Pretty much the same timeline and passport status updates as you got.

Thanks for sharing this link. Now I know why my status didn't change during April and May. But they did manage to exceed my expectations and cash the check immediately upon receiving my application:)

Update: I'm now in the system where you can check passport status and now listed as IN PROCESS--8 June 2020. Check cashed 2 June 2020. Mailed in 26 May 2020. Application Status: In Process

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we cannot provide an update on when you will receive your passport and the return of your citizenship documents until we resume normal operations and staff return to our agencies and centers.

While we continue to accept applications, process your payments, and safeguard your forms, we cannot update your passport status at this time. For more information, read our COVID-19 update.

We typically travel to Mexico to visit the family for Xmas but have passports expiring before the end of the year - any consensus here of whether it is better to wait or go ahead and submit now?

anyone received the passport applied during Mar-2020?

I would submit in the applications sooner than later, but I would also still retain enough documents to apply for a new passport on an emergency basis if need be later. I am operating on the assumption that there will be stuff massively delayed and that process failures are going to increase in the weeks and months ahead.

I just happened to check the website. The status said shipped. I did not receive email notification.

Finally some senators are starting to ask why the state department can't get back to work. I've been back to work in China for 3 months now but the consulate is still not operating at full staffing? Why not? Never really impressed with them as a long term expat but this is just a joke. Passports are essential documents for so many people for so many different reasons, it's not just about taking that fun trip to Mexico. To have shut it down like they did is a big disservice to the American public and I hope there is some heck to pay.

Yeah, my partner is running into this problem trying to obtain an F1 student visa for the US. The rest of his country has been back to work for sometime, but the US Embassy is still only available to US citizens on an emergency basis only.

Call senators please
 

On Monday, my friend called and they confirmed the Philadelphia office remains closed and gave no indication when it might open. Her renewal was sent in February and my renewal was sent in March.

I don’t understand why passport renewals cannot be done at home on a secure computer. No original documents (except the old passport) are submitted. Yes, they have our personal details, but those could be stolen by photographing the application with a cellphone in the office if someone really wanted to steal our identities. That’s a ridiculous reason!

Someone posted the ABC News link above “With over 1.6 million applications backlogged, Republican senators urge State Dept. to resume passport processing.” I urge everyone to join me: call your senators weekly to put pressure on.

Ironically, I also called the White House given Trump’s vocal cries to open, but no one is answering the phones and I couldn’t even leave a voicemail!

thanks for the advice!

Attached is a letter from Cong. Connolly to State about the backlog.

Well, they're restarting the processing of passports!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...3b2_story.html

Took them 3 months to realize:

"In an email sent Monday to Special Issuance Agency employees, Assistant Director Sandra LaBarge said State Department now considers passport issuance an “essential function of the mission,” and told employees their positions were now mission-critical. The guidance doesn’t apply to contractors."

Finally some good news:

"Risch said the current backlog of 1.7 million applications amounts to a “slight increase” compared to what the agency would handle in a month. The bureau, he added, can scale up operations to process several hundred thousand applications per week."

Source: Fed News Network

- 18 million issued passports / year, 1.5 million / month
- Backlog 1.7 million applications
- Additional 9000 new applications / day, 180000 / month, or roughly 12% of the monthly workload at normal times

They have nearly 10% of their yearly workload sitting in the storage, getting 180k new applications a month while 50% employees are at work and call that a "slight increase in workload".