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 doesnt 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 doesnt match the list above, please add or correct.
Current US passport wait? (Merged Threads)
#481
Join Date: Jul 2019
Posts: 336
*(copied and pasted most of the announcement here because State.gov website has been hard to get into today, probably due to hundreds of thousands of people trying to figure out the status of the passports)
-----------------------
https://travel.state.gov/content/tra...-covid-19.html
Change in Passport Services Operations
Due to public health measures to limit the spread of COVID-19, effective March 20, 2020, we are only able to offer service for customers with a qualified life-or-death emergency and who need a passport for immediate international travel within 72 hours.
Life-or-death emergencies are serious illnesses, injuries, or deaths in your immediate family (e.g. parent, child, spouse, sibling, aunt, uncle, etc) that require you to travel outside the United States within 72 hours (3 days). You must provide:
-----------------------
https://travel.state.gov/content/tra...-covid-19.html
Change in Passport Services Operations
Due to public health measures to limit the spread of COVID-19, effective March 20, 2020, we are only able to offer service for customers with a qualified life-or-death emergency and who need a passport for immediate international travel within 72 hours.
Life-or-death emergencies are serious illnesses, injuries, or deaths in your immediate family (e.g. parent, child, spouse, sibling, aunt, uncle, etc) that require you to travel outside the United States within 72 hours (3 days). You must provide:
- A passport application with supporting documents
- Proof of the life-or-death emergency such as a death certificate, a statement from a mortuary, or a signed letter from a hospital or medical professional. Documents must be translated or in English.
- Proof of international travel (e.g. reservation, ticket, itinerary)
#482
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Austin, Texas
Programs: Airline nobody. Sad!
Posts: 26,062
Final update:
2/8/2020: Mailed renewal via Priority Mail (not express)
2/12/2020: Delivery to Processing Center in Irving, TX
2/14/2020: Check cashed
2/14/2020: Website shows application as received 2/13/2020 and processing
3/23/2020: Status updated to Approved
3/24/2020: Shipped with tracking number provided
3/26/2020: Arrived at residence via Priority Mail, old passport not returned quite yet (coming separately of course)
2/8/2020: Mailed renewal via Priority Mail (not express)
2/12/2020: Delivery to Processing Center in Irving, TX
2/14/2020: Check cashed
2/14/2020: Website shows application as received 2/13/2020 and processing
3/23/2020: Status updated to Approved
3/24/2020: Shipped with tracking number provided
3/26/2020: Arrived at residence via Priority Mail, old passport not returned quite yet (coming separately of course)
Last edited by TheBOSman; Mar 26, 2020 at 4:50 pm
#483


Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 254
Sent passport a while back
i sent my passport and my son's passport in mid February. My son's was processed at USPS and I sent mine independently of his. I see from the timelines posted above that most who sent theirs in early February or late January using the normal processing service have received their renewed passports. Mine and my son's are still pending.
I know we can't travel but I do not like the fact that they will hold on to the passports for who knows for how long. Anyone sent theirs in February using normal processing and received an update on their application?
I know we can't travel but I do not like the fact that they will hold on to the passports for who knows for how long. Anyone sent theirs in February using normal processing and received an update on their application?
#484
Join Date: Jul 2019
Posts: 336
i sent my passport and my son's passport in mid February. My son's was processed at USPS and I sent mine independently of his. I see from the timelines posted above that most who sent theirs in early February or late January using the normal processing service have received their renewed passports. Mine and my son's are still pending.
I know we can't travel but I do not like the fact that they will hold on to the passports for who knows for how long. Anyone sent theirs in February using normal processing and received an update on their application?
I know we can't travel but I do not like the fact that they will hold on to the passports for who knows for how long. Anyone sent theirs in February using normal processing and received an update on their application?
#485
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: SFO
Programs: HH Gold, CC Gold
Posts: 292
2/12/2020: Mailed renewal via Priority Mail (not express)
2/14/2020: Delivery to Processing Center in Irving, TX
2/19/2020: Check cashed
3/27/2020: Email showing status to Approved (est 4/4 passport arrival)
3/28/2020: Email showing Renewal received on 2/18
3/28/2020: Shipped From AZ with tracking number from USPS Informed delivery email
3/30/2020: New passport received via Priority Mail, waiting for old passport
6/19/2020: Old passport received via regular mail
2/14/2020: Delivery to Processing Center in Irving, TX
2/19/2020: Check cashed
3/27/2020: Email showing status to Approved (est 4/4 passport arrival)
3/28/2020: Email showing Renewal received on 2/18
3/28/2020: Shipped From AZ with tracking number from USPS Informed delivery email
3/30/2020: New passport received via Priority Mail, waiting for old passport
6/19/2020: Old passport received via regular mail
Last edited by lmwong1977; Jun 19, 2020 at 5:47 pm
#486




Join Date: Sep 2011
Programs: Delta DM, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 1,515
Not in my case, fastest renewal I've ever had (routine service):
3/18/2020: Mailed renewal package via Priority Mail
3/20/2020: Delivery to Processing Center in Philadelphia
3/24/2020: Check cashed
3/26/2020: Website shows application as processing (currently processing in 6-8 weeks)
3/28/2020: Status changed to "approved" and e-mail sent stating passport shipped with tracking #. Expected delivery on or around 4/4/2020
3/31/2020: Received passport
So a total of 13 days from dropping this off at the PO until receipt of the new passport.
3/18/2020: Mailed renewal package via Priority Mail
3/20/2020: Delivery to Processing Center in Philadelphia
3/24/2020: Check cashed
3/26/2020: Website shows application as processing (currently processing in 6-8 weeks)
3/28/2020: Status changed to "approved" and e-mail sent stating passport shipped with tracking #. Expected delivery on or around 4/4/2020
3/31/2020: Received passport
So a total of 13 days from dropping this off at the PO until receipt of the new passport.
#487
Join Date: Jul 2019
Posts: 336
Not in my case, fastest renewal I've ever had (routine service):
3/18/2020: Mailed renewal package via Priority Mail
3/20/2020: Delivery to Processing Center in Philadelphia
3/24/2020: Check cashed
3/26/2020: Website shows application as processing (currently processing in 6-8 weeks)
3/28/2020: Status changed to "approved" and e-mail sent stating passport shipped with tracking #. Expected delivery on or around 4/4/2020
3/31/2020: Received passport
So a total of 13 days from dropping this off at the PO until receipt of the new passport.
3/18/2020: Mailed renewal package via Priority Mail
3/20/2020: Delivery to Processing Center in Philadelphia
3/24/2020: Check cashed
3/26/2020: Website shows application as processing (currently processing in 6-8 weeks)
3/28/2020: Status changed to "approved" and e-mail sent stating passport shipped with tracking #. Expected delivery on or around 4/4/2020
3/31/2020: Received passport
So a total of 13 days from dropping this off at the PO until receipt of the new passport.
where is my passport!!!???
#488




Join Date: Sep 2011
Programs: Delta DM, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 1,515
#489




Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: WAS (DCA, BWI, IAD)
Programs: AAdvantage EXP, Hyatt Diamond, SPG Gold, Hilton Gold
Posts: 116
#490
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Watchlisted by the prejudiced, en route to purgatory
Programs: Just Say No to Fleecing and Blacklisting
Posts: 102,077
Mail-in passport renewal applications to US embassies/consulates in the Schengen area were resulting in the passports getting back to applicants within about two weeks during March. That’s marginally worse than before in parts but very good for the circumstances, with the bulk of the slow-down in these parts being the mail-side at times.
Last edited by GUWonder; Apr 1, 2020 at 8:00 pm
#491


Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Oakland, CA
Posts: 1,247
I'm not sure what to do in my situation.
I have travel currently scheduled for July 1 and my passport expires in July 27. I understand that there are no renewals now due to Covid. Should I still submit my renewal to "get in line" or should I wait until they open up and submit it then? Thanks.
I have travel currently scheduled for July 1 and my passport expires in July 27. I understand that there are no renewals now due to Covid. Should I still submit my renewal to "get in line" or should I wait until they open up and submit it then? Thanks.
#492
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Watchlisted by the prejudiced, en route to purgatory
Programs: Just Say No to Fleecing and Blacklisting
Posts: 102,077
For now at least, US passport applications will no longer be accepted for processing by the State Department in the US unless it’s a life and death emergency:
https://edition.cnn.com/travel/artic...ies/index.html
https://edition.cnn.com/travel/artic...ies/index.html
#493
Join Date: Jul 2019
Posts: 336
For now at least, US passport applications will no longer be accepted for processing by the State Department in the US unless its a life and death emergency:
https://edition.cnn.com/travel/artic...ies/index.html
https://edition.cnn.com/travel/artic...ies/index.html
Post office delivered my routine application the passport processing center in Philadelphia at 8:47AM on March 18.
State dept passport application status website shows that they received my application on March 19. Sure hope my application was in the one of the piles that made the cut-off.
#494




Join Date: Sep 2011
Programs: Delta DM, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 1,515
I'm not sure what to do in my situation.
I have travel currently scheduled for July 1 and my passport expires in July 27. I understand that there are no renewals now due to Covid. Should I still submit my renewal to "get in line" or should I wait until they open up and submit it then? Thanks.
I have travel currently scheduled for July 1 and my passport expires in July 27. I understand that there are no renewals now due to Covid. Should I still submit my renewal to "get in line" or should I wait until they open up and submit it then? Thanks.
#495
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 222
For now at least, US passport applications will no longer be accepted for processing by the State Department in the US unless its a life and death emergency:
https://edition.cnn.com/travel/artic...ies/index.html
https://edition.cnn.com/travel/artic...ies/index.html
https://travel.state.gov/content/tra...ort/renew.html



