Passport Crunch
 

Well, it finally made the major papers

Not that that will probably help you if you're waiting.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/07/wa...7passport.html

Good news: We submitted our passport renewals at the post office (had to take my kids in person). We paid for expedited service on May 15th and they came in the mail on the 31st. I was relieved and pleased. Maybe it's not as bad as the media reports.

Glad you got your passports however this isn't a made up story. It's a real problem for people. We received ours this morning after 10 weeks plus a few days. We got them because of a call put in to our congresswoman's office and her staff got them expedited and delivered via fed ex.

Thanks for this. I've been nagging my husband to get his photo done NOW because even though his passport expires in August, we are going to the US in October (live in Europe) for a family wedding and I worry that he won't have it in time. I am leaving the article right on the desktop!

I'm curious. Does anyone know if renewals are taking this long too?

Ours were renewals. They took 10 1/2 weeks with the help of our congresswoman at the end.

When do you depart? I'm thinking of contacting mine tomorrow even though we'll be three weeks out. I don't want to risk the chance of not being able to get an appointment if it comes down to that considering I'd still have to travel 12 hours by car to the nearest office. Thanks!

I contacted my congresswoman Tuesday, 2 weeks prior, we leave June 19th. I was lucky they came in 2 days. The office wouldn't promise they would come that quickly so if they hadn't come by June 15th I was to call back and they would get me an appt. in SF on the 18th. I'm only an hour away. The staffer is and had been working on lots of others, some right down to the wire.

Mine doesn't expire until 2014...but maybe I should do it now! HA HA HA!

Seriously, I was talking with a friend in the UK..she asked since we lost months on renewal if we got credit ..seems they do in the UK! Really if it takes this long for a renewal your old passport is only really good for 9.5 months.

9.5 years!! Sorry

My husband just renewed his passport using the expedited service (our trip begins July 1 so expediting was our only option). I overnighted his passport and included a self-addressed overnight return envelope and they got the new one and the old, invalidated passport back to us in less than two weeks - more like a week and a half.

We applied on March 10th for a renewal for my husband and my daughter. His came within four weeks, we're still waiting on hers. It's been 11 weeks so far, and nothing. I fear I will be one of those waiting in the line at the Passport center in SF and that won't be fun with my husband and six year old (we all need to be present to get the passport). It is WORSE than is being reported, it's just that some people are getting lukcy.

I applied for renewal in March and still no Passport. The phone lines are a nightmare - they still aren't organized for these long delays. I finally got into the phone cue to talk to a person and, after an hour, had to hang up to get to a meeting.
The Boston Passport service requires appointments and I couldn't get one before June 21st in the afternoon. That should barely do it. Where would I be if I were leaving that morning, or earlier?

Just a quick note to MonicaRichards:

There is a form that your husband can fill out (DS-3053) and get notarized so that only you need to be present to get your daughter a passport. Not that I'd rather spend the day in line <i>alone</i> with a 6-year old. :) (We looked into this since it's easier for me to get to the post office than my wife.) All of these stories convinced me to apply for my son's passport now for a November trip. (Luckily, my wife's and my passport are valid until 2010.)

Paul

Shhhh, don't tell my husband. It's not only my six year old but also her four year old sister that will have to go to the passport office, and I am NOT doing that by myself!