Someone in our group traveling to Italy the end of May is now freaking out because he's afraid his passport won't show up in time. He didn't pay the $60 extra to expedite it becuase he thought he had plenty of time. But, today he read an article about issue times taking longer, more than 12 weeks etc. He applied Feb 24 and we travel May 27. Does anyone know if you can change your application and expedite it once submitted? I looked at the US state info and it says you can call them if you don't have your passport and are due to travel in two weeks. I'm hoping this means they'll crank it out fast at that point. At any rate, he's now very worried that he's going to miss out on the trip of a lifetime. Thanks for any advice! Melissa

I called and spoke with someone who told me the anticipated date of arrival of my passport, and was able to expedite over the phone using a credit card. However, this was two years ago, before the recent craze about passports. Try calling and see what happens.

we had this same problem... from what i was told... you can still expedite it... but only if it is less than two weeks prior to your departure date.

also... call your congressman... they can help track your passport and expidite the service a bit.

Thanks for your advice! I've passed this on to our friend who is sweating bullets and regretting that he didn't spend the $ to expedite it in the first place. Hopefully, it will show up. But, I've advised him to call and even ask a congressman for advice. His wife is very politically active, so that's a good thing. Thanks again for your advice and help! Melissa

Going to my congressman's office worked for me, and fast. Please see my reply to "Passport Worries."

pour passports are being delivered today- we are leaving tomorrow...... they were shipped overnight from Charlston to NY.

I think my congressman's offiver really hepled. They were able to track exactly where our passports were and when they were being completed- and they were able to get right through!

We paid expedite fees and overnight mail fees at our local post office on Monday March 19. The passport arrived by mail on Tuesday March 27 with a date of issue of March 21. Our postmaster said she's been averaging 9 days which is better than we could have done at the Passport office in DC.