Hello,

You know a few years ago (2000/2001) I had a similar problem with a Visa.

My wife last year applied for her American Passport. Right after her Naturalization Ceremony. I checked the website every week and one week it said that the passport would be "in the mail in three weeks", two days later she had it in her hand!

New Orleans was one of the biggest passport publishing/issuing offices,
from the time we applied to the time she had it in hand, 30 days!!

Katrina & 9/11 cost us more than we know

Went Houston downtown today for jury duty. When my bus passed the Federal building at around 7:50am, there was a long line on the southside (not at the eastside front entrance). Probably around 100 people there, and not sure how many inside, etc.

Like what you see at some US Embassies or Consulates in Asia. Not a pretty scene.

Passport processing has been a nightmare for people for 2 reasons: depending on your geographic location, your passport could have been approved out of the port of New Orleans, as mine was in 2001. I doubt if the port authority there is back up to speed because of Katrina; also, because Americans now need passports to travel to/from Canada and Mexico, the demand is way, way, WAY up and service, as usual with the gov. is way, way down. A tip: don't mail your application in. Go to your local office when you're ready to apply and do it in person. Be friendly, charming, suck-uppy, etc. The pencil pushers will appreciate it and not "misplace" your application. I did this when I got my passport, not expedited, and got in 2 weeks. My mother got her passport in 2 weeks, right before Thanksgiving of '06 by going in person to apply. Also, my friend and I were in London, scheduled to go to Rome and she lost her passport the same day we were supposed to fly out. A trip to the US Consulate and a couple of hours later and she had a fresh, new "emergency" passport and we were on our way - no BS. All true stories. It pays to actually track down your passport authority office as opposed to using the post office.

WE MADE OUR FLIGHT!!! My husband made it to the gate with THREE minutes to spare!! I was sitting there just fixing to cry, but then, there he was. The airlines were very understanding and were going to try to put us on stand by for a later flight if he missed this one.

So we made it to London where we had to spend an unexpected night because of the airstrike in Italy, but finally made it to Rome yesterday. Barely made it from the airport to the Scavi tour, but doing the tour and afterwards seeing the tomb of the late Pope John Paul II made everything worth it.

In hindsight, of course we would have expedited or used a private service or gone down to the Houston office earlier. But we bought our plane tickets on a Thursday and went the following week to get a passport so since it was our first time to Europe not something we would just get and "keep on hand"...and with 3 kids at home and one on the way, probably won't be needing it again for a while.

THanks again for all the well wishes and I hope somebody will read my post and be able to avoid our hassle.

PS...anyone going to the Houston office...my husband said it is complete chaos. Everyone is desparate...everyone needs their passport ASAP, there is cutting in line, lying, you name it (all adults) mind you. And he said that most of the people he talked to DID expedite their passport and still did not get it in time (not sure how long they allowed for processing). The whole system is messed up. Makes me wonder with the amount of stress the workers are under to get so many new passports done, how carefully they are being looked at.

Thanks again for everything...your support helped me get through Monday until it was time to go to the airport.

Yay, texgirl! Thanks for taking time from your Italian holiday to give us the rest of the story. I hope you are having a great time.

I have been checking this post every so often to hear if you made it there. This is an exciting beginning for what will be a wonderful holiday for you both.

AAFF is right on.
M (SMdA, Gto., MX)

So happy to hear you made it! That as a nail biter!

Enjoy Rome, I just got back from 3 weeks in Italy and I feel like it was all a wonderful dream.

hooray!! Now take it easy and relax a bit . . . . .

How would a US citizen be able to GET to a consulate office in another country to use the service AAFF mentions if they need to renew a passport that's expired? Am I missing something?

"For new passports they do need 2-3 days, but if planned accordingly it's not a problem."

I guess you're saying if you're overseas and your passport will be expiring, maybe use this service while you're away?

I'm thinking of using a passport expediter. I might takes Monk's lead and use AAA. Anyone else have a reco for an expediter usec recently?

Btw, texgirl, soooo glad it finally worked out.

This issue was on the news last night, in Dallas. They showed the crazy long lines at the Houston office, hundreds of people. They did say that if it is 10 days or less from your trip and you still don't have your passport, to call your Congressman. There were people in the line that had paid the expedite charge and still waited over 90 days and they were panic striken because of the approaching departure date.

now i understand "competition with european travellers" was meant to mean " competition with the travellers GOING to Europe".

my misunderstanding.

I drive by the federal building in Houston every day. The line is always there, and has been for months. Evidently, not many people paid attention last year when they were told they would now need a passport to travel to Mexico, the Caribbean and Canada. It got really bad back in Feb. when spring breakers decided to apply for their passports with only a few weeks to spare. It's especially hectic here in Texas, and any of the border states. We have a large concentration of citizens of Mexican descent who now require a passport to visit family back in Mexico. Kids are getting out of school for the summer, and the race is on!

Thank you, texgirl, for letting us know. I have been in a state of suspense waiting to hear how it went.

ENJOY YOUR VACATION, you deserve it!

By the way, my son got off to London yesterday, with his 4-day old passport in hand!

Just came back from Houston yesterday with the family. We applied for passports 17 weeks ago and had to get our US congress involved. It took us 7 hours of waiting in line before we could talk to an agent even though we had a 10:00 am appointment.

Good news, WITH THE HELP OF Congressman Michael Burgess, we walked out with my childrens passports and are able to fly to Europe this weekend.

<b>mclaurie</b>,

I was replying to a more frequent traveler's post.

When I did it I had about 4 months left on my old passport. It was a piece of cake.

The pages were added in Tokyo last year even though I still had about 2-3 blank pages to go and few spots for stamps on some other pages.

If one waits for the last minute than one gets what's coming. I don't.

You RULE, Texgirl!

Have a GREAT trip!

There are no new passports rules about the Caribbean that I know of....? You can still fly in/out Puerto Rico with no passports. I believe Mexico and Canada still the areas impacted by the new requirements.

Way to go texgirl! Enjoy your vacation. You and DH certainly deserve it!

Viajero,

Going to PR is like going to another state...It's part of the US. However, there are other islands in the Caribbean that are not US, like Brtish Virgin Islands, etc.