<<<<<<<<Author: herenthere
Date: 05/04/2007, 12:51 am
Hi, I am new but have passport anxiety! My son applied March 23rd (did not expedite) and my question is:

If May 14th (2 wks before trip) comes and we call the Passport Office, what will be involved in expediting the passport? Will we be required to go to a regional office, or can it be done by phone?
Thanks for any tips to help me sleep at night...>>>>>>>>>>&g t;>

You can't do it over the phone,that I know of. You'll have to go in if you're not doing it by mail. I was unable to get an appointment but I had to go to the DC office which is probably a bit popular location.

Good luck.

I applied for ours in early Feb. The website said we'd recieve it April 22, saying it was being processed. Well, April 22 came and went and no passport! I called the national number 14 days before we are to leave and while it took a while to get through (call first thing EARLY as you can in the morning)they were very helpful and understanding and FEDEx overnighted it to me (no extra expense to me, I had originally not elected expedited service)and I had it in two days!

We applied for our passports in early February and still have not received them. My husband and I are supposed to fly out to Spain on Thursday and I have remained relatively patient and not freaked out until this morning. I have called the national passport agency 5 times in the past 1.5 weeks and spoke last with a woman on Saturday who said they would overnight it and to call this morning for a tracking number, I have not been able to get through.

After much anxiety I now have our passports with pages added and Russian Visas! It took 4 weeks for visa pages to be added (with help from someone) and two weeks for the PVS agency to get our Russian Visas! It was very stressful there for awhile!

tt

We had my son apply on Feb 24th and we received it 10 weeks later. I think it still took a month once the check was cashed and the website said it was in process. I recommend applying for a passport now if you are thinking about anything in the next year. Don't worry. And don't be the one stressing or missing your connection.

Progress report - thank you to those who advised to contact my congressman. I did so last Friday (6 weeks after application), and the very helpful office person said she'd get right on it and to check back w her in a few days. She said that once they contact the passport office, it speeds things up, so I'm hopeful. Meanwhile, I have Plan B to go to the city passport office and just pay the extra money, if it is not here by Friday (2 weeks before trip, May 29, since Memorial Day is a federal holiday - I am backing it up to the previous Friday). Thanks for the tip that the congressman's office could set up an appointment there if they are "full". I'll let you know what happens. Good luck to us all.

Finally, the passport is being Fedexed. It will be here tomorrow, which is Friday before we leave Tuesday. There is no mail delivery Monday b/c of Memorial Day, so we were getting nervous. Credit goes to our congressman's office for applying the pressure to get this done!

Thank God, I just got my passport in the mail. After reading these threads I was starting to worry. It took 12 weeks sans expedited service. Now I just have to worry about DW's!

thereyet

Just when it looked like things were coming together...the passport office did not specify "Saturday delivery", and now the passport won't get here until Tuesday - the day we leave. Very frustrated. Our congressman's staff has worked so hard to try and help us... Now my son has to go to a regional passport office tomorrow and start from scratch. If it weren't for our congressman's staff, we would be nowhere. BOTTOM LINE: WATCH OUT FOR YOURSELF because if I had not tried to track the passport online on Fedex's web site, I would not have discovered the too-late expected arrival date. We are very upset and distraught over this whole ordeal.

In-laws applied for renewals March 6(did not expedite), check cashed March 25 and received passports via priority mail on May 24. Just a little over 11 weeks total. Their passports came from the Portsmouth, N.H. office and they live in the Pittsburgh area.

We were definitely pleased with getting visa via Intercontinental Visa Service in Los Angeles.

Cost $50 each + FexEx expense of about $20 (+$100 for Russian Visa). Entire process took less than three weeks.

An update!!! Just short of 11 weeks from my son's passport application, we received it...by FedEx! We didn't expedite or call anyone, but thought I'd let you know the current timeframe.

*Sigh of relief*

kwren, well, you were lucky. I'm at 14 weeks waiting for my daughter's RENEWAL and still nothing.

kwren,

From what I understand reading other websites/ posts of frantic travelers, your case is an exception and not the rule. I am starting my 14th week after submitting renewal of my daughter's passport.

I do understand that there are a lot of problems going on with the passports, but just wanted to give some hope - it couldn't be the only one getting through. (It was also a renewal, which I failed to mention.) I really hope you get yours soon Monica and cruiseluv! I was on pins and needles too.

It was sent from Charleston, if that makes any difference.

It's actually very pretty - the pages now have pictures of famous American sights and monuments, but they no longer say the pages are for entry and departure stamps - just visas. I think those stamps are being phased out, or at least I have to ask for the passport to be stamped whenever I enter a country.

kwren,
Congrats on the passports!! i know what a stress that can be.
Travelatte

Oh my gosh, I just called to check status on my daughter's passport, got through after only pressing 3,1 once and then the person on the other end of the line said it was mostly done and would be printed on Friday. Knock on wood that was the truth and things really are getting better!

That's great Monica! Do you know which office it is coming from?

I foolishly forgot to ask what office. I was just in shock for getting through so fast!

I don't blame you! Enjoy your good news!

Just received my passport after 14 weeks. Luckily my Congressman stepped in to help.
In my passport pusuit, I read many articles on the web about the fiasco. Found an interesting article from the Washington Times reporting the senate testimony by Maura Harty, State Department in charge of the passport mess. Apparently, there was a study commissioned by the State Dept LAST YEAR that predicted the number of applications this year, but the State Department chose to ignore that study and used their own lower figures. Applications started to come in at a higher rate as early as last November but Harty waited until March to hire more staff. This was by her own testimony before the Senate. Luckily, we won't have Maura Harty to kick around anymore because she is being promoted!!! Heck of a job Maura!!
Good luck to all out there who are still waiting. It's predicted to get worse before it gets better. Be sure to call your Congressman for help, that really works!

ARGH. Just called to check on my daughter's passport status (remember last week they said it was through the processing part and was due to be printed on 6/29?). Well today I hear that they can't tell where it is in the process, they have no idea when it will be printed, but I should not worry because there is no reason I won't get it. So yeah, I'm not worried.... WHY ARE THEY LYING TO PEOPLE?!!!

Applied at boston area post office in mid-March and received yesterday July 2. Didn't use expedited service and trip not planned for the fall so I don't imagine we were any kind of priority.

Oh, Sally I only wish we had gotten ours too. We also applied in March.

We renewed son's passport on April 14, but DH did not expedite. Needless to say, DH was in The Doghouse until recently. Somehow he charmed someone somewhere, because son's passport arrived today via Fedex at no addl cost. Don't ask me how. I just wanted to share some good news because all I hear is bad. We will be leaving for France in <3 weeks, and not leaving anyone behind! Good luck everyone.

I started a new thread the other day to get this information out, but there were no responses. Since this thread deals with passport problems, and some of you have paid to expedite, this should be good news:

"I ran across this website to get a refund of the fee to expedite passports that weren't received on date requested:

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cbpmc...259.html"

Good luck. Hope they don't handle the refunds like they did the passports. LOL

Some good news - I applied for our passport renewal by mail on June 19- did not expedite - received mine in the mail yesterday(July 9)!!! Less than three weeks! However, my husband's hasn't arrived as yet. So, they were mailed together - and we'll see when his arrives.

Well blh, that sure is good news FOR YOU! But somehow, it doesn't seem fair for the thousands of people like me that applied for renewal months ago ( March in my case) and have not received it yet.

I am not sure why you felt compelled to post under "Passport angst" as you had no time to fell any "angst"! LOL!!

We are supposed to leave for a Habitat for Humanity build in Hungary on July 19, followed by some travel. I sent my passport in for renewal the first week in March. Our US congressman is supposed to be assisting at this time. If this helps, I promise not to write him anything except a thank you note for at least 6 months!!!

OUCH! I mailed my passport in mid-June. Reading this thread, I must be happy if I get it renewed by January?

Cruiseluv, I'm sorry that you thought I was gloating - I was merely trying to encourage those who are waiting for their passports to come. Perhaps they will be lucky and will get them soon. I was also hoping that just maybe the passport situation is getting better??? Who knows. It may depend on where they're coming from. Like I said, ours were renewals - so they could be faster as well. My husband's did arrive today. I was the most surprised person ever to get these so quickly after having read all these posts for several months. I surely do hope the backlog is getting shorter and that everyone will receive theirs asap!

I am currently planning an exchange trip to Russia, and I was *supposed to* process the passports for visas the last week of June. We have one student who has still not received her passport, 14 weeks after sending in her application.

I am concerned about this now, and her mom feels that her hands are tied- but does anyone think that explaining the need to get the passport to process for a Russian visa would speed up the works?

My co-chaperone and I are both going away on vacation ourselves after next week- by the time we get back, it will be cutting too close to our departure date for me.

The other option is to have this one family have to travel the 3hrs. to NYC and get their own visa, once the passport arrives... I just don't want to waste their time unnecessarily...

Any thoughts?

%%-

Katya--If I were in your shoes, I would ask the family of the student to make the trip to NYC as soon as she receives her passport.

A friend of ours left last week for China and was on pins and needles as his passport hadn't arrived. This included many calls to his congressman.

His passport finally arrived 3 days before his flight to China BUT he needed a visa.

He spent an entire day driving to DC to the Chinese embassy. When he arrived, he was told there would be a 5 hr. wait. So wait he did seeing some of the sights of Washington.

Thankfully, he was able to leave on his trip but it sure was touch and go until the last minute.

blh

don't worry about cruiseluv. He/she isn't happy for anyone's good news - probably just too stressed out to be able to appreciate someone else's good fortune. Congrats to you though. I know what it is like to finally receive a passport - even if it isn't as long as others.

kwren, hey, I think you are a bit harsh on cruiseluv. If you were waiting for a passport for 15 weeks (like me) and kept getting posts from people saying how great it was they got theirs in six weeks I think you might be a bit bitter too. And what I think is happening is that it's MINOR's passports that are mostly held up. I have started to pay attention and it seems like those are the ones that take the longest. Both the one I'm waiting for and the one cruiseluv is waiting for meet that criteria. I get to call the office tomorrow for the fifth time to follow up on mine. Will it be here in time for my trip? Who knows.

cruiseluv put LOL at the end.

I thought she was joking not being rude.

sorry - didn't mean to be harsh. I think people post about receiving their passports not to gloat, but to offer hope, and to be honest, to share that they are happy becuase usually people at Fodor's both commiserate and usually also celebrate with the poster. I can understand how it would be frustrating to be waiting and waiting for a passport to arrive while others get theirs.

I think if I were to apply for a passport today, I would be feeling angst by tomorrow knowing how long it has been taking everyone else! LOL

It's interesting about the minors' being held up. Is there really a pattern with that?

Minors's passports are considered new applications each time and not renewals, so that could be why they are taking longer.
Travelatte

Monica and dandj,

Thanks for putting things in perspective.

I got a phone call yesterday from my Congressman's office. According to the Philadelphia passport office, my daughter's passport has been mailed and I should get it by Saturday. I'm not uncorking the champagne yet until I have it in my hands.

I am in my 16th week of waiting.

This is a great website with a lot of great info regarding this mess and helpful suggestions:

http://whirledview.typepad.com/whirl...g_with_th.html