travel_girl_16

Hello All, i'm getting nervous with all of the news surrounding the passport processing nightmares. I applied with my family of 5 on 5/14 at our local library for a trip planned to Italy on 8/10. Asked the woman if I needed to expediate, but she said I had plenty of time (ha). Can I stil expediate them or do I have to cancel and then expedate? Or should I wait to call in mid July? If expediated, do I need all new copies of Birth Certificates and new photos? Please tell me your stories. Advice is greatly appreciated!! Thanks, Ann

robjame

In an effort to relieve the passport application backup, the American government has relaxed the passport requirement for US citizens returning from Canada.

http://tinyurl.com/2nh3n6

Should help some.

Dukey

According to an article in the "Washingto Post" today the Asst Secy of State for Consular Affairs Laura Harty stated that passport processing times will return to eight weeks by the end of September and six weeks by the end of the year.

Over this past weekend it was reported that State had asked employees who had extra time and were on leaves, etc., to consider dropping into processing centers and "lend a helping hand" to the overwhelmed employees.

azzure

My sister applied March 25 and was told to expect passports by June 10. She hasn't received them yet -- it's now been 12 weeks. She doesn't travel until the end of July, so hopefully all will be well. Still, I don't know what's up with the passport agencies being so cavalier about the need for expedited services. By the time the OP applied, it was obvious that major delays were occuring.

Barbara_in_CT

If the passports have not been received two weeks prior to leaving, contact your Congressman. They can get them for you. You should not have to pay for expedited service.

The Passport Office is obviously still swamped by the new regulations and don't have the staff to process the high number of applications.

J62

No need to panic yet, but if current delay times don't ease 8/10 is cutting it close (in a bad way) without intervention.

You have a few options.

1. call the Natl Passport Info Center. and pay for expedited service. Since you are 6 weeks away I would do that tomorrow just so you are all set without worry. It will cost you $$.

It's hard to get through, when you get the 'all operators are busy' recording, you need to press 9,3,1 to loop around the voicemail system. You may need to do that 10 or 20 times till the phone rings. They you'll have to wait a couple of minutes till an operator comes on.

2. About 2 weeks before your scheduled departure (or whatever date you wish to tell the government is your departure (wink)), call up both
a. your US congressional rep.
b. the Natl Passport Info Center

Tell them the date you 'need' your passport and they will/should expedite it for you. There will be no added cost to you. That's how I got mine faster than simply waiting.

The congressional office cannot guarantee anything - they have certain channels but my rep hit a dead end.

After you talk to the NPIC and they tell you they've submitted an expedite REQUEST, make sure you call back every few days to track the status. Be nice to the operators who answer the phone. They aren't the ones doing the processing, they aren't responsible for the backlog.

The info on the website which shows you your tracking number isn't fully up to date. Mine showed 'in process' 1 day after I received them FedEx.

Good Luck.

mighty58

Hi Ann, we are going through a current nightmare regarding passports. My 19 years old daughter leaves on 6-27 for Switzerland for summer session at a college there. We applied for her passport in mid March and still have not received it. At that point in time, it was supposed to take 8-10 weeks to get your passport, so we thought we were fine. I started calling the National passport service two weeks prior to her leaving and it took numerous phone calls over the last 10 days and a lot of waiting on the phone for customer service to answer. Lots of assurances that yes, she would get her passport, but no real information to confirm it. Very frustrating and stressful for us. Finally talked to a rep again on last Friday, who gave us a tracking number and when I checked the Fedex website, no record of that number! So called again today and she is supposed to get her passport Fedex'd on Monday (6-25), with it arriving on Tuesday, 6-26!!!
So I sure hope we do get it, because she leaves at 0700 on Wed, 6-27!

The operators are nice and you should not be angry at them or give them a hard time. Obviously the people in charge seriously underestimated the need for passports and it is causing everyone a LOT of stress and grief...

We are leaving for Switzerland to join her in August, so hope the rest of our passports (also applied in March!) are here by then.

Good LUCK!!!