mewkies

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.

LoveItaly

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?

richardsonsnm

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!

anotherjudy

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.

Kansan

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.

LoveItaly

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.

maitaitom

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.

J62

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

Kansan

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.

jeffbrock

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.

WillTravel

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.

LoveItaly

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?

WillTravel

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.

jeffbrock

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.

Jim_Tardio

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.

jeffbrock

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.

FabulousK

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.

sadallas

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.

gh21

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.

nytraveler

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.