Passport Renewal
 

Looking for some more current information on approximately how long expedited passports have been taking to process. My husband and I have finally convinced my parents to take a cruise with us the first week of June after pleading with them for the past three years. Of course, they finally said yes! Any information anyone has would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.

I need to clarify.....this is the first passport that my parents have ever had. Thanks.

If the cruise departs from the U.S. and you are a U.S. citizen, I'm pretty sure that you don't need a passport, just a certified birth certificate and i.d. if departures are by land or sea for the time being. I read an article that the cruise industry did an effective job lobbying when the Western Hemispheres Travel Initiative was announced, so although air travel to places that did not previously require passports for U.S. citizens e.g., many Caribbean islands, Mexico, Canada, has changed as result of the new initiative, the cruise industry is exempted until at least 2008 I believe.

Here is a link that you can read the exact language:

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cbpmc/cbpmc_2223.html

You need to check on this page:
http://travel.state.gov/

and go to the link where you can find the office nearest you, and I would guess you should do an expedited passport and still, there are horror stories of them running weeks behind - so I think it would be best if they could actually get their photos and go to an office near them and send it out tomorrow expedited -

if you put 'passports' into the blank search this forum bar at the top of the page, you will see several recent posts about passports

my sister applied for passport renewal, opted for the expedited processing. it has been 3 weeks - she still has not received her passport. hope this gives you an idea of the backlog. she called to follow up on status of her passport, she was on hold for more than 30 mins. and when she finally got a live person, she was told that they have an unusually heavy back log of passport applications due to the new ruling of required passport to canada and mexico

It took me six weeks to get a passport without doing the expedited process.

As Mah1980 said read the state dept's site. There is info that states that if your are traveling by land/sea from the U.S. and you are a citizen, you can still use your birth certificate and photo id. As it stands now, this will remain in effect until January 2008 and perhaps longer.

Arecent piece in the "Washington Post" said that expedited passports could now take twice as long as they used to and that the normal processing time for passports has more or less doubled since so many new applications have ben received.

I took my 5 yr old to have her passport renewed on 20March, paid for expedited service, plus overnight mail there and back (which equals a small fortune!), and received it 31March!! Way to work,U.S. government!!

In the European forum, folks are talking about the 'fact' that recent newspaper accounts say that a regular request for passport renewal is taking up to 12 weeks to process.

Unfortunately, it is largely because folks wait until the last minute and then scramble.

If you live near a passport office, then go yourselves. Otherwise, expedite is the only way to be sure.

There are also services, located in areas where a passport renewal can be done in person, that will charge you a small fortune to have the passport 'walked' through the process.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TRAVEL/04/03/passports.ap/

Aboost in staffing and overtime and weekend hours at the 17 passport agencies has succeeded in reducing some processing delays that had threatened a huge number of overseas vacations for Americans and sparked congressional concern, it said.

Expedited applications, which require an additional fee, will now again be processed in two weeks, down from four at the height of the crisis. Standard applications will still take ten weeks, the department said.

My wife put in for renewal. It has been over 8 weeks now! If I had to do it over I would have opted for expedite service.
PS: Getting a bit nervous and went to the Govt. Passport site. You can see at least if they have a record of reciept of the passport! They do, and still say that 10 weeks will be the norm!
John

We just received our passports. It took 9 weeks to recieve them, but we did not have them expedited. I think if you have it expedited you should be fine.

I don't know what service he used, but a co-worker's son just got his expedited passport after waiting for only one week.

Why not call someone who has years of experience and ask them what the current status is? I would (and have) paid for expedited service for peace of mind.

www.visalady.com

http://www.visalady.us/us-passports-adults-never.html

Here's a step by step explanation of the process. I am not affiliated with the above service in any way - other than they have helped me, friends, and associates get problems resolved quickly.

There's no need to pay visalady or any other agency a fee to get your passport~the fees collected by the US govt. are high enough. Check online (www.travel.state.gov) for the nearest acceptance facility near you, and go drop all your stuff off. What do these people charge, anyway, out of curiosity?

There is no need if there are no time constraints. People use expeditors when they don't live near a walk-in center and they need a passport in a hurry (family emergency, lost passport, unexpected trip, etc.) The cost depends on how fast the turnaround time. If you don't need a expiditor, then don't pay for one.

My suggestion was to call them to answer the OP question. The link was to be helpful to the OP to let her know what she'll need to get together for her parents' first passports.

amydelta....If you use a "service" you pay the regular fees, plus their fee..Usually depends on how long the preocess takes..1 to 2 Business Days around $175 - 200 per item. If you can give them say 2 weeks, then the fee is anywhere from $50 - 75 per item.Then if they have to deliver it to you, there's another fee, or overnight, you get the pic.

Yikes! Sounds like an awful lot of $$ for something that you can easily do yourself. Maybe I should get a new job....hmmmmmm

amydelta....My TA tells me that almost 100% of his referrals to that type of business are corporate travellers.They can afford the service fees.And I would guess that is exactly the type of clientele a vis agency would want.

You are paying for a service. If you need quick turnaround (for whatever reason) and you don't live near a regional passport agency, you can pay someone to go for you.

So, if you live near Boston, Chicago, Aurora, Connecticut, Honolulu, Houston, LA, Miami, New Orleans, New York, Philly, SF, Seattle or DC you can just call and get an appointment to walk in. If you don't, the service fee is usually cheaper than the airline tix and the time off work (before a vacation) to fly to a Passport Center.

For everyone that I've known that has used one, the service fees were a fraction of the costs that would be forfeited if they didn't make the flight and missed their vacation.

I filed for expedited service for a renewal in the beginning of March. I got my passport on Saturday. It sounds like 3-4 weeks is what expedited is taking.

Mah1980 is correct, I believe for cruises to Bermuda at least...you don't need a passport if you are arriving by cruiseship. But whether your parents need a passport or not does depend on where you are going.

Thanks for everyone's input. The .gov website wasn't really clear on what was needed or required at this time, I could tell what was might be happening on January 1st, 2008 but it would be nice if it told you what you needed to know today ;)

I did some more research today based on the board ideas and found that if the cruise leaves a port in the US and returns to a US port, you can use a certified birth certificate and a photo id such as a drivers license.

My parents have decided to apply for expedited passports since it makes travelling that much easier. Since they will have to mail in their birth certificates they are going to obtain new certified copies of their birth certificates since those appear to only take 5-7 days to turn around a rush request.

Hopefully they will get their passports in time, I have found it is a thousand times easier for the embark/disembark process to have one. My husband and I would get off the ship in a matter of minutes as opposed to groups of people who had gotten off an hour before us that were still standing in the customs line. It makes a HUGE difference. I guess that will all change at the beginning of next year......

UPDATE: I thought everyone would find this interesting....my parents recieved their passports today in the mail, I am impressed. With the expedited service done directly at the post office it took only 10 days for them to recieve them in the mail today. Hopefully this will inspire others who need passports asap to get them expedited, it worked for them. I was also impressed with the clerks offices in each of their counties of birth. They sent their requests and payment via fax on Thursday after I made the initial post. My mom had her certified birth certificate waiting in the mail for her Saturday morning and my father's was in by the following Wednesday.

Thanks for everyones input and ideas!

I received my passport today in the mail. They had received my renewal application on March 22nd. I had requested routine handling at the time, which was a big mistake.
After many phone calls, hours on hold, and being given different answers, I was able to request "expedited" handling and gave my Visa card number to the clerk over the phone. I also had called my congressman who had a contact at the passport office and also requested expedited handling for me.

It took 3 weeks for my application to show up on line. I requested the expedited handling on April 11th. The tracking page said I would receive my passport within 4 weeks from the date I applied. Two days later it said my passport had been processed and I should get it by 4-21.

I received it today April 18th, exactly 4 WEEKS after they received my application.
My advice is to pay for the expedited handling, just to be safe :-)
Karina

Noting the great time advantage of the Expedited service (3-4 weeks vs 10-infinity ...), one has to wonder: if more and more people opt for Expedited ($127 + delivery vs. $67, or essentially a 100% increase in cost), will the expedited service also slow down? Meanwhile, does every expedited order push a normal request further back? It seems to me that $67 is not exactly small change, and that the Expedited service option creates yet another tiered program favoring anyone with 3 more twenties to spare. When it becomes "negligent" on a traveler's part to apply for a passport 8 weeks in advance of travel - now 12 weeks may be cutting it close - isn't it time for some action? Protests? Or should applications be accompanied by a box of cookies?


Reading posts on this and other threads, it begins to feel like we're watching a movie about a country where bribes and payoffs are required for those "travel papers" ...

"Professional expediters" add another tier of service for those with yet more $ available. Desperate travelers spend days and more money rushing to government offices with their documents in hand, praying they'll be able to board that last plane. Some receive their delivery moments before leaving for the airport. Some don't make it! Planes and ships leave without them! Children stand confused at the gate as their mothers weep! The bride leaves on the honeymoon alone, the groom waiting still for the FedEx delivery.

If there ever was an incentive to "see America first" ...

Recently did this (back in Feb/March). My renewal took 6 weeks and a few days. My parents both got first time ones and theirs took 6 weeks. I don't know why mine took a few days longer when it was just a renewal!

Oh well, we are all set now. :)

Amelie, do you mind saying what state you're in, or where you sent your renewal? With everyone here saying it's taking 10-12 weeks right now, it would be interesting to know.

Ohio

Thanks.

Don't undestand why it is taking so long to get our passport renewed. The State Dept cashed the check in 2 days and they say the wait is 10 weeks!! Something is definitely wrong here.

My grand-daughter applied at local post ofice On April20th and received her expedited passport May 1st. It was a first for her and we live near San Francisco...

I live near Los Angeles. Can I
go there and just drop off the
pp and application? Would that
save any time.
I know you can't get an appt unless
you arfe within 2 weeks of travel.

For anyone not considering expedited, my daughters finally arrived yesterday after 14 weeks.

I called Lot A/L today. I was on hold
so long' I acually forgot who I waiting
for. Good thing I have the 99centStore
card.
We aren't flying on that a/l but the
agent looked in his computer and it
shows that our pp has to be valid for
dates of travel.
Sooooooooo do we take a chance?at