i paid for the expediated service with my passport renewal and got my new passport a week before they sent my old passport. the old passport had two hole punches in the front cover

Welcome to Fodors nanotazzy. >> got my new passport a week before they sent my old passport. the old passport had two hole punches in the front cover<<

Not sure if you noticed that this is a VERY old thread - but yes, that is the way it works w/ all US passports (sometimes they arrive only a day or two apart but always in separate mailings) and always w/ the hole punched.

In case some are interesting about other countries, we don't get our old passport in Belgium unless we ask for and it is not sure.
The safest way to keep our old passport is to declare it lost...

Interesting, Whathello. The UK government also returns them, even if you are renewing abroad.

When applying for my new passport I was informed to return both expired ones. Of course I didn't sign any receipt for exactly what I was turning in. They only returned the most recent passport, so I called the passport number I had used to schedule my original appointment, and they gave me a specific number for asking further about my one expired and missing passport. Now I got a letter telling me they do not have it! You cannot count on the passport offices because they apparently have no tracking going on at all! Meanwhile, I don't know if this will be the cause of some identity theft down the road, but even if not, it had a lot of personal value to me and I am enraged that they can just 'lose' it!!!

Why did you send two?

What 'both' expired passports? If you had an expired passport that had replaced an earlier expired passport, you were only renewing the latest one.

the passport worker taking my application said I had to send them both! I didn't just pick this out of thin air.

There are idiots working all over.

A relative was told she had to provide professional passport photos, not ones done privately.

A quick check of the government website is the best way to get information.