Mar 1, 2022, 6:35 am
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 doesn’t 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 doesn’t match the list above, please add or correct.
Current US passport wait? (Merged Threads)
Jun 7, 2020, 5:11 pm
#556
Join Date: Dec 2011
Programs: United, Delta
Posts: 55
Submitted at my local Post Office in mid-March (I think the 13th)
Received an email on June 5th that says: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.
With a link to the Safely Getting Back To Work For You page cited above.
Don’t have any foreign travel planned, but hope too some time late this year, early next year conditions permitting.
Received an email on June 5th that says: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.
With a link to the Safely Getting Back To Work For You page cited above.
Don’t have any foreign travel planned, but hope too some time late this year, early next year conditions permitting.
Jun 7, 2020, 5:32 pm
#557
Join Date: Dec 2011
Programs: United, Delta
Posts: 55
The backlog for application processing involves 1.6+ million applications and counting.
I can’t recall a passport backlog as big as this ever in the US.
Less than 27,000 passports were issued in April and May:
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/16-m...ry?id=71046544
And most of the sub-27k issued passports were not your average applicant looking to do a “non-essential” personal trip.
The backlog is, if anything, being very slowly and haphazardly handled at times, so some of you may have some luck. The bad news is that new applications are apparently jumping up faster, and they are adding piles of applications to the backlog.
.
I can’t recall a passport backlog as big as this ever in the US.
Less than 27,000 passports were issued in April and May:
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/16-m...ry?id=71046544
And most of the sub-27k issued passports were not your average applicant looking to do a “non-essential” personal trip.
The backlog is, if anything, being very slowly and haphazardly handled at times, so some of you may have some luck. The bad news is that new applications are apparently jumping up faster, and they are adding piles of applications to the backlog.
.
Jun 8, 2020, 2:21 am
#558
Join Date: Dec 2010
Programs: DL Plat. Medallion
Posts: 61
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.
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.
I should have probably waited.
Update from my previous replies: I mailed in application to Irving on 26 May 2020. Today 2 June 2020, I noticed my check has been cashed so we know they at least opened the envelope. I am not yet in the system where you can check the status of the passport yet.
Update from my previous replies: I mailed in application to Irving on 26 May 2020. Today 2 June 2020, I noticed my check has been cashed so we know they at least opened the envelope. I am not yet in the system where you can check the status of the passport yet.
Jun 8, 2020, 8:02 am
#559
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: WAS
Programs: enjoyed being warm spit for a few years on CO/UA but now nothing :(
Posts: 2,507
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?
Jun 8, 2020, 4:21 pm
#561
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Watchlisted by the prejudiced, en route to purgatory
Programs: Just Say No to Fleecing and Blacklisting
Posts: 102,095
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.
Jun 8, 2020, 7:06 pm
#562
Join Date: Mar 2020
Location: Illinois
Posts: 6
I just happened to check the website. The status said shipped. I did not receive email notification.
Jun 8, 2020, 9:40 pm
#563
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 10,224
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.
Jun 8, 2020, 9:53 pm
#564
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: NYC/PSP
Programs: AA EXP, A3 Gold
Posts: 4,106
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.
Jun 9, 2020, 12:16 am
#565
Join Date: May 2020
Posts: 6
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!
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!
Jun 9, 2020, 8:19 am
#566
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: WAS
Programs: enjoyed being warm spit for a few years on CO/UA but now nothing :(
Posts: 2,507
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.
Last edited by Section 107; Jun 9, 2020 at 8:49 am
Jun 11, 2020, 2:52 pm
#568
Moderator: Avianca, Travel Photography, Travel Technology & USA
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Far western edge of the La-La Land City limits
Programs: Emeritus VIP Fromins Deli Encino grandfathered successor program - UA MM & HH Diamond
Posts: 3,729
This long standing thread is intended for informational purposes. While there are a lot of unfortunate reasons that passport processing is currently suspended, this in not an Omni topic. Hence recent postings have been removed, which have a personal political twist or are excessively snarky. Reference to a legitimate external news source that may have a political orientation on the subject, may be considered.
Jun 12, 2020, 4:24 pm
#569
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Washington, DC
Programs: UA 1K 1MM, AA, DL
Posts: 7,418
Well, they're restarting the processing of passports!
https://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...3b2_story.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...3b2_story.html
Jun 13, 2020, 11:25 pm
#570
Join Date: May 2020
Posts: 4
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".
"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".
Last edited by Ika2276; Jun 13, 2020 at 11:51 pm