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)
#661
Join Date: Jul 2020
Posts: 16
What is really messing with my head at the moment is that people have been applying in July and getting their passports in 8-10 days. The government line of 'first in first out' is a total sham. If some states are struggling with processing they should be shipped elsewhere and everything should be given priority according to application date. But then I'm biased because Dallas is STILL not in Phase 1 and we have been waiting close to 19 weeks now and feel like mushrooms.
Here's the lastest collated data for what it's worth:
#662
Join Date: Jul 2020
Posts: 16
If we look at the above figures in the last 5 weeks alone they have processed 1.1m passports (total of passports issued column). The number of passport applications in that same period is 655,000. That means there shouldn't be anything outstanding for March, April nor most of May as they only have around 400,000 outstanding from end of June and that figure is probably the grand total of applications for June itself if we conservatively say there were 100,000 applications per week over that period.
#663
Join Date: May 2019
Programs: British Airways Executive Club
Posts: 26
This post has been very helpful and I'll add my wife's timeline in hopes that it will help others also waiting.
April 20, 2020 - Documents received by the processing center in Irving, TX
April 22, 2020 - Check cashed
June 8, 2020 - Status updated to "In-Process"
July 30, 2020 - Status updated to "Approved"
July 31, 2020 - Status updated to "Shipped"
Pending delivery date is August 8, 2020.
So that was 101 days from when they received to approval.
April 20, 2020 - Documents received by the processing center in Irving, TX
April 22, 2020 - Check cashed
June 8, 2020 - Status updated to "In-Process"
July 30, 2020 - Status updated to "Approved"
July 31, 2020 - Status updated to "Shipped"
Pending delivery date is August 8, 2020.
So that was 101 days from when they received to approval.
#664
Join Date: Jul 2020
Posts: 2
UPDATE
I applied by mail on 03/27/20 from San Francisco, check cleared on 03/30th. statut in process since 04/27, On July 27th received an e-mail "statut in process" ? on 28th 2nd other e-mail " shipped " 07/30th 3rd email" statut approved" so 4 months door to door.
I applied by mail on 03/27/20 from San Francisco, check cleared on 03/30th. statut in process since 04/27, On July 27th received an e-mail "statut in process" ? on 28th 2nd other e-mail " shipped " 07/30th 3rd email" statut approved" so 4 months door to door.
#665
Join Date: Dec 2015
Posts: 286
I think Dave nailed it. Vacation season. Doesn't matter that they have been on enforced vacation for months. Hopefully the needle will be pushed further forward next week.
What is really messing with my head at the moment is that people have been applying in July and getting their passports in 8-10 days. The government line of 'first in first out' is a total sham. If some states are struggling with processing they should be shipped elsewhere and everything should be given priority according to application date. But then I'm biased because Dallas is STILL not in Phase 1 and we have been waiting close to 19 weeks now and feel like mushrooms.
Here's the lastest collated data for what it's worth:
What is really messing with my head at the moment is that people have been applying in July and getting their passports in 8-10 days. The government line of 'first in first out' is a total sham. If some states are struggling with processing they should be shipped elsewhere and everything should be given priority according to application date. But then I'm biased because Dallas is STILL not in Phase 1 and we have been waiting close to 19 weeks now and feel like mushrooms.
Here's the lastest collated data for what it's worth:
#666
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
Blaming State’s staff vacations for the recent weeks passport numbers misses the boat on this. There is a lot more to this situation than just staffing numbers at one location.
First in and first out for applications has never been perfect and still isn’t; and the cost to perfect things in this regard would probably be followed with hiked up user fees. And anyone following what is up with fees from DHS should be concerned about what may be done with State’s fees, unless you don’t really care about a 30-100% increase in fees from State too.
I have gotten no indication that the average July applicant for ordinary passports within the US has gotten their passport back in 8-10 days.
First in and first out for applications has never been perfect and still isn’t; and the cost to perfect things in this regard would probably be followed with hiked up user fees. And anyone following what is up with fees from DHS should be concerned about what may be done with State’s fees, unless you don’t really care about a 30-100% increase in fees from State too.
I have gotten no indication that the average July applicant for ordinary passports within the US has gotten their passport back in 8-10 days.
#667
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 5,630
A new wrinkle is the recent postal service delays.
My application took 9 days to get to Texas and finally arrived today. I had naively decided not to pay for 1-2 Day Express since we are not far away and normal delivery time is 2 days.
Just to state what everyone here presumably knows, the address is a PO Box, so there is no current alternative to USPS unless one chooses to lie about a life-or-death emergency. So for now, I strongly advise using Express, at least you'll get money back if it's delayed!
Question: when they send the applications out to various regional passport offices for processing, do they use US mail? I hope not!
My application took 9 days to get to Texas and finally arrived today. I had naively decided not to pay for 1-2 Day Express since we are not far away and normal delivery time is 2 days.
Just to state what everyone here presumably knows, the address is a PO Box, so there is no current alternative to USPS unless one chooses to lie about a life-or-death emergency. So for now, I strongly advise using Express, at least you'll get money back if it's delayed!
Question: when they send the applications out to various regional passport offices for processing, do they use US mail? I hope not!
Last edited by SeeBuyFly; Aug 3, 2020 at 3:50 pm
#668
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: GUM
Programs: OWE, *Gold, STE+, Globalist, Titanium, Spire, Diamond
Posts: 550
July 17: Applied at Guam DMV
July 31: Old Passport Sent from Honolulu
July 31: New Passport Sent from Tucson
August 3: Old Passport Received
August 4: New Passport Received
Still waiting on Passport Card.
I was informed by Guam DMV that they were already back to standard processing times on the day I applied. Quite impressed given the current backlog.
July 31: Old Passport Sent from Honolulu
July 31: New Passport Sent from Tucson
August 3: Old Passport Received
August 4: New Passport Received
Still waiting on Passport Card.
I was informed by Guam DMV that they were already back to standard processing times on the day I applied. Quite impressed given the current backlog.
#669
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: WAS
Programs: enjoyed being warm spit for a few years on CO/UA but now nothing :(
Posts: 2,503
July 17: Applied at Guam DMV
July 31: Old Passport Sent from Honolulu
July 31: New Passport Sent from Tucson
August 3: Old Passport Received
August 4: New Passport Received
Still waiting on Passport Card.
I was informed by Guam DMV that they were already back to standard processing times on the day I applied. Quite impressed given the current backlog.
July 31: Old Passport Sent from Honolulu
July 31: New Passport Sent from Tucson
August 3: Old Passport Received
August 4: New Passport Received
Still waiting on Passport Card.
I was informed by Guam DMV that they were already back to standard processing times on the day I applied. Quite impressed given the current backlog.
#670
Join Date: Jul 2020
Posts: 16
Quote: I filed mine June 3rd, they received it June 7th, and I received my passport July 20th. So it took almost 7 weeks total for me!
Quote: My boyfriend & his mom sent their in beginning of June/end of May & they got theirs back two weeks ago. They are NOT doing first in first out
Quote: I applied for a new passport in Atlanta May 1st, and I received mine July 9th
Quote: I applied June 9th, and I just got mine in the mail today on July 30th. I live in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Quote: I put in application on 7/11/20 and I just got my passport today (7/18/20) I don’t know why it was so fast!?!?
Last edited by Prince Keldar; Aug 5, 2020 at 7:45 am
#671
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 5,630
On the "Passport operations in response to COVID-19" page, where the table of stats is posted, there is a new footnote:
Well, OK, so what? What it does not say is how many passports were processed each summer week in past years. Same backlog but slower processing means longer wait.
Currently they are processing about 200,000 per week. How can one look up how many were processed per week in Aug 2019?
(I did look at the annual stats, and for fiscal 2019 divided by 52 weeks it comes out to about 350,000 per week, i.e. almost twice the speed as this year. So passport issuance should take approximately twice as long this year as last year.)
*In prior years, the average number of passport applications in process during our busy season has routinely exceeded 1 million.
Currently they are processing about 200,000 per week. How can one look up how many were processed per week in Aug 2019?
(I did look at the annual stats, and for fiscal 2019 divided by 52 weeks it comes out to about 350,000 per week, i.e. almost twice the speed as this year. So passport issuance should take approximately twice as long this year as last year.)
Last edited by SeeBuyFly; Aug 5, 2020 at 5:14 pm
#672
Join Date: Jul 2020
Posts: 16
Just like I know that people have had their passports back from Charleston already who had applied in April whilst our applications which date back to 20th March have yet to be processed by that very same office.
#673
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 5,630
The next week (July 30-Aug. 5) numbers are 139.000 / 1.06 million / 213,000
It is interesting that output minus input (passports issued minus applications received) should equal the week-to-week drop in the backlog (Passports Awaiting Issuance) but it never does. The drop in backlog is significantly larger in most weeks. Maybe many applications are rejected...
It is interesting that output minus input (passports issued minus applications received) should equal the week-to-week drop in the backlog (Passports Awaiting Issuance) but it never does. The drop in backlog is significantly larger in most weeks. Maybe many applications are rejected...
#674
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2002
Location: NYC, USA
Programs: AA EXP 3MM, Lifetime Platinum, Marriott Titanium, HH Gold
Posts: 10,967
The next week (July 30-Aug. 5) numbers are 139.000 / 1.06 million / 213,000
It is interesting that output minus input (passports issued minus applications received) should equal the week-to-week drop in the backlog (Passports Awaiting Issuance) but it never does. The drop in backlog is significantly larger in most weeks. Maybe many applications are rejected...
It is interesting that output minus input (passports issued minus applications received) should equal the week-to-week drop in the backlog (Passports Awaiting Issuance) but it never does. The drop in backlog is significantly larger in most weeks. Maybe many applications are rejected...
#675
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 5,630
Strange.