travelatte

Well, now it is getting very close. We leave on the 12th. I was told by the Passport Center Friday, that my sons' passports were upgraded and would be overnighted to me on Monday. Of course it did not happen. They said check back in afternoon and still nothing. So, I called already this AM and still nothing. I will call again today at five and if nothing I will have to journey to Chicago to get the passports in person. I will leave tomorrow in the afternoon for Chicago.

Does anyone know a decent place to stay near the Federal Building? I am still hoping, but now I know I have to plan on going, and get new photos, new copies of birth cert, etc today. UGH!

Travelatte

sandi_travelnut

You might check on the USA board

travelatte

Thanks,
I did post there. I was just used to posting on Europe board posted here first. Ooops.

Travelatte

sandi_travelnut

I would just go to orbitz or priceline to get the best, cheapest price.

GSteed

Years ago I had to get a passport in Chicago. The line forms early. See if you can find out how early you need be there! Too late and its next day.

Fidel

Yikes, another desperate story. Hope you get them travelatte. My friend is in the same predicament as you, except she waited until two weeks ago to begin the process for the children. They would not entertain her at all, but gave her an appointment for this Thursday (leaving next Monday). My advice to her was to buy trip insurance asap. Good luck to all.

travelatte

Thanks everyone. I have heard the office opens at 9am, but to get there at 7-7:30am. I'm sure the kids will be so excited waiting in line for hours. I'll make sure they have their DS's fully charged and lots of snacks.

We were told to not worry about an appointment and just go.

I am still hoping we get them before we go.

Travelatte

bigbry41

Travelatte,
I understand the frustration....
I just got back from Germany, but before I left I was playing the passport game for 2 weeks prior to our flight. We applied for our passports 8 weeks before our departure, and then I called them 2 weeks before leaving. 3 days before our flight I called them several times and kept getting the "we show that your passport is being worked on and we are aware of your departure date (so leave us alone)" speech everytime I was fortunate enough to speak with a live person. When we woke up at 6 am (our flight was at 10:15 am) we still didn't have them and didn't know if we would, but as it turned out, they did send them via Fedex overnight and we were able to pick them up at Fedex at 9:15 to be on the plane at 10:15!! Talk about cutting it close!! So, good luck and try not to worry too much about it, the US government is working on it!
Big Bry

travelatte

Thanks everyone for the encouragement. I now have tracking numbers. Nothing shows up as of yet, but I will be checking all night long.

Also, while speaking to my congresswoman's office contact, she said she recently spoke with people in the same situation who traveled to Chicago. One got in line at 3 am and was #9. The other 4am and they were #25. Boy, I can't wait to see those passports!!

Travelatte

Carrybean

It took my niece 12 weeks to get hers. It arrived on Saturday & she leaves next Thursday. She was set to go to Chicago too. Hope you don't have to!

travelatte

Still waiting. The tracking # is not tracking yet. I'm getting nervous again. I have heard that FED-EX is not very efficient with tracking. I hope this is the case.

Travelatte

travelatte

Well... the tracking # never worked because they never shipped the passports. According to the Passport person I spoke to this AM, the passports are not finished. I am so irritated. I will have to go to Chicago and wait in line at 4am. Ugh!

Travelatte

Liam

I applied for passports for my kids back in early February. We only got them the third week of May (roughly 14 weeks' processing time). I was starting to bite my nails as we're heading to Europe in 2 weeks.

Dukey

Do you have any assurance they will be finished when you get there?

Good luck.

travelatte

They will issue new passports in Chicago. I need to provide new photos, and additonal copies of birth certificates, since they have all of that in New Orleans. You leave with the passports.


Thanks so much for your support.

Travelatte

monica007

I feel for you. We have 8 weeks to go before our Italy trip and even though DH had gotten passport pics for our daughters 3 months ago, he never got around to doing the actual applications. So we coughed up the extra $184 to do the expedited processing. Decided better to spend the money now than to travel up to Los Angeles and start all over again right before leaving.

Dukey

Monica,

you realize, of course, there have been lengthy delays even for those people who pay for expedited passports don't you?

monica007

Hey Dukey,

Tell me it ain't so. We turned in all our paperwork and fees to the post office on 6/1. Hopefully in the intervening 8 weeks we'll get the passports. We paid the extra money to prevent all the headache and last minute scrambling. If they can't get "expedited" processing done in 8 weeks, there's a serious problem with the system.

travelatte

I think it just depends on where it ends up going. Some seem to go quickly and other places not so. Good Luck.

Travelatte

travelatte

I am now going to Chicago for sure. Although the passports were printed at 7:30 am, they never shipped them. I guess they still needed to pass the quality check. Same story I heard at 1pm. I am now out of time, so I am leaving early tomorrow and hoping for the best.

Travelatte