If your passport is stuck in Charleston
 

I received my passport today. I leave on Saturday. It took nearly 12 weeks. When the 14th day prior to my trip arrived, I called the National Passport Information Center and requested an expedite. A couple of days before, I called my congressman's office for help.

The National Passport Information Center *requested* an expedite three times within the last 11 days, none of which were acknowledged by Charleston.

My Congressman is Kenny Marchant. When I first spoke to the assistant in his office, she said she would be able to help and claims to have requested an expedite on that day. The following week when I called back for status, she acted disinterested in my situation because of the number of people she said she was trying to help who were traveling in the next couple of days. She didn't sound as though she would help me until I was within the same week of travel. After explaining that I was not satisfied with that response, she said she'd request the expedite again.

Last Friday, when I last checked with the National Passport Information Center, my application had not been expedited and there was nothing they could recommend other than to keep calling or go to Houston.

I would have gladly gone to Houston if the scene there wasn't has horrible as I've heard and read about. It sounded like Houston held no promises and I decided it was time to take matters into my own hands.

The National Passport Information Center had previously told me that there were no phones in the Charleston office and that the only means of communication is e-mail. This didn't sound believable, so with some searching, I was able to find the number set up in Charleston for congressional offices to call. I called the number myself on Monday morning and the phone was answered in 19 seconds. I spoke to a very pleasant woman who stated that my congressman's office had NOT contacted them (sounds like we are paying my congressman to be a lying politician), but she would go talk to the processor immediately and get my passport out either Monday or Tuesday. Monday afternoon, I called back and a very pleasant and helpful male explained that my passport had finally been quality controlled and printed, but did not get packaged in enough time to make the FedEx pick-up for the day, but it would be packaged in the morning. I called back mid-day on Tuesday and was given the FedEx tracking number. Within 30 minutes, another representative called and provided me with the same tracking number, not knowing that I had already called in and obtained it. It arrived early this morning.

I have conflicted feelings about posting the phone number. On one hand, if I post it, many frustrated people can get some relief. On the other hand, if I post it, it will inevitably be abused by people who are not in a last-minute urgent situation. I feel somewhat obligated to help people by posting the number, but I also feel that I will be hurting those same people because others who aren't in emergency situations will be calling the number.

My compromise: post the fax number. The fax number to Charleston is 843-746-1688. I ask that you only use this if your case is urgent and you are not able to get help through your congressman's office and you are traveling in the next 10 days.

Inasmuch as I did not actually use the fax to solve my situation, I don't know how successful this will be, but after speaking to so many people at the Charleston office, I feel sure that they are doing as much as they can under the circumstances and would respond to fax requests from applicants as possible. At the very least, it is one more avenue for you to explore if your passport is stuck in Charleston and you are in a panic.

Good luck!

Also, if you use the fax, I suggest that you attach proof of your upcoming flight.

How do you find out at which passport office your application is being processed?

We are in a crisis situation.

Can you please email me the phone number? I promise I will not post the phone number.

By the way, you need to copy the address and not just click on it.

Thanks!

[email protected]

I would suggest you contact your congressman one last time with this info. If it were me I would also point out that I will remember this "service" come election time

I'm with CarolA, I'd let my congressman know his assistant did not do her job. It reflects badly on him.

J62 - You would need to contact the National Passport Information Center first and ask where your passport is being processed.

withkids - Check your e-mail

CarolA and jody - I did all that I could to try to get more help from my congressman's office. When the girl assigned to handling passport issues did not help me, I called back and asked to speak to someone else. The person who answered the phone would not forward me to anyone and said that Amanda is doing all she can and I'd have to speak to her. I then called my congressman's Washington DC number and plead for help. I got someone a little more concerned, but she assured me that she'd already spoken to Amanda about the passport situation and Amanda had told her that she was no longer able to get through to Charleston and that Charleston was ignoring her e-mails. I then called another local congressman's office (who helped me get my sister's passport expedited very quickly) and she said she was sorry, but she couldn't help me since I am not in her district. She did take the time to explain what I would need to do when I got to Houston, but said that I'd have to continue to try to work with Amanda. The last four times I've tried to call Amanda, I've been told that she's not in yet and doesn't come in until noon. Or when she is in, I ask if she is available and I am told "yes" and placed on hold. Moments later, someone will come back and say that she is on the phone and has four other callers on hold.

Now that I have my passport, I will be calling the DC office again and explaining what I had to do in order to get my passport and that Amanda still hasn't returned any of my phone calls.

Why not just use a passport service to expedite the passport? Yes, you have to pay for them to walk the passport renewal through for you, but the price HAS to be a bargain considering all this angst.

Evidently this is a HUGE problem. Our newspaper in Austin ran an article today addressing this issue. Showed a photo of people sleeping on the sidewalks in Houston waiting to get in to check on their passport applications. Officials are blaming the new regulation that travelers need passports to enter Mexico and Canada. They say they are adding personnel to process the volume of applications but many folks have had to cancel their trips . Most applicants submitted their papers well before the supposed cutoff date for their projected departure out of the country but it is taking weeks longer to get them approved.

My daughter and I went to our local PO which now has a Passport office and she applied for her renewal passport which expires in July. The woman there who was such a help told us that for Vacaville the passport renewal would be sent to either Los Angeles or Charleston..they never know in advance which office will be used. She advised my daughter to figure at least 13 weeks before receiving her renewal. In my daughters case that is not a problem as she will not be leaving the US in the coming months but it sure is a good reminder to everyone to apply for their first passport or their renewal passport far in advance.

Oh, please can you provide the number? I can give you my email. We have a trip on May 29 th and have been waiting 12 weeks. They keep telling me they are processing but Charleston is not responding to my emails for expediting. We need ours by 5/25 or 5/26 at latest because of holiday weekend. Please Please Please.
My email is [email protected]

Thanks.

We are leaving next Saturday and can't seem to make any headway. I have call the passport information center several time and each time have been told that they are "expediting it". I have called Congressman Kenny Marchant's office and they are trying to help, but they haven't been able to confirm that we will get it. At first we were told that we could go to Houston, but now, they are too busy. Next was New Orleans, now too busy. Our choices now are to go to Chicago or Colorado. Can you please send us the phone number that you used?? [email protected] Thank you.

mrkinddallas

Urgent situation!
Please be so kind as to email the Charleston office phone number to me.

[email protected]

We applied 12 weeks ago.

We are leaving Monday 6/4/07 7:15am. We have been calling the 800 number. We have spoken several times to our congressional representative.

Thanks
Mary

Mary, check your email.

By the way, we will be leaving so I won't be able to help anyone after Saturday.

Please, please pass the number along to me. My husband and I are supposed to be leaving the country to celebrate our wedding anniversary in one week but still don't have our passports. We applied for them three months ago. Please help!

[email protected]

I called my congressman this morning to help with 2 passports. We depart in a 'few' weeks.

The assistant took my info in less than 2min, and 30min later I got a call back from the her stating that they'd expedited them and I'd get them by FedEx by next Wed.

The assistant told me they were hung up at the Charleston office, but she'd called the Norwalk office.

I'll report back if I don't get them. If the congressman route works I'll thank them kindly.

Did you just call the local number that is posted on the congressman's website?

Honestly, why not call a service to see if they can help? I've used www.visalady.com and they do out of state work as well. Worth a call at least to see what they have to say. Yes, there's a cost for the service, but for me it would be well worth it to avoid all the stress.

I was planning to post the number also after mrkindallas provided a clue. Simply googling "charleston" passport office "843" brings up a blog where a poster was kind enough to share the #. Seemed unreasonable to act as gatekeeper when mrkindallas clearly benefited from someone else's due diligence. But I can also appreciate his hesitation, because after speaking with Shirley, you realize you're likely unleashing a torrent of desperate travelers on this poor unsuspecting woman who has single handedly just secured your passport.

Yes, the number works. And the kind lady was very helpful (I must have spoken with her last week before she got wise to her number published). While my congressman was able to secure my own passport, my son's passport was stuck in Charleston. Only after calling Shirley did the passport magically get FedEx'd overnight. Of course, my congressman's office scrambled to call me to try and take credit. But, Shirley had personally already called me an hour earlier with the good news. All credit goes to her.

The congressman's office experience was exactly the same as mrkindallas'. They said they could only contact Charleston by email and they were assisting other travelers that were departing sooner than I, so I should just sit tight. After reading mrkindallas' account, I knew we wouldn't get the passports in time unless we called Charleston ourselves. And when I called Shirley, she mentioned they receives nearly 3500 emails daily. CLEARLY, the congressman's office is almost useless if your passport if stuck in Charleston.

**One last note** My passports was a renewal by mail. My young son's was renewed in person at the post office and then mailed in to Charleston. When we received them, his had the new RFID chip implanted - mine did not. Is it possible that Charleston is handling all chip implants? And is this why they are completely swamped and unavailable?

Cheers,
Carmel-by-the-Sea, Calif.

Pennedbulls...I intentionally provided enough information for someone with enough intelligence to be able to find the number themselves. As I originally explained the reason for my hesitation to post the number myself, I also hoped that one with enough intelligence to locate the number his/her-self would also be intelligent enough not to post it on this forum. For those who requested the phone number personally, I provided it before I left on my trip. Any requests made after I left on my trip were not answered and I apologize, but I see that withkids (one person that I provided the number to) did pass it along to at least one other. (Thank you, withkids)

However, this number that you posted goes to one of the administrative offices at Charleston. It is NOT the same number that the congressional offices are to use. If this number quits working, someone with a bit of intelligence could figure out another number...That's all I'm saying...I WILL NOT POST THE NUMBER HERE whether or not you agree with the reasoning why.

I am still on my trip, but happened to check the site and was discouraged to see this number posted here. I do hope that you get your passport and that you go on your trip, but I can't help but hope that you somehow get a taste of your own medicine.

Carmelbythesea - I did not find the same site that you did, so whatever you want to think of my decision not to post the number is fine, but you jump to conclusions when you say that I benefited from someone else's due diligence. When I've provided the number to those who have asked, why be so hateful anyways?

hi,
i am wondering how you know which office your passport is being processed through. does it have something to do with the numbers in your application number? thanks for helping.

Hi mewkies, my daughter went to our local PO a couple of weeks ago (we are in N CA) to renew her passport which has a July renewal date. She was told that her renewal application would be sent to either Los Angeles or Charleston..they had no way of knowing which location it would be. I didn't understand quite frankly as it would seem the address would be on the envelope..but maybe it is sent "somewhere" else and then sent on to either LA or Charleston?

Those that don't plan ahead for such an important part of their trip are asking for trouble, makes ZERO sense to me. Unless you have decided to take a spur of the moment trip, get it together and send for our passport with plenty of time to spare. Ridiculous!

richardsonsnm, I took my passport to an expiditer last week to get it renewed for travel in October. I was told that going through "normal" channels is taking at least 18 weeks right not. THAT is what is ridiculous.

mewkies, last week I sent an email from a link I found at travel.state.gov and received a reply that began with:

Your application is in routine processing at the Charleston Passport Center.

My husband applied mid March and we will travel mid July. That's four months. I'm not sure if we should worry or not.

My daughter does not have any out of the US travel plans right now. The passport employee at our PO said to figure a minimum of 13 weeks before she received her renewal passport..but if it takes more time it is not a problem for my daughter. The Passport employee said that this problem will continue due to the changes for 2008..imagine she meant those driving to Mexico and Canada will also need passports.

Anyway..do plan ahead and allow a long time to get your uptodate passport.

Here is my question:

Can you apply to renew your passport, let's say, one year in advance?

If so, why doesn't everyone do that to alleviate problems?

I have never had a problem renewing, but honestly don't know what time frame it took to get my new passport back, but I am usually early on everything.

((H))

Well, Wednesday 6/6 has come and gone and no passport. Called my congressman back and assistant followed up. They could not get through to Charleston, so they called Boston office. Boston office agreed to send an email to Charleston urging them to act. I'm not expecting that to do much good. Congressional office said there was nothing else they could do at this point, except arrange appointment at regional office for me.

Late last night I got through to the NPIC phone #. At first I got the recording "all operators are busy, please call back later". A tip on another thread suggested entering 9,3,1 to cycle back through the phone queue.

I did that for about 10min and finally got through to a live person - a pleasant woman in KY.

She submitted an upgrade to expedite status request, including FedEx delivery.

We'll see how that works. Looks like the congressman route was a dead end.

Will report back if actually talking to someone at NPIC worked better.

j62

DH was quite worried after waiting 12 weeks with no progress, so on Monday he went to our local Representative's office (Nancy Boyda) to inquire of help. I'm am so happy to say the passport arrived today via FedEx.

Like a lot of people caught by the incompetence of the state department, I have contacted my senator and congressman. It was interesting to note the different receptions I got. My Senator (Claire Mcaskill) had someone call me about 90 minutes after I emailed. The republican congressman was,judging from his website, only interested in gathering anti-abortion or pro-gun emails.

We applied back in mid march for my daughter to accompany her Belgian mother home for a visit. This would be my daughter's 3rd passport. Of course, 3 months have come and gone and no passport to be seen. You can not talk to anyone at the passport agency and they answer no emails.
I have zero expectation that the passport will arrive before the trip date of 7/19.

Fortunately, we have a back up plan. The Belgian embassy is willing to issue her a passport (processing time of about 10 days). We already applied. As I understand it, American citizens are required to use only a US passport to leave or arrive in the US. But, what if they just won't issue one?

If the passport arrives in time, she will use it. Otherwise f*** them, she will take her new Belgian one. Leaving should be no trouble. Might be an issue coming back. I figure she can take her birth certificate and a copy of that "thanks for applying, now don't bother us" letter you can print from the passport office web site. Better that than staying home and eating the cost.

Jeff, I don't mean to alarm you, but I have read of airlines that refuse to allow people to board a flight back to the USA with a non-USA passport, if that person is shown as being born in the USA.

Wouldn't the airline refuse to let the daughter even board the plane to leave the US if she doesn't have the proper passport WillTravel? That has always been my understanding. Of course I have no idea how the situation regarding a Belgium passport for a US citizen would be. Perhaps the daughter has dual citizenship?

Anyone in this situation would have dual citizenship, because if the person is born in the USA that means the person is automatically a US citizen, plus the person has the citizenship bestowed on her by her parentage.

I haven't heard of a problem on leaving the USA in this situation, but I have heard of a problem returning, because the American birthplace is sufficient proof of the person's American citizenship and thus proof that the person requires an American passport.

Her mother's passport does not have anything in it that indicates where she was born. Assuming that my daughter's does not either, then it would just be a matter of keeping your mouth shut. There are only the two of them going. They would have no way of knowing that she was an american citizen. As you say, I imagine that there would not be any trouble leaving the country. There might be coming back. There is no pre-issued visa requirements for EU citizens, but US immigration can be touchy about allowing them in without a ticket to leave. If that happened, then would be the time to announce that you were a US citizen, show them your birth certificate and explain exactly why there was no US passport. Might be a problem, but it's not like she could get deported. I am not taking the possibility lightly, but, as I said, I refuse to allow a paranoid and incompetent government spoil a long planned trip.

Jeff, if you don't get your missing passport 14 days before you leave, call the number listed on the website.

I know it's a hassle, but you just have to keep dialing over & over until you get through.

I just went through the same thing waiting for my daughter's passport. With two weeks to go, I called the number...it took about 40 minutes to get through...and the surprisingly very pleasant person put the passport on expedite status. She told me to follow up in 6 days, which I did with another call & 40 minute wait.

I was then told the passport was 1-step from being completed and I would have it in plenty of time before the trip.

I, of course, was skeptical, and was planning to spend the day at the Los Angeles passport office.

But, lo and behold, the passport website indicated that my passport was completed and had been mailed. A tracking number was provided. Two days later I had the passport.

So don't give up hope, and don't leave the matter to chance...call their office.

We actually did get through to someone last night. After being on hold for an hour. (If nothing else, they have done an amazing job of lowering expectations, haven't they?)

We learned two things. First, that they had my address wrong in their system. First number of my address is a 9. They had 3. They look nothing alike, I TYPED the fricking form, and they are four inches apart on a keyboard. I am going to have to get out my thesaurus and look for a stronger term than "incompetent". Secondly, after 14 weeks, they have not yet started processing her application.

During my research about the possible legalities of using a foreign passport and, much more importantly, the possibilities of getting "caught", I kept coming across discussions about whether using a foreign passport could be construed as evidence that the person in question intended to renounce citizenship.

Considering the state of this country and it's government, this might not be such a bad idea.

Hi sweetheart,
I have been searching everywhere on the web, looking for the charleston phone number. I am traveling in 2 days and i have been at the los angeles federal building for the past 3 weeks. They are not doing anything helpful. My passport is currently in CHARLESTON, and i would really appreciate it if you can send the number to my email. Please PLease Please. I am desperate!PLease get back to me with a response. Thank you very much.

mrkindallas,
could you please email me the fax number. I went to the Dallas Federal Buliding to expedite my passport. I paid all the fees and submitted all required documents to be given the run around. Of course after I had paid my fee of $195. I've called my congressman, email the senator, governor, and the White House.
I'm suppose travel this week and I don't have my passport. This was a last minute trip and non refundable. Please help.

Please note that you are posting on a 5 year old thread. You may not receive any responses. Better to start a new post if you need immediate help.

I don;t understand. If you go to the passport center in person you are supposed to pick up your passport that day. I had to do it several years ago when I started a new job and found out I had to go to Switzerland the following week. I knew my passport was expiring shortly - but since I didn't have any travel planned I was waiting for high season rush to abate before sending for renewal - so I would have it for other purposes (train tickets etc) in the meantime.

I called and got an appointment 4 days later, went with my airline ticket and had a new passport in about 3 hours.