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)
Sep 25, 2020, 11:31 am
#751
Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 1,535
Well slight followup. Friend's husband's passport still shows "in process". They called and it's in the New Orleans processing center. Wife got hers last Friday. I'm wondering if the hurricane's/storms have delayed processing at that facility? Fingers crossed it arrives next week, but doubtful at this point.
Sep 25, 2020, 11:53 am
#752
Join Date: Sep 2020
Posts: 2
They received my passport 8/4. On 8/5, they reported 1.06 million passports awaiting issuance. The total number of passports issued in the seven subsequent weeks (i.e. the sum of the number of issued passports reported for each of those seven weeks) is 1.2 million. So my passport should have been issued already, right? Right?
No.
Also today's weekly report shows them falling behind---more applications received than passports issued. And far fewer passports being issued in recent weeks than were issued in July through mid-August.
No.
Also today's weekly report shows them falling behind---more applications received than passports issued. And far fewer passports being issued in recent weeks than were issued in July through mid-August.
Sep 25, 2020, 7:59 pm
#753
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 5,631
They received my passport 8/4. On 8/5, they reported 1.06 million passports awaiting issuance. The total number of passports issued in the seven subsequent weeks (i.e. the sum of the number of issued passports reported for each of those seven weeks) is 1.2 million. So my passport should have been issued already, right? Right?
No.
Also today's weekly report shows them falling behind---more applications received than passports issued. And far fewer passports being issued in recent weeks than were issued in July through mid-August.
No.
Also today's weekly report shows them falling behind---more applications received than passports issued. And far fewer passports being issued in recent weeks than were issued in July through mid-August.
Sep 26, 2020, 1:53 am
#754
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
Which post was that, SeeBuyFly?
Expedited service for a fee is currently available for “life or death emergencies” for applications in the US.
Expedited service is also available to and provided for some other applications, in which case the expedite service is being done so without a fee.
Expedited service for a fee for general applications is what remains currently unavailable.
https://travel.state.gov/content/tra.../get-fast.html
You are correct that it is slightly more nuanced than I paraphrased. "Expedited" service is currently unavailable, however "life-or-death emergencies" service remains available.
You are correct that it is slightly more nuanced than I paraphrased. "Expedited" service is currently unavailable, however "life-or-death emergencies" service remains available.
Expedited service is also available to and provided for some other applications, in which case the expedite service is being done so without a fee.
Expedited service for a fee for general applications is what remains currently unavailable.
Last edited by GUWonder; Sep 26, 2020 at 2:01 am
Sep 27, 2020, 6:37 pm
#756
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Living the dream in Antigua and the nightmare in Florida
Programs: AA PLAT 2MM, *A Gold, WN detractor
Posts: 49,858
For an adult renewal application sent on or about August 4th or 5th, I would expect that it would most commonly be back by at least the end of this coming week if not even before. But that is based on applications that get to State for processing. With mail in the US being way messed up, such renewal application by mail is at the mercy not just of what State does but also with all that is going on with the USPS as of late.
Sep 28, 2020, 11:15 am
#757
Join Date: May 2018
Location: Colorado (anywhere between DEN DMM BAH)
Programs: United MileagePlus, SkyMiles, AAdvantage, NEXUS
Posts: 3,030
New update today:
You can now apply for routine service and expect to receive a passport in 10-12 weeks. You also have the option of paying an additional $60 for expedited service to receive your passport in 4-6 weeks.
These processing times apply to applications submitted by mail and in-person at an acceptance facility in your community. Most acceptance facilities such as post offices, clerks of court, and libraries are open and accepting passport applications. We encourage you to apply by mail when possible because it is a safe, contactless option for certain services. See question #3 for more details.
All of our agencies and centers are processing passport applications. To prevent the spread of COVID-19 and protect our workforce and customers, we currently are limiting in-person appointments at our agencies and centers to customers who are traveling internationally in the next 72 hours (3 business days) due to a life-or-death emergency. We plan to offer limited appointments for customers who have urgent international travel for reasons other than a life-or-death emergency as soon as resources allow us to do so.
These processing times apply to applications submitted by mail and in-person at an acceptance facility in your community. Most acceptance facilities such as post offices, clerks of court, and libraries are open and accepting passport applications. We encourage you to apply by mail when possible because it is a safe, contactless option for certain services. See question #3 for more details.
All of our agencies and centers are processing passport applications. To prevent the spread of COVID-19 and protect our workforce and customers, we currently are limiting in-person appointments at our agencies and centers to customers who are traveling internationally in the next 72 hours (3 business days) due to a life-or-death emergency. We plan to offer limited appointments for customers who have urgent international travel for reasons other than a life-or-death emergency as soon as resources allow us to do so.
Sep 28, 2020, 3:42 pm
#758
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Living the dream in Antigua and the nightmare in Florida
Programs: AA PLAT 2MM, *A Gold, WN detractor
Posts: 49,858
Fat lot of good that does those of us who are already waiting. And waiting. And waiting. I can see where the expedited service and the urgent but no life or death is going to push us down the stack. 
Sep 28, 2020, 5:05 pm
#760
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: RBKC
Programs: AA EXP and Eurostar Carte Blanche
Posts: 3,850
6. I have a pending application. Can I upgrade it for expeditied service?
Yes. We now offer routine service in 10-12 weeks and expedited service in 4-6 weeks. If you applied and have not received your passport, you may call the National Passport Information Center at 1-877-487-2778 and request to expedite your passport in 4-6 weeks.
Check the status of your passport online or by calling us at 1-877-487-2778.
Yes. We now offer routine service in 10-12 weeks and expedited service in 4-6 weeks. If you applied and have not received your passport, you may call the National Passport Information Center at 1-877-487-2778 and request to expedite your passport in 4-6 weeks.
Check the status of your passport online or by calling us at 1-877-487-2778.
Sep 29, 2020, 10:34 am
#761
Join Date: Jun 2014
Programs: EY
Posts: 852
I called today and upgraded my existing application to expedited service (when I applied, it said do not select expedited service as it was not available). They said they will only charge it if it is accepted for expedited processing. 10-13 weeks for routine service, 4-6 for expedited service. I'm past the six weeks now, so hopefully this will help push me closer to the front of the line.
Sep 29, 2020, 3:54 pm
#763
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Living the dream in Antigua and the nightmare in Florida
Programs: AA PLAT 2MM, *A Gold, WN detractor
Posts: 49,858
From travel.state.gov:
Sep 29, 2020, 4:54 pm
#764
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: RBKC
Programs: AA EXP and Eurostar Carte Blanche
Posts: 3,850
I'm sure that, by following the listed instructions, the questions above could be answered.
I'm glad there is an option for people who have already submitted their application. Hopefully, it will help.
I'm glad there is an option for people who have already submitted their application. Hopefully, it will help.
Sep 29, 2020, 6:00 pm
#765
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Living the dream in Antigua and the nightmare in Florida
Programs: AA PLAT 2MM, *A Gold, WN detractor
Posts: 49,858
I'll take you up on that. I'll call and ask when I get it if I do nothing else, and when I get it if I pay the $60 extra. My bet is that they will say they can't say.