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Current US passport wait? (Merged Threads)

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Old Mar 1, 2022, 6:35 am
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
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 Sep 26, 2019 | 7:58 am
  #421  
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Originally Posted by naumank
Does it take longer to renew a passport than applying for a new one? (Regular processing)
Going by history: no, at least not generally.
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Old Sep 26, 2019 | 10:49 am
  #422  
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Join Date: Jan 2017
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Expedited service for non-expired renewal of passport book, due to name change by marriage:

9/17: App sent via USPS from Oregon via Priority Mail
9/19: Received for processing
9/20: Application Status: In Process
9/23: Check was cashed
9/24: Application Status: Approved
9/27: Delivery of Passport Scheduled

Altogether a 10-day turnaround. Really quick.
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Old Sep 27, 2019 | 2:38 pm
  #423  
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Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: SF Bay Area
Posts: 320
Routine renewal service for non-expired passport

9/16 Sent via USPS Priority Mail
9/23 Received for processing
9/24 Approved and Shipped
9/27 Delivered

That was unexpectedly fast.
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Old Oct 1, 2019 | 4:16 pm
  #424  
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Join Date: Sep 2019
Posts: 9
Received an email today stating my passport renewal had been approved and would be printing. Two hours later I received another email, stating that they had received it on September 13th and that they were now reviewing my application?! My husband also received the approval email and has already received a shipping notice. Does this mean there was a problem with the photo, or am I panicking too soon?
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Old Oct 2, 2019 | 1:31 am
  #425  
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Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: FRA
Posts: 230
First time and renewal at Frankfurt consulate

Not sure if this belongs here, but I applied for my son's CRBA and passport at the Frankfurt consulate in September and 8 days later received both (from the consulate), which means they received them from the US at least a couple of days prior. I'd also renewed my passport card in person and received that too. Super fast.
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Old Oct 2, 2019 | 3:58 am
  #426  
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Originally Posted by cafeconleche
Not sure if this belongs here, but I applied for my son's CRBA and passport at the Frankfurt consulate in September and 8 days later received both (from the consulate), which means they received them from the US at least a couple of days prior. I'd also renewed my passport card in person and received that too. Super fast.
4-14 calendar days is normal for CRBA + first US passport to be back for a young US citizen child when it comes to ACS in the EU. It's been this way for years, and no expedite fee is applicable for such turns. The variance in processing times has been lower than it is for domestic US applications, and there are multiple reasons for that.

The most common major delays experienced for CRBA+first US passport tend to be if the parental applicants decide to not do a pick-up in person and the domestic/regional mail courier service messes up/slows things down or if the parental applicants are waiting to be contacted to know when to come to pick-up the CRBA+passport in person. If someone who does a CRBA+first passport for a child in the EU and doesn't get it back within 14 business days, I would take it as a sign that something went wrong somewhere.
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Old Oct 3, 2019 | 10:14 am
  #427  
 
Join Date: Oct 2019
Posts: 1
First time passport - Regular Service

9/09: Application submitted at local circuit court in Virginia.

9/13: Passport application received.

9/16: E-mail update: Application Status: In Process.

9/17: Check was cashed.

9/30: E-mail Update: Application Status: Approved.

9/30: Passport Shipped, expected delivery 10/07.

10/03: Passport Delivered.

10/06: Personal Documents Delivered.

Last edited by Tessa26; Oct 6, 2019 at 9:46 pm
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Old Oct 8, 2019 | 4:25 pm
  #428  
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: PDX
Posts: 908
I renewed my passport by mail and requested routine processing:

* Sent the application (DS-82) via USPS on Aug 22
* The passport center received it on Aug 26
* New passport shipped on Sep 18
* Arrived on Sep 21

The new passport had a picture defect, so I submitted DS-5504 (also routine processing):

* Sent the application (DS-5504) via USPS on Sep 24
* The passport center received it on Sep 30
* New passport shipped on Oct 4
* Arrived on Oct 7

It seems that they process DS-5504 much faster than DS-82 (5 days vs 22 days). Still, even regular service DS-82 is significantly faster than 6-8 weeks that they mention on their website.
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Knig is offline  
Old Oct 9, 2019 | 10:09 am
  #429  
 
Join Date: Oct 2019
Posts: 1
First time passport application for adult

10/01 -
Passport application processed at USPS with expedited service and return mailing. I did not pay for faster delivery to passport agency. I also used postal money order for fees.
10/04 - email from state dept
Application received and is currently processing.
10/08 - emails from state dept
3:52 pm - Application approved and sent for printing.
6:25 pm - Passport shipped with tracking number for priority express shipping. Delivery on or before 10/11.

10 days end to end.
itfc is offline  
Old Oct 9, 2019 | 5:50 pm
  #430  
 
Join Date: Oct 2019
Posts: 1
Data points from 2016, 2018 & 2019

2019 Oct First time Passport / Card - Adult
Fee - $140+ $60 + $35
Called to change from Regular to Expedite

Sep 27 - Applied @ Post Office Reston VA
Oct 02 - In Process Email update
Oct 03 - Amount withdrawn From bank as ACH
Oct 08 - Expedited the application / CC charged
Oct 09 - Passport approved / printed / shipped
Oct 10 - Passport book received
Oct 12 - Citizenship Evidence returned


2018 Feb - Regular processing - Infant 2
Fee - $95 + $25
Feb 01 - Applied at Clerk of Court, FL
Feb 12 - Approved and printed
Feb 16 - Passport book Received
Feb 18 - Passport card received
Feb 20 - Citizenship evidence received


2016 Aug - Regular processing - Infant 1
Fee - $95 +$25
Aug 03 - Applied at Clerk of Court, FL
Aug 05 - Processing / locator update
Aug 12 - Approved and printed
Aug 15 - Passport book received
Aug 18 - Passport card / Citizenship evidence received

Last edited by RESTful116; Oct 12, 2019 at 10:39 am
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Old Oct 15, 2019 | 9:46 am
  #431  
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: PDX
Programs: UA Gold, SPG Gold, Club Carlson Gold, IHG Platinum, Marriott Gold
Posts: 8
First time passport application for infant:

9/24: Applied in person at Post Office with regular service
9/27: Email from State Department regarding application receipt
10/7: Email from State Department regarding passport approval
10/7: Email from State Department regarding passport shipped
10/10: Received passport via Priority Mail
10/12: Citizenship evidence returned
PDXKelly is offline  
Old Oct 17, 2019 | 11:46 pm
  #432  
 
Join Date: Apr 2015
Posts: 1
Regular renewal application for non-expired passport.

9/20: Application mailed via USPS certified mail from Los Angeles to Irving, TX National Passport Processing Center.
9/24: USPS delivery confirmed to TX
9/25: Application status shown as In Process on state department website.
9/26: Passport fee debited from my bank account.
10/17: Email from state department stating passport approved and shipped via USPS priority mail from Tucson, AZ with expected delivery date on 10/19.
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Old Oct 19, 2019 | 10:32 am
  #433  
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Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: DTW
Programs: Alaska, Delta, Southwest
Posts: 1,731
My mother in law applied for a first passport on 9/26 and received it this past Tuesday (10/15). We thought there might be an issue since she was born in Germany (at a U.S. Army hospital to U.S. parents) but we were able to find the documents she needed. I was impressed it was that quick.
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Old Oct 21, 2019 | 11:10 am
  #434  
 
Join Date: Oct 2019
Location: New York City
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 3
Super helpful thread. Adding my data for an expedited application, first-time adult passport after naturalization. A highly impressive 10 days from mailing the application to getting the approval, which includes 4 weekend days in the middle!

Friday October 11
Application made at USPS in New York City.

Wednesday October 16
Email from Department of State confirming receipt.

Thursday October 17
Check cashed (via ACH).

Monday October 21
Email from Department of State confirming approval . USPS overnight selected, so am expecting this on October 22 or 23 at the latest.
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Old Oct 21, 2019 | 5:30 pm
  #435  
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Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: USA
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Posts: 2,083
Renewal
Mailed October 2 & Delivered October 4.
Received October 21.
"Application Status: Not Found" U.S. Passport Application Status
under 3 weeks start to finish
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