<p>I applied for mine mid-March regular service, and I’m at about 12 weeks with no word. They said ten weeks, and I thought that would be fine. I’d get it at the start of the summer. It’s driving me crazy, because I have several weeks and several levels of visa applications all due before September.</p>
<p>We applied without the expedited service in February for an April vacation.</p>
<p>The passports took about 9 weeks to arrive.</p>
<p>You are allowed to call for an appointment 14 days before departure. The 800 number is available 24 hours. I suggest you call as soon as the clock ticks over to the 14 days, as the appointments fill up fast.</p>
<p>Also, once you are at the 14 day mark, you can call and they will expedite your application. </p>
<p>So, although I made an appointment, I didn’t need it as the passports arrived, via FedEx at no additional charge, on the Tuesday prior to an early morning Saturday departure.</p>
<p>The people on the 800 number were able to give us the FedEx tracking numbers as soon as the passports were ready to go out the door.</p>
<p>Note also that they will only give you information on your own application, they would not provide info to me on my husband’s passport, even though I mailed them in together.</p>
<p>Finally, the hold time to talk to someone can be significant, 20 minutes or more.</p>
<p>I’m curious to know whether some geographic areas have less of a backlog, thus accounting for those received their passports in less than a month. Our applications were from Massachusetts, mailed to Philadelphia, but actually processed in NH.</p>
<p>Hi fendrock </p>
<p>Thanks very much for your post. My son put in a non-expedited (yes, kicking myself for not having him file expedited) application on 3/30 and is supposed to travel on 6/12.</p>
<p>I think my brain is short-circuiting from listening (and thanks for passing along that from now on I need to put DS on the line to get the info) to the State Dept recording multiple times and only getting “please call back later” when I hit the prompt for traveling within 14 days, so forgive me for not quite understanding: Do I interpret your post correctly, that since you didn’t have passports in hand 14 days out you made an appointment at the regional passport agency in order to put in brand new applications if your passports didn’t arrive?</p>
<p>We just received S’s renewal-9 weeks. Once you are around the 14 day mark you can also call your congressman’s office and they will help get it expedited. I have heard that the passports being processed in the Charleston Office are experiencing the longest backups.</p>
<p>my-3-sons</p>
<p>Thank you! I just called our congressman’s office and they are going to intervene on our behalf.</p>
<p>fendrock</p>
<p>Ignore my post #23 then—thanks!</p>
<p>Just to follow up with janejersey in case anyone else is affected –</p>
<p>Yes, I did make an appointment with the regional office – which is very close for us – in case the passports did not arrive in time.</p>
<p>Since we were leaving on a Saturday, I called the automated line first thing on a Saturday morning, 14 days before departure. The first available appointment was at 3pm the day before we left. After almost going in to cardiac arrest, I redialed, and something had freed up and I was able to make a second appointment (under my husband’s tracking number) for four days before departure.</p>
<p>The week we were leaving was April school vacation week in Massachusetts, so I suspect things were especially hectic in the passport application world.</p>
<p>However, the folks at the Passport Agency came through for us, so I was indeed able to cancel these appointments.</p>
<p>I had the sense that, when calling the 800 number, they have sufficient information to tell you whether you really need to panic or not.</p>
<p>Note that each appointment can accommodate multiple family members applying for passports.</p>
<p>I swear it must depend which office it goes through… My friend ordered an expedited renewal through NYC and she received it in 1.5 weeks. What’s up with that? Aren’t they all processed in the same place?</p>
<p>It really does work to contact your Congressman for help with passports.</p>
<p>Sent a quick email last night and this morning received a reply asking for the information and they will be glad to help!! </p>
<p>Does this mean I have to vote for him in the next election?? ;)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-06-07-us-passports_N[/url]”>http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-06-07-us-passports_N</a>.</p>
<p>My mom had to spend the whole day downtown [Chicago] in order to finally receive her passport. According to her, the line was wrapped around the building twice with much of the people close to tears.</p>
<p>A friend forwarded this NYT article to me: </p>
<p>“Travelers Face Frustrations With Passport Rule Changes”</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/07/washington/07passport.html?ex=1181880000&en=bfb3bc59b7fa54a2&ei=5059&partner=AOL[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/07/washington/07passport.html?ex=1181880000&en=bfb3bc59b7fa54a2&ei=5059&partner=AOL</a></p>
<p>It seems the Congress was getting bombarded with tons of complaints and requests for assistance with the Passport problem. There’s a backlog of something like 300K applications which is why they will probably suspend the new rules for a while.</p>
<p>My S is to travel overseas in less than a month and he has been waiting awile for his passport and it’s for the military!</p>
<p>WildChild renewed in March and still hasn’t received it - over 12 weeks.</p>
<p>This might be a good place to remind parents that have kids doing study abroads to make sure that at least one parent also have a passport in case they need to make an emergency flight. Also, many countries will not allow entrance if the passport is due to expire within 3 months.</p>
<p>Breaking news::::</p>
<p>The new passport rules just got a hiatus for the summer:
<a href=“http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070608/border_passport_070608/20070608?hub=TopStories[/url]”>http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070608/border_passport_070608/20070608?hub=TopStories</a></p>
<p>…just for those who have ALREADY applied.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I wouldn’t say bombarded… in between the constant calls regarding immigration, the war in Iraq, and liquid coal (don’t ask), there’s an occasional passport call or two. Maybe for constituent services, but not a huge push for a change in policy.</p>
<p>Kathiep brought up a ggod point about checking expiration dates. Some countries it is 6 months after date of entrance.
My frustration is high since we asked for expediated, we sent the fed ex envelope the woman at the post office wrote in big black bold sharpie all over expediated. So when we check online the status they say you applied for regular service and it will take 10-12 weeks. I hear that it is nearly impossible to reach them by phone.</p>
<p>imagine, the feds not set up to take care of homeland security issues…surprise surprise surprise</p>
<p>WASHINGTON — The Bush administration on Friday temporarily waived some of its new, post-Sept. 11 requirements for flying abroad, hoping to help irate summer travelers whose trips have been jeopardized by delays in processing their passports.</p>
<p>The change would aid those fliers awaiting a U.S. passport to meet the new rule requiring one for travel to Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda. But it won’t clear the way for travelers who haven’t already applied for a passport.</p>
<p>There is still no passport required for Americans driving across the Canadian or Mexican borders or taking sea cruises, although those travelers are expected to need passports under new rules beginning next year.</p>
<p>Easing the rules should allow the State Department to catch up with a massive surge in applications that has overwhelmed passport processing centers since the rule took effect this year, officials said. The resulting backlog has caused up to three-month delays for passports and ruined or delayed the travel plans of thousands of travelers.</p>
<p><a href=“HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News | HuffPost”>HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News | HuffPost;