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Current US passport wait? (Merged Threads)

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Old Mar 1, 2022, 6:35 am
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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:
  1. 14 days before your trip, you need to schedule an appointment with the passport agency.
  2. 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)
  3. Click 1 (For English)
  4. Click 2 (New Passport)
  5. 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.
  6. When your it hits exactly 8:00 am Click 2 (for traveling within 14 days option)
  7. 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.
  8. If you did not click 1 exactly at 8 am, you may have to wait for more than an hour and half
After the appointment slot has been reserved you will be provided with a unique identifier code and reservation number. These details will also be emailed to you.

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.
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Current US passport wait? (Merged Threads)

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Old Dec 25, 2022 | 3:52 pm
  #2191  
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Originally Posted by Jaimito Cartero
Is Newman your postal carrier?
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.
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Old Dec 25, 2022 | 3:58 pm
  #2192  
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Originally Posted by M60_to_LGA
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 Deliverys 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.
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Old Dec 28, 2022 | 1:38 pm
  #2193  
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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.
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Old Dec 28, 2022 | 1:52 pm
  #2194  
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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.
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Old Dec 29, 2022 | 10:26 pm
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Hi All,
Was able to expedite as there was a travel coming up. They did it same day. This was at honolulu office.
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Old Jan 4, 2023 | 7:11 am
  #2196  
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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.
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Old Jan 4, 2023 | 8:48 pm
  #2197  
 
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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
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Old Jan 5, 2023 | 8:42 am
  #2198  
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Originally Posted by Polytonic
November 10 - Mailed Application by Registered Mail
November 12 - Delivered/Signed Confirmation
November 16 - Application Received
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?
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Old Jan 5, 2023 | 9:07 am
  #2199  
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Originally Posted by Polytonic
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
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
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Old Jan 13, 2023 | 8:43 am
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Originally Posted by sullim4
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.
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).
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Old Jan 15, 2023 | 10:47 am
  #2201  
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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.
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Old Jan 15, 2023 | 10:53 am
  #2202  
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Originally Posted by lindros2
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
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Old Jan 15, 2023 | 12:04 pm
  #2203  
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Originally Posted by ToSRQ
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.
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Old Jan 16, 2023 | 8:05 pm
  #2204  
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Originally Posted by ToSRQ
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
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.
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Old Jan 17, 2023 | 2:41 pm
  #2205  
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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.
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Last edited by mike_L; Jan 18, 2023 at 11:24 am
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