Yes 1 hour and 45 min

Is that the rush service?

But there must only be a handful of places where you can go in person?

Yes.

It seems to be what I would see at times for expedited in person -- more so if it's split over the hours before/after lunch time during a period when international travel demand is way down and those who are still traveling internationally are most likely to already have a passport used for international travel within the 12 months prior and thus not need a rushed passport renewal/replacement.

Same day passport service is available by appointment at US Passport Agencies and Centers. There are more than a dozen locations, however, not all of them are currently open to the public.

Their locations and the procedure to to apply for a passport are described in this US State Department webpage:

10/26/20 - Mailed passport renewal to TX facility with standard processing time (quoted 10-12 weeks), used 2-Day Priority Mail envelope.
10/30/20 - Envelope delivered in TX (delivery likely delayed due to volume of election mail at the same time).
11/02/20 - Check cashed by State Department.
11/03/20 - Application status updated to "In Process" on State Department website.
12/21/20 - Called State Department 1-800 number to get my passport faster. I was on hold for 55 minutes before reaching a representative, who took down my credit card info to expedite my application. I provided a travel date of 01/20/21.
12/29/30 - Credit card charged $77.13 to expedite ($60 expedite fee and $17.13 for 1-2 day shipping).
12/31/30 - Received an email from the State Department that my application was approved.
01/04/21 - Passport picked up by USPS in Tucson, AZ. Mailed via Priority Mail Express.
01/05/21 - Delivered to me in CA!

Adding another data point:

11/23/20 - Sent my old passport and renewal application plus check to Philadelphia processing center. Opted for expedited service and overnight delivery.
11/30/20 - Application "In Process" on State Dept website.
12/4/20 - Check cashed by State Dept
1/4/21 - Got email that application was approved and passport to be printed shortly. Later that day I got a USPS tracker
1/5/21 - Delivered and received here in NYC. Passport issue date was 1/4/21.
1/25/21 - Passport card delivered.

Originally planned to be away week of Christmas to New Years hence why I opted for expedited service. However, I cancelled the ticket in mid-December when I heard of the new strain and overall rise in covid and instead opted to stay home over the holidays.
In it they said I'll receive my passport card and old passport at a later date which is ok.

Hi, can I ask how you were able to get an appointment and what you said to them? I couldnt find any available online.Thank you

Finally got our passports:

23-Nov-2020 - Filed 2x expedited passport applications at USPS w/ all the fastest bells & whistles options.

30-Nov-2020 - Accepted at Passport Facility (they went to the National Passport Center in NH)

05-Jan-2021 - Approved (36 days after acceptance... 43 days after submitting at USPS).

07-Jan-2021 - Scheduled for delivery tomorrow.

I paid someone to take their appointment.

All these posts are making me a little nervous. I sent in mid-November for routine processing, planning to travel mid-March. Guess I will just sit with my fingers crossed for a while...

I wouldn't suggest worrying about this at all unless you don't have the passport before around the 15-20th of February.

Got email yesterday that passport was approved, tracking says it's coming from AZ and should arrive 1/11/2021 so all in all from the time I shipped to my door will be 15 weeks.

Surprisingly fast turnaround on regular service (was expecting 8-12 weeks based on reports).

Here’s the timeline:

• Dec 16: Applied at local USPS - regular service with paid courier return service
• Dec 23: Fee check cashed
• Jan 09: New passport received

Great news. How did you apply at USPS? Was it a new passport instead of renewal?

Setup an appointment using the online form on USPS site (a couple of weeks lead time so it was probably late Nov/early Dec when it was setup). Renewal for a family member applying as an adult for the first time so mail in wasn’t an option.

Wow, that is lightning-fast even pre-covid, especially with the holiday break in there. I wonder if they are prioritizing in-person over mailin renewals somehow.

The kind of in-person application relevant to samplat involves the State Department-approved USPS worker reviewing the submitted application and relevant docs and then mailing them to the US State Department for processing of the passport application. [It's a different path of passport application than an in-person renewal application submitted at a US Passport Agency office.]

DS-11 applications get a separate sort than DS-82 applications. The sorting does have implications for processing times.

Applied for a new passport on USPS and send by mail a renewal on Dec 22/20 both with expedite service ($60)

>> Guys if you are renewed by mail and are in a rush to get it, use the USPS ( UPS and FedEx both send your envelope to USPS because the passports are shipped to a PO box which USP or FedEx can't deliver it and you will lose time and money doing that [yep I did it and regret]) and send your envelope by EXPRESS priority mail (is expensive but is the only one not affected by delays, hope I knew that before sending my passport u.u) because all the other service include priority or first class mail are expecting long delays<<

NEW PASSPORT
12/22/20 Applied in USPS for a new passport
12/29/2020 Received application
01/11/21 IN PROCESS

RENEWALL
12/22/20 Shipped by UPS which delivered it to USPS on 12/24/20 priority mail
Delayed by USPS since 12/22/20 for 13 days
Arrived at PA distribution center on 01/06/21 and Delayed again
01/11/21 Still delayed by USPS ( the passport agency still not received it !#@$#@)

I WILL POST UPDATES WHEN I GET THEM.

I don't know if someone else has the same issue with the USPS delay
I expect to travel on the second week of March and hope my passports arrive on time or I'll lose a lot of money :( , don't be like me and be aware of the USPS delays and the Passport agency delays.

Thanks for this info.

When you say send it by priority mail, are you talking about applying at USPS and then having a return priority envelope back to you?

Nope, I applied for a new passport at the USPS local office, they shipped it directly and did not give me tracking information.
I also send a renew passport application for a family member using UPS they delivered it to the USPS and they send it to PA as a priority mail, after I notice the delay I searched in the USPS site and find out that only Express mail service is not affected by delays, that's why I recommend other to use that instead of priority mail or first class. Hope this info is useful.

Application Mailed - 11/10/20 [regular service requested]
Received - 11/17/20
Approved - 1/20/21
Sent - 1/20/21
Received - 1/25/21
BTW, does the application locator number correspond to the passport number, or are the two separate?

Separate.

Processing seems to have sped up a lot.
Application Mailed - 12/21/20 [regular service requested]
Received by Passport Service - 12/26/20
Approved - 1/15/21
Received - 1/21/21
Surprisingly fast. Didn't expect it until March but no complaint.

^You jumped me in line!! :p

But good to know they're cranking them out.

October 13 - Mailed USPS Priority Service from NYC to TX Facility [Regular Service requested]
October 17 - Confirmed delivery by USPS
October 19 - Confirmed acceptance by Passport Service
October 20 - Check cashed
January 21 - Email confirmation that passport was approved and shipped from Tucson
January 22 - New passport received (13 weeks later)
January 29 - Old passport received (postmarked from Tucson)

Sounds like there was still quite a backlog in October but based on TerryK and drewguy 's experiences, it's gotten better since then!

My passport expired in dec 2019 and I got Costco photos in January 2020. I never applied to renew. Can I still apply to renew the expired passport or is this treated as if I’m just getting a new passport? And should I get new Costco photos taken or could I use the photos that are a year old?

According to the graphic here: Renew my U.S. passport (state.gov), I'd think you'd be able to renew (assuming a Dec. 2019 expiration means it was issued Dec. 2009).

This link: U.S. Passport Photos (state.gov) seems to indicate that you should get new photos, however.

You can renew a passport by mail if it was *issued* within the past 15 years, and was issued when you were at least 16 years old.

Per the instructions, the photo is supposed to be taken within 6 months prior to application.

Another data point from my mom's application, which was processed super quickly:

1/5/21 - Mailed from CA to TX processing center via Priority Mail, regular service requested
1/9/21 - Delivered to TX processing center
1/11/21 - Status changed to 'In Process'
1/15/21 - Status changed to 'Shipped'
1/19/21 - USPS picked up the passport from a facility in Arkansas
1/21/21 - Passport delivered in CA

16 days from mailing to receipt of new passport without requesting expedited service. I'm shocked it was processed this quickly!

Given Covid-19 test requirements in place or coming into place and given other kinds of restrictions coming into places overseas, the demand for travel abroad may have already peaked for at least this part of the quarter and the demand for passports may be dropping because of that too. Add in State staffing changes, and the more recent weeks may actually be the sweet spot for applying.

Was just coming on to see if ours is a one off - it seems not
Daughters passport - she had a previous passport - but kids can't do "renewals"

Dec 21, 2020 - USPS appointment - paid by money order - so I don't have a cash date
Jan 19, 2021 - New Passport in a priority mail envelope was delivered to our house

Looks like they have been working mad fast lately

I did NOT pay for any type of expidited or express - our potential trip is for Mid July 2021 - so I was willing to chance that we had enough time

USPS
 

I applied for my 5 years old passport at USPS as well. He has another 5 years old passport expiring in June. I applied 01/22/2021 paid no expedite since our trip is not until July. I used a personal check but didn’t pay for expedite or any additional service. How does USPS handle those applications? Do they ship applications to local facility?? I was wondering since they didn’t charge me for mailing the application to Passport agency. Perhaps this is why they are quick to process?

You should have paid $80 for the passport and $35 for the "Execution fee" the execution fee goes to the post office to cover their time and also for mailing etc.

https://travel.state.gov/content/dam...SG_JAN2021.pdf

Also - if you wrote 1 check, you probably wrote it for the combined fees and the fee for a money order which they filled out to the state dept. If you look at your receipt it should have the money order number. If you wrote 2 checks - one for the $80 and one for the $35, then they just send the $80 with the application and keep the $35 one at the post office.

I did pay the state department fee by check and $35 for execution fees on CC. Does USPs mail it priority mail to local facility or somewhere else?

Newborn passport
 

Hey guys,
Any of you have an idea if newborn baby passports application take longer?
expedited application with courier mail
USPS appointment was 1/08/21
In Process email 1/20/21

desperately trying to fly by 20th of February

a friend of mine has family in Europe. His newborn needed a passport in June 2020. Odd enough, he applied for a normal processing because they didn’t allow expedited at the time. Two weeks after, he called the 1800 number and told them his grandma was very sick and provided her doctor’s note. The next morning the local passport agency called him to come the day after to pick up his passport. He didn’t even pay for the expedite fee. If you don’t get it by 02/15 you should call and explain that you need an emergency appointment

They don't commonly take longer, assuming: the infant's photo is acceptable, the application has been properly completed along with the required supporting material, and handled as due from in-person submission and afterward. They often enough get back to the US Embassies/Consulates faster from the US than even straight-forward adult renewals. Domestically-submitted applications aren't exactly the same story, but there is no common issue with new passports for infants taking longer.

I would assume that typically the infant's passport would be back well before your anticipated flight date.

They definitely mail it somewhere - only the State Department can issue Passports - the USPS just collects the data - you can just as easily mail in the application yourself.
If you mail it in yourself there are several agencies that depending on what state you live in, you mail to a certain place. I do not know if those are the same places the USPS mails too.
I didn't look at the return address when my Daughter's passport was mailed to us.

Here are a list of places it could possibly be sent: https://travel.state.gov/content/tra...-agencies.html

I’m in Seattle and I believe if USPs mails it to the local Seattle passport agency then I will receive the passport very soon. Unless they mail to somewhere else.

Sent you a PM.