First US passport - no tracking?
Jun 12, 2017, 9:12 pm
#1
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Join Date: Jan 2017
Posts: 31
First US passport - no tracking?
I apllied for my first US passport last week. I went to my local USPS with my completed form / picture and so forth.
Upon paying the $25 'acceptance fee' I asked why there was no tracking number available to me for its delivery to PA. USPS just said they don't offer tracking for new passport applications.
I'm frustrated that my sole US nationality document is somewhere in transit without any way for me to track its progress or for USPS to find it in case it is lost.
Is this initial passport experience correct? Seems like a complete farce to me that if one uses USPS to process their passport they're unable to track it!
Upon paying the $25 'acceptance fee' I asked why there was no tracking number available to me for its delivery to PA. USPS just said they don't offer tracking for new passport applications.
I'm frustrated that my sole US nationality document is somewhere in transit without any way for me to track its progress or for USPS to find it in case it is lost.
Is this initial passport experience correct? Seems like a complete farce to me that if one uses USPS to process their passport they're unable to track it!
Jun 12, 2017, 9:19 pm
#2
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*Insert generic joke about USPS being unable to track their own heads when inserted into their rectums*
You can track the progress of your application at the State Department this way
https://travel.state.gov/content/pas...on-status.html
Good luck!
You can track the progress of your application at the State Department this way
https://travel.state.gov/content/pas...on-status.html
Good luck!
Jun 13, 2017, 1:55 am
#4
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If you can't pull it up on the above state linked site after 3 or 4 weeks -- assuming regular (non-expedited) application -- then that's when I'd start to consider what to do next.
Jun 15, 2017, 12:52 pm
#7
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My bet is you get it before five weeks are completed unless there is a material problem with the application itself.
Jun 15, 2017, 1:36 pm
#8
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Join Date: Jan 2017
Posts: 31
FWIW - A colleague recently sent in for their first passport (without expedited service) and it took 5-6 weeks. I would be tempted to call and upgrade the application to expedited.
Last edited by toph3r; Jun 15, 2017 at 1:55 pm
Jun 15, 2017, 1:40 pm
#9
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Join Date: Jan 2017
Posts: 31
Yes, I agree. I spoke to a lovely woman at the State Dept this morning (which is weird, as I'm so used to talking only to USCIS over the last few years!) who informed me if I needed to travel urgently (which I may very well need to) they can arrange for me to collect a passport at my local Passport Agency as they have my naturalisation certificate in the system now. Otherwise, she said she'd try and get it to me by the end of next week. Very impressed so far.
Last edited by toph3r; Jun 15, 2017 at 2:01 pm
Jun 16, 2017, 9:48 pm
#11
Join Date: Jun 2017
Posts: 2
upgrading to expedited service.
We submitted with regular service. Can you update to expedited service after the regular application was sent?
Jun 21, 2017, 5:15 am
#14
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The only thing I would possibly do in this circumstance is to make sure to pay for a faster delivery service for the post-passport-issuance part of the situation. If you already paid for a faster mailing/courier delivery service, then I would just wait to see that the passport has been issued around 7-12 days before your trip. But that's just me.
Jun 30, 2017, 5:22 pm
#15
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