From LA

The U.S. Department of State approved your application for your passport book. We're now printing your passport book and preparing to give it to you.

You requested routine service when you applied. Routine service can take 8-11 weeks. Our processing times begin the day we receive your application at a passport agency or center, not the day you mail your application or apply at a local acceptance facility. You should receive your passport book on or around 04/30/2022.
CODE is 79 :)

Passport renewal (child) update
 

Locator code is 79
As of 4/23---this is now the update listed: The U.S. Department of State approved your application for your passport book. We're now printing your passport book and preparing to give it to you.

You requested routine service when you applied. Routine service can take 8-11 weeks. Our processing times begin the day we receive your application at a passport agency or center, not the day you mail your application or apply at a local acceptance facility. You should receive your passport book on or around 04/30/2022.

I'll update again when I have more info. This site has helped me so much over the years so I like to pay it forward and update it too :)

Is it good to contact the congressman?
 

So, it seems noone has any experience with the New Orleans Passport facility. I contacted the congressman to accelerate the process, but it seems that the New Orleans wants money to expedite the process. If we can get the passport within 5-6 weeks, it is fine, but I am trying to understand how long it takes for this passport facility to process regular processes. Do you guys think it is a good idea to contact congressman? I am starting to become paranoid; the New Orleans will stop the process until they get the money to expedite it? Jesus Christus!

Cheers,

I

Adult application, prior passport was lost but had also since expired (so it was slightly unclear to us whether a DS-64 was strictly necessary, as it was no longer valid either way). Expedite and 1-2 day shipping fees included.

• 3/14: DS-11 submitted at acceptance facility (local county courthouse)
  • Pre-filled using the online filler. Because the previous passport wasn't available for submission, it automatically filed the DS-64 online form as part of the process. FWIW, didn't ever receive an email confirming the DS-64 processing, though the system said to expect one.
• 3/21 around 11pm ET: In Progress. Locator 62 (appears to be Tucson, based on later original document returned from Western Passport Center)
  • Subscribed for updates. The email address given on the DS-11 was pre-filled, so it was apparently scanned in from the form, but we never received any emails at any stage.
• 3/22 check cleared (via ARC/direct debit conversion without an image)
• 3/29 around 9pm ET: Approved
• 3/30 morning (7am ET): Shipped (with USPS Express Mail tracking number)
• 3/30 11am AZ time: Accepted at Tucson AZ USPS origin facility
• 3/31 4:45pm: Delivered (next gen) to destination PO box in Atlanta
• 4/16: Birth certificate returned by regular mail (envelope from Western Passport Center, PO Box in Sterling VA)

A couple of notes from the process:

• At some point a day or two after shipping (maybe 3/31), the State status oddly went back to Approved from Shipped and no longer showed the tracking number. That's still what it shows to this day. If you don't have Informed Delivery to hang onto the tracking number for you, you might want to start checking for the tracking number frequently in the 24 hours after Approved, just in case.
• On 3/29 we did reach out to our senator for assistance expediting, but given they acknowledged the request on 3/30, I suspect this didn't influence the timeline and locator 62 is turning around expedited applications for everyone in about a week.
• In the response the congressional office shared with us on on 3/31, in addition to providing the tracking info, the Atlanta agency noted there were no congressional appointments available on 4/1. This tells us that there is some special pool of appointments for congressional requests, but based on this data point I would suggest not relying on it at the last minute.
• We had been fortunate to get an agency appointment by calling in exactly 13 days ahead and then canceled it upon receipt of the passport. It seems that a good approach if traveling in 3-4 weeks is to hedge your bets by submitting an expedited application ASAP, calling in for an appointment 2 weeks out, and then canceling the appointment for someone else to use (which is very easy to do by email) if you receive the expedited mailed passport in time, which based on data points here, seems not uncommon even well short of the official 5-7 week time frame.

I'm not surprised by that; based on some data points here and from Reddit, the congressional request seems like a super-expedite, where it goes to the top of a special pile and often goes out within a day or two. Seems not unreasonable to me that if you're jumping even the regular expedite timeline then you have to pay at least the same fees that they do ;) Also it seems that some congressional offices will only reach out on your behalf if your travel is within a certain time frame (say, a week or two), and in some cases will ask for proof of travel.

You could probably have the best of both worlds by waiting until a week or two before your trip and contacting your congressperson again; more likely than not it will be done in the regular timeline by then, but if not, you could pay to expedite at that point and still get it in time.

Routine service renewal for child:
Check cashed and processing as of 3/31
Locator code is 79
As of 4/23---this is now the update listed: The U.S. Department of State approved your application for your passport book. We're now printing your passport book and preparing to give it to you.

You requested routine service when you applied. Routine service can take 8-11 weeks. Our processing times begin the day we receive your application at a passport agency or center, not the day you mail your application or apply at a local acceptance facility. You should receive your passport book on or around 04/30/2022.

Passport (NEXT GEN) received 4/25 in mail.

Your passport applications returned back very fast. Not sure it is because of the passport center it went to. Ours were in their system on 4/4/2022, and still shows up as "in process". It is sent to New Orleans, though.

Isnt this a facility that does passports in person for people who are traveling within 30 days? I don’t think my passport goes through that office…

I applied in-person at Florida State Clerks Office, Palm Beach Garden, which seems to have sent my documents to New Orleans Passport facility. From the online discussion, I see that they accept both same-day and mail applications. Mine ended up there, which I am not sure if it is good or bad. Just wonder if anyone had any experience to share.

Cheers,

I

It's good that they got there. Based on people's past experience posted above, if everything is in order with your applications, you should see the application status updated in the next week or two. New Orleans doesn't seem to be an outlier compared to other processing locations. When you receive your new passports, please post to let us know a) if they are NextGen (new design with the passport number printed in perforated type on each interior page) or E-passports (old design -- no perforated number, more colorful data page) and b) from where they were mailed to you.

Just an update on our passport applications (2 adults - new, 1 toddler - renewal, regular processing):

3/23 - Applied from field office (Palm Beach Gardens, FL)
4/4 - In Process (locator 42 = New Orleans, LA)
4/5 - Checks cleared
4/26 - Approved and Shipped
4/29 - Expected Delivery

According to the USPS tracker, it is shipped from LA. Will update after receiving the documents. I will also let you know how long it took to get the original documents.
Cheers,
I

Passport (Large Book) and Passport Card RENEWAL using DS-82 Form Filler
Expedite AND 2 Day Delivery

4/15 (Fri) Dropped off at USPS in Santa Clara, CA using Priority Mail Express
4/17 (Sun) USPS tracking showed received in PA
4/19 (Tue) Online Status shows "In Process" and $238.32 personal check cashed, Locator: 42 New Orleans, LA
4/22 (Fri) Calls to make appointment at San Francisco Passport Agency scheduled for 5/4, travel date is 5/5, was informed urgent request sent to Locator 42
4/27 (Wed) Online Status shows "Shipped" for Passport and Passport Card, USPS tracking shows originating from New Orleans, LA
4/28 (Thu) Next Generation Passport RECEIVED! Along with my old Passport punctured with 2 holes and old Passport Card corner cut
5/02 (Mon) Passport Card RECEIVED via USPS First Class mail

Total: 13 days for Passport Book

Here is an update (2 new, 1 renewal passports, regular process):

3/23 - Applied from field office (Palm Beach Gardens, FL)
4/4 - In Process (locator 42 = New Orleans, LA)
4/5 - Checks cleared
4/26 - Approved and Shipped
4/28 - Delivered

New passports are shipped from LA, which included our original documents, too. All the passports are NextGen. The old passport was punctured but the passport card did not get cut. We are not going to use it, but it is strange that they did not cut the card. Also, I contacted the congressman 10 days ago, but I am not sure if it affected any process. I did not pay for the expedite process. Good luck to you those who are waiting for their passports. It is a stressful process; at the end it took 5 weeks, which I think should be much faster.

Cheers,

I

Great news! Thanks for the update.

One thing I'll say based on past renewals is that the travel date on an application form definitely does influence how quickly the passport gets processed. Applications with earlier travel (or visa application deadline) dates are prioritized over those with later ones. That said, a word to the wise: don't put false information on an application! In addition to the legal penalties, why say you need a passport sooner than you do?