Hah. After almost 30 years of living in major US cities, I've just resigned myself to unreliable mail delivery. As long as nothing gets lost or stolen, I consider it a win.

Maybe it's different for people who live in Mayberry or Cabot Cove, but in any city I've lived in this country, this is how USPS is.

We have a postal carrier that looks like Speedy Delivery’s McFeely, who is dependable most of the time. Delivery has returned to 3pm lately instead of 6-7pm in the summer and fall. I hate having a package delivery dropped off on my porch after 4pm when my assistant has left for the day, during the week.

Data points for processing time for 2 children's passports sent at the same time. Both were sent with expedited processing and expedited, 1-2 day delivery:

• Fri Dec 9: Dropped off at USPS acceptance facility.
• Tues Dec 13: I noticed that the checks had been electronically deposited.
• Sat Dec 24: (after checking daily) The U.S. Passport Application Status website finally updated to show "Application Status: In Process" with an application locator number.
• Tues Dec 27: received an automated email that "Application Status: Shipped" along with USPS tracking numbers.
• Wed Dec 28: received both passports via USPS 1-day delivery.

Total processing time from USPS drop off to receipt was just shy of 3 weeks, 19 days total. FWIW, the passports were actually issued on Dec 23, so the website only generated a locator number after it was already completed and waiting to be shipped.

I gave the online renewal a whirl - I got my Nexus renewal fully approved last week so I figured it was time to get the passport renewed since it's got 9 months left. I was impressed with how easy this was; we have a plain white door in our garage that made taking the picture very easy to take care of. At the very least, I figured it saved me paying for trackable postage and the drive over to the post office.

I will be curious to see how long this takes. It seems like electronic renewal is either very quick, or it gets stuck somewhere for a couple of months. I'm in no particular rush as we do not have any imminent international travel, but that's exactly why I wanted to do it now rather than wait.

Hi All,
Was able to expedite as there was a travel coming up. They did it same day. This was at honolulu office.

A data point for my mother on an emergency renewal. We’re leaving Friday for Norway and she only has 45 days left on her passport after we return home. She tried calling to see if she could get an appointment but they explicitly told her that she couldn’t call until 12/27 for a departure on 1/6. She was able to secure an appointment in St. Albans, VT for 1/3, but that wasn’t sufficient for my father so they drove up on 12/28 and were able to get her passport renewed that day.

November 10 - Mailed Application by Registered Mail
November 12 - Delivered/Signed Confirmation
November 16 - Application Received
January 03 - Application Status: In Process
January 03 - Application Status: Approved
January 03 - Application Status: Shipped
January 03 - Application Status: Approved (second email)
--
Standard Mail Delivery
Routine Service
Extra Pages

From a traditional standpoint that is not terrible but a couple weeks longer than most recent postings here. I was going to suggest the holidays may have had some impact (and probably did) but the application was received 4 biz days before being logged in and was received more than a week before Turkey Day!

[MENTION=7202]GUWonder[/MENTION] would the request for the extra pages book have caused some of the delay?

This is promising - thanks for the data point.

I submitted my renewal via the online portal about a month (Dec 9) after your mail date. Status changed from received to in process fairly quickly thereafter.

Based on above timeline, maybe early Feb would be the expected target for my app. Planned travel overseas in early March, so have runway until then. #cuttingitclose

I did the same, 12/20. The process itself was very easy, but as of today, 1/13, there's been no movement (despite paying for expedited processing).

I think - based on above and my experience (for kids - had to go to a local post office to submit), they're getting backed up.
Especially as international travel (TPAC) is picking back up.

My son's passport went from sent > in process pretty quickly (Dec 28 > Jan 4) but now it's still in that process. We paid for expedited.

Doesn't do you any good, but the Travel Dept website has other locations that allow for passport processing that is a lot more pleasant. For us, there are libraries that process ... same cost too ... and you don't have to deal with PO employees

Actually the PO center near me was excellent. Loved it; dedicated passport office; fast, efficient, and designed to handle large crowds.

If you're applying for/renewing a passport for someone 16 or under, it has be a government facility (other than in extraordinary circumstances) such as a Post Office, county government, the rare library, and some court houses. Lots of extra documents required as well (so glad my kid is now over 18 and we're done with that! :) )

We never had any problem with the PO staff, other than slow lines, but friends had a bad experience with trying to get their daughter's passport at a court house - the clerk wasn't familiar with the documents, and omitted some crucial step, resulting in a very long (months) delay.

Here's my DT
11/27 - applied online (large book and card, no expedite on processing and shipping)
11/29 - Email update. Online showed In process
1/13 - Email update both passport and card were shipped. There's no other updates online since 11/29. The PP was issued on 1/11, shipped out on 1/12
1/17 - Passport was delivered.

It was quoted for 6-9 weeks. Mine took around 7 weeks.