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 12, 2017, 2:55 pm
#76
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
At most US passport agencies, walking in with a ticketed itinerary that shows you leaving within two weeks, and claiming so, has ordinarily worked even if the applicant hasn't booked a specific appointment time.
Jun 12, 2017, 8:03 pm
#78
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: NJ, USA
Programs: UA MM
Posts: 671
I wanted to see if they accept applications 4 weeks before the date of travel - not 2 weeks. I don't want to wait till 2 weeks.
Jun 12, 2017, 8:14 pm
#79
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: California
Posts: 2,731
I think what's being suggested is that you create an emergency, i.e., book a fully refundable ticket for two weeks out, print out your receipt, proceed immediately to the passport office, apply for the passport, go home, cancel refundable ticket.
Jun 12, 2017, 8:42 pm
#80
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: NJ, USA
Programs: UA MM
Posts: 671
Ahhhh - brain freeze on my part I guess. Thanks!
Jun 28, 2017, 5:41 pm
#81
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 65
Passport times? June 2017
Anyone recently renew their passport? How long did normal processing take? I mailed it 2 day mail but did not expedite passport or mailing back.
I looked at 2 other recent threads and the info isn't recent. Also, do not live near a passport agency.
Thanks!
I looked at 2 other recent threads and the info isn't recent. Also, do not live near a passport agency.
Thanks!
Jun 30, 2017, 3:30 pm
#82
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: SFO
Programs: TK *G, HHonors Gold, UA 0.547MM and ex-1K but we gave up on each other
Posts: 201
18 days door to door with routine processing.
They told me that once the passport is in the system, it's possible to upgrade it to expedited processing.
There was a mistake on my application - what I get for letting Chrome fill in the form fields automatically - but they fixed it over the phone. All three times I called there was no wait to get a human being on the line.
And I even took a decent passport photo for once.
- Mailed Priority Mail from SF Bay Area post office 6/12/17
- Delivered to TX processing facility 6/14
- Web status display "being processed" with locator number 6/16
- Web status display changed to indicate Routine Service 6/21
- Web status display "Your passport application is in the final processing stages." 6/27
- Mailed from Arkansas 6/27
- Delivered 6/30
There was a mistake on my application - what I get for letting Chrome fill in the form fields automatically - but they fixed it over the phone. All three times I called there was no wait to get a human being on the line.
And I even took a decent passport photo for once.
Jun 30, 2017, 6:44 pm
#84
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 65
About 5 years ago, I had to renew my Mom's passport. I sent it in with about 6 weeks before we were going to leave (I had the date of the trip on application). I started getting worried about 4 weeks out and called them up. They said it would not be done by the time we had to leave but promptly gave me the option to expedite it. I gave them a credit card number and magically, the passport was quickly done and sent back to us. We do not live near a passport agency so that was not an option.
Jul 2, 2017, 11:16 am
#85
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: ORD, MDW
Posts: 219
Yes.
Normal processing took approximately two weeks. Application submitted at post office 6/15. Check cashed by State Dept. 6/20. New passport received by priority mail 7/1.
Last edited by mlhall; Jul 2, 2017 at 11:17 am Reason: reduce spacing
Jul 27, 2017, 1:32 pm
#87
Join Date: Jul 2017
Posts: 1
Update:
It seems that, after nearly 8 weeks, the application is finally entered in the system.
As of yesterday, 6/3, the online system now gives "processing" when last 4 digits of actual SSN are entered. Until 6/2, it only listed that status when 0000 was entered, and found nothing with the actual numbers.
Does anyone have experience with scheduling an in-person appointment to follow-up on a mailed-in application?
It seems that, after nearly 8 weeks, the application is finally entered in the system.
As of yesterday, 6/3, the online system now gives "processing" when last 4 digits of actual SSN are entered. Until 6/2, it only listed that status when 0000 was entered, and found nothing with the actual numbers.
Does anyone have experience with scheduling an in-person appointment to follow-up on a mailed-in application?
Jul 28, 2017, 11:03 am
#88
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: SJC / DPS
Programs: AS G75K, UA Silver
Posts: 1,755
Just some datapoints for my passport renewal:
This is for Regular Service
7/12: Mailed DS-82 via Priority Mail
7/14: Delivered to US Passport Processing Center
7/17: Email received saying my passport being processed
7/21: Status online changed to "Final processing"
7/27: Received new passport
So less than 2 weeks door-to-door using regular service
Quite impressed ^
This is for Regular Service
7/12: Mailed DS-82 via Priority Mail
7/14: Delivered to US Passport Processing Center
7/17: Email received saying my passport being processed
7/21: Status online changed to "Final processing"
7/27: Received new passport
So less than 2 weeks door-to-door using regular service
Quite impressed ^
Aug 3, 2017, 1:33 pm
#90
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
Regular passport application for a Swedish national during peak summer application period took 3-4 days from stopping into a regional passport application office until the Swedish passport was back for delivery/pick-up.
Regular passport application for a US citizen during peak summer application period took no less than 9-10 days from stopping into a regional passport application office until the passport was back for delivery/pick-up and more commonly took substantially more than 9-10 days.
Applicant's cost of regular passport application is much lower in Sweden than in the US, and that is despite the passport quality and used technology being higher with Swedish passports than US passports. While the USG usually outperforms its stated times by a rather wide margin, we've got a lot of room for improvement in cost/price, quality and time; unfortunately, for US passports, applicants should expect it to cost substantially more but still take substantially longer than it takes for various other countries to perform the service.
Regular passport application for a US citizen during peak summer application period took no less than 9-10 days from stopping into a regional passport application office until the passport was back for delivery/pick-up and more commonly took substantially more than 9-10 days.
Applicant's cost of regular passport application is much lower in Sweden than in the US, and that is despite the passport quality and used technology being higher with Swedish passports than US passports. While the USG usually outperforms its stated times by a rather wide margin, we've got a lot of room for improvement in cost/price, quality and time; unfortunately, for US passports, applicants should expect it to cost substantially more but still take substantially longer than it takes for various other countries to perform the service.
