I'm taking a group of students to London/Paris; we leave June 18. A number of folks in my group haven't received their passports yet (applied for in March when they signed up for the trip). When should we start to take extra steps to get them on time?

I've been following the other passport threads and it seems my first step should be to contact our congressman. What info will his office need to track down the passports? Would it be easiest for me to call and put in the requests for everyone or should each person make a separate request?

Thanks for any tips! I have my passport but I feel responsible for all these kids as the group leader.

Hi Carolinabelle,

I haven't done the congressman office thing yet but I might, depending if my daughter's passport doesn't get here on time.

I would think it's better that the parents of these students ( if they are minors) contact their own congressman. Or do all of you share the same congressperson? I
I don't know what info they'll ask but I know that the tracking system asks for the name and social security number.

Based on what I have read, in your case I would start contacting the congressperson's office right after Memorial Day.

Good luck!

I would suggest the individuals who do not have a passport should contact their congressman 14 days prior to departure. They should also look online to see if they have a tracking number. I don't know if you will be able to put in a request for everyone.

My experience: When we contacted our congressman's office, the woman who helped me wanted my daughter's name, last four digits of her social security number and her birthdate. We did get her passport last week- it took exactly 13 weeks. I also emailed the Regional Director for the State Department Passport office in Charleston where her passport got hung up. Don't know if that helped, because he never responded, but we did get her passport a few days after I sent the email.

Carolinabelle, BY ALL MEANS call your congressman's local office. If we had not done this, we would not have our son's passport. Each congressman has a staff member whose responsibility is "passports." Just call and explain your situation. GOOD LUCK!!

Carolinabelle,
I agree with the previous posters. Contact your congressman's office and also follow up online by checking for tracking numbers. I would have the parents call. We are still waiting for our kids passports. We leave 6/12, so Tuesday will be 2 week prior date so they will be able to tell us more. We do know our kids applications went to New Orleans by the tracking number beginning with a #4. Apparently they are very backed up. We have also been told by our congresswoman's office that we may need to go to Chicago to get the passports in person. I am still hoping though!!

Good Luck!
Travelatte

Travelatte,
Best of luck. It was so nerve-wracking for us. Our congressman's office did a great job of nudging the passport office. If I might make a suggestion to possibly save you grief: Make sure that they know what day to have it DELIVERED to you. In our case, the passport people apparently forgot this: unless they specified Saturday delivery on a Friday overnight, we'd be getting it the next BUSINESS day - and too late. "Overnight" does not necessarily mean "overnight" - it means the next business day. The passport people had it coming to us the afternoon of our morning flight!!

Hereenthere,
Thanks for the advice. Hopefully I'll be finding out more soon. We are now in the 14 day window.

Travelatte