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 doesn’t 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 doesn’t match the list above, please add or correct.
Current US passport wait? (Merged Threads)
Nov 3, 2022, 6:38 pm
#2146
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Programs: UA Silver, AA Gold, Marriott LTTE, HHonors Gold, IHG Plat, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 40
Q: Everything matches, but I still can’t update. What should I do?
A: In some cases, travelers with very new passports will need to wait 2-3 weeks before they are able to update the passport information in the TTP system. Please try again after this time, or see the response below.
Q: What should I do if I can’t update my passport from the website?
A: If you are unable to update your passport from your TTP profile after 2-3 weeks, please reply to this message with a color image of the biographic page of your passport. Once we receive your attachment, we will escalate your case to be updated. Processing times are currently 3-4 weeks.
Nov 3, 2022, 11:27 pm
#2147
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Between AUS, EWR, and YTO In a little twisty maze of airline seats, all alike.. but I wanna go home with the armadillo
Programs: CO, NW, & UA forum moderator emeritus
Posts: 35,415
State says it is invalidating the current passport as soon as they receive the request to renewal. Seems to me they shouldn't invalidate the current passport UNTIL a decision has been made to approve and move forward the renewal request. If they end up denying the renewal now the pax is stuck not having a valid passport which was perfectly fine 5 minutes earlier....
rt so you still have one while the other is being renewed.EDITED TO ADD:
Looking closer at the second passport page it seems that won't work in all cases -- one has to submit BOTH passports to obtain it!
You may apply for a second passport using Form DS-82 if you can submit your full-validity, 10 year passport
Last edited by Xyzzy; Nov 3, 2022 at 11:37 pm
Nov 4, 2022, 7:40 am
#2148
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: WAS
Programs: enjoyed being warm spit for a few years on CO/UA but now nothing :(
Posts: 2,507
Nov 4, 2022, 8:28 am
#2149
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Watchlisted by the prejudiced, en route to purgatory
Programs: Just Say No to Fleecing and Blacklisting
Posts: 102,095
If you want to make sure you always have a valid US passport you could try to obtain a second US passprt so you still have one while the other is being renewed.
rt so you still have one while the other is being renewed.Standard practice for passport applications abroad with the US State Department allow for in-person applicants at US embassies/consulates to present a currently valid US passport for purposes of passport application but retain that unexpired passport for use until picking up the newly-issued US passport at the embassy/consulate. This is a way that US citizens can maintain use of their only valid US passport while awaiting for the renewal passport to become available for use.
Even most US citizens abroad don’t know this is an option to always have a US passport for use while awaiting a renewal. And this option via US embassies/consulates is available even to those not living abroad.
Last edited by GUWonder; Nov 4, 2022 at 8:35 am
Nov 4, 2022, 10:28 am
#2150
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: NYC
Programs: AA Platinum/OW Sapphire, Delta Gold, Marriott Gold
Posts: 89
State says it is invalidating the current passport as soon as they receive the request to renewal. Seems to me they shouldn't invalidate the current passport UNTIL a decision has been made to approve and move forward the renewal request. If they end up denying the renewal now the pax is stuck not having a valid passport which was perfectly fine 5 minutes earlier....
And to be clear, you can only get a 2nd passport under certain circumstances. It is not easy and you have to meet very specific criteria. https://travel.state.gov/content/tra...port-book.html. Current US DoS Policy states "no person shall bear or be in possession of more than one valid or potentially valid passport of the same type at any one time." So you can have a standard & a diplomatic passport but not 2 regular passports. I contemplated this when I had to renew my last passport and worried I might have to travel for work but it wasn't worth the hassle. I just paid for expedited service.
We all hope that as the US Dept of State modernizes it changes but until then, it is what it is.
Last edited by eyeNina; Nov 4, 2022 at 11:10 am
Nov 4, 2022, 4:01 pm
#2151
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: WAS
Programs: enjoyed being warm spit for a few years on CO/UA but now nothing :(
Posts: 2,507
the situation I was thinking of is maybe admittedly a rare/unlikely occurrence: one submits a renewal with say a year left on it expecting 4-6 weeks processing but having a trip in 12 weeks. Should be plenty of time, right? But if the current passport is canceled immediately upon receiving the renewal request there now might not be enough time to address the issue and resubmit or even apply for a "new" book before the upcoming trip.
Nov 4, 2022, 6:44 pm
#2152
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: NYC
Programs: AA GLD, AC
Posts: 4,220
I just mailed my passport off for renewal yesterday. Here's hoping I get it back in a timely fashion. For what it's worth, the guy at the post office (who said he used to be a passport agent, although he isn't anymore) said that processing times currently are shorter than they've been in years.
Hopefully he's right. I guess I'll find out...
Hopefully he's right. I guess I'll find out...
Nov 4, 2022, 7:09 pm
#2153
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: NYC
Programs: AA Platinum/OW Sapphire, Delta Gold, Marriott Gold
Posts: 89
the situation I was thinking of is maybe admittedly a rare/unlikely occurrence: one submits a renewal with say a year left on it expecting 4-6 weeks processing but having a trip in 12 weeks. Should be plenty of time, right? But if the current passport is canceled immediately upon receiving the renewal request there now might not be enough time to address the issue and resubmit or even apply for a "new" book before the upcoming trip.
But worst case you'd go to a passport agency within 14 days of your trip if you haven't gotten it back in this scenario for an emergency passport and bring any supporting documents.
Last edited by eyeNina; Nov 4, 2022 at 7:19 pm
Nov 5, 2022, 2:16 pm
#2154
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 544
Even without a second passport:
Standard practice for passport applications abroad with the US State Department allow for in-person applicants at US embassies/consulates to present a currently valid US passport for purposes of passport application but retain that unexpired passport for use until picking up the newly-issued US passport at the embassy/consulate. This is a way that US citizens can maintain use of their only valid US passport while awaiting for the renewal passport to become available for use.
Even most US citizens abroad don’t know this is an option to always have a US passport for use while awaiting a renewal. And this option via US embassies/consulates is available even to those not living abroad.
Standard practice for passport applications abroad with the US State Department allow for in-person applicants at US embassies/consulates to present a currently valid US passport for purposes of passport application but retain that unexpired passport for use until picking up the newly-issued US passport at the embassy/consulate. This is a way that US citizens can maintain use of their only valid US passport while awaiting for the renewal passport to become available for use.
Even most US citizens abroad don’t know this is an option to always have a US passport for use while awaiting a renewal. And this option via US embassies/consulates is available even to those not living abroad.
- renewing my kids' passports in 2018, no problem. All was as you describe. They kept their passports until the new ones were ready, and then had the old passports cancelled on pick-up.
- renewing my own passport last year, I was required to surrender my current passport if I wanted the renewal to be processed. Not only that, but picking up the new passport from the consulate was also forbidden - I had to supply a self-addressed stamped envelope (or DHL mailer - which I actually chose as that's the only option with tracking) to have it mailed to me.
And for this class of service - leaving us in a technically illegal state while we pray our passports aren't lost in the mail - I had to book appointments months in advance. While the staff on the US citizen side of the AMS consulate are generally friendly in person, it's no wonder. They barely work at all. They schedule a grand total of 12 passport renewal appointments and 2 notary appointments per day in their ex-Nazi palace on the museumplein. Nice work if you can get it.
Last edited by terrier; Nov 5, 2022 at 2:25 pm
Nov 5, 2022, 6:40 pm
#2155
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Watchlisted by the prejudiced, en route to purgatory
Programs: Just Say No to Fleecing and Blacklisting
Posts: 102,095
Nov 6, 2022, 4:14 am
#2156
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 544
"All valid passports will be canceled during your appointment as you cannot have two valid passports. Plan your appointment accordingly as you may be without a valid passport for up to three weeks." (bold emphasis appears in the original.)
Worth noting this hard-working bunch is now hiding the DS-82 procedure for in-person applications - now the link for "Renewing a valid or recently expired 10-year passport" goes exclusively a page describing a mail-in procedure. Where now you're expected to entrust your only recognized-by-local-authority proof of citizenship to the mails in both directions, rendering non-dual citizens de-facto stateless for the duration (and god help you if your passport book is lost in the mail.) Lunacy.
Nov 6, 2022, 4:29 am
#2157
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Watchlisted by the prejudiced, en route to purgatory
Programs: Just Say No to Fleecing and Blacklisting
Posts: 102,095
Perhaps the ACS staff in the Netherlands have been directed to no longer to do this, but I know it’s still being done as of last week too at various US consulates/embassies a short hop from here in AMS.
Nov 6, 2022, 3:38 pm
#2158
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2000
Posts: 15,347
For several years many US missions abroad have been encouraging their ACS clients to have their documents delivered to them via DHL/Fedex/UPS............whoever the preferred local vendor is, often even having a courier service desk located in or near the mission to assist, in order to lessen traffic in the mission. This however is NOT the actual rule, and even in the DoS training books euphanisms such as "applicants should be encouraged to..."
That being said, like GU, I know of people who in the last two weeks have been able to pick up their passports from the consulate when they arrive. The statement, "All valid passports will be canceled during your appointment as you cannot have two valid passports" is idiotic on several counts............
1) It may not be legal in the country that you are in to NOT have a valid US passport on your person at any time.
2) If they require you to hand in your old passport for cancellation, before handing you the new one, then you are NOT in fact in possession of "two vaild passports" which leads to issue 3)
3) With DoS permission, and a proper reason, you can in fact carry two, or I even know of THREE currently valid US passports, although the others are of less validity.
If you really need your old(er) passport for travel, for the week or 2 or 3 until you get the new one........ask for a Vice Consul, there always is a VC who is in charge of ACS, do not deal with the drones, especially the local hires, who often have not read the CFR's themselves.
That being said, like GU, I know of people who in the last two weeks have been able to pick up their passports from the consulate when they arrive. The statement, "All valid passports will be canceled during your appointment as you cannot have two valid passports" is idiotic on several counts............
1) It may not be legal in the country that you are in to NOT have a valid US passport on your person at any time.
2) If they require you to hand in your old passport for cancellation, before handing you the new one, then you are NOT in fact in possession of "two vaild passports" which leads to issue 3)
3) With DoS permission, and a proper reason, you can in fact carry two, or I even know of THREE currently valid US passports, although the others are of less validity.
If you really need your old(er) passport for travel, for the week or 2 or 3 until you get the new one........ask for a Vice Consul, there always is a VC who is in charge of ACS, do not deal with the drones, especially the local hires, who often have not read the CFR's themselves.
Nov 18, 2022, 4:31 pm
#2159
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: TYO / WAS / NYC
Programs: American Express got a hit man lookin' for me
Posts: 4,596
Mailed in my renewal application on the evening of October 31, by Priority Mail from DC. Expedited service requested. Received my new passport today, November 18. Less than 3 weeks from start to finish -- not bad at all.
Nov 21, 2022, 11:32 am
#2160
Join Date: Oct 2022
Posts: 3
Next Gen Passports are fully rolled out!
From the Frequently Asked Questions:
Will I receive a Next Generation Passport book if I apply now?
Yes. We are now issuing all passport books as Next Generation Passports. Since ePassports continue to meet and exceed international passport security standards, both ePassports and the NGP can be used for international travel.
Last Updated: November 18, 2022
travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/passport-help/next-generation-passport.html
Will I receive a Next Generation Passport book if I apply now?
Yes. We are now issuing all passport books as Next Generation Passports. Since ePassports continue to meet and exceed international passport security standards, both ePassports and the NGP can be used for international travel.
Last Updated: November 18, 2022
travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/passport-help/next-generation-passport.html