if any in-person appointments would be available). Hope this info may be helpful for others in the 2-5 week "uncanny valley" period.
Also, a couple of suggestions for Atlanta local acceptance options:
- There is a USPS Mega Passport Center at 1920 NE Dresden Dr, Brookhaven (North Atlanta PO, near Buford Dr) that accepts walk-ins, replacing the now-closed Midtown office. Inexplicably, this is not shown anywhere online and the USPS directory doesn't state that this location does passports at all. This was a 3-4 hour wait the day we tried with only a few windows open. One plus is the hours are Mon-Sat 9a-6p (very few other Saturday options including other POs).
- The DeKalb Superior Court Clerk takes walk-in applications (only) -- great service and had no wait the day we went. It's a bit hard to find, on level G of the further back tower after clearing security.
- GSU Clarkston takes adult walk-ins as well as appointments (no personal experience here).
Last edited by 21A; Mar 24, 2022 at 9:57 am Reason: corrected the North Atlanta PO address