Where is my passport?

Factual Questions
1

I renewed my passport in January. The check was cashed the first week in March. When my husband renewed his last year, it came within a week of the check being cashed.

When I tried the website, to see if they had any sort of tracking I found it to be a blank page. I’d bookmarked it when I downloaded the form. Thinking maybe they’d moved it, I Googled only to find the same thing.
I realize the passport office is swamped, so how do I find out what happened to my passport? Should I just wait some more? I’m afraid someone grabbed from the mail and I’ll end up being somebody else! (or worse, someone else will be me.)

2

I clicked on that link and got to a page saying US Passport Application Status, allowing you to check the status of your passport request.

3

Hmmm. I just renewed mine, paying extra for the 2-week expedited service (with USPS Express Mail delivery both ways), and I got the new passport within ten days.

I just checked the status of my passport application on this site, and it returned the correct information that my application had been processed and the passport mailed by overnight delivery, with an accurate estimate of the date that I received it. The site also provided something called a “passport application locator number” and a phone number for calling to check on passport applications.

Overall, I gotta say, it was a very successful experience with a big government bureaucracy. Of course, for what I paid for it, it damn well should have been! :slight_smile:

4

Here is a bit from the site with phone numbers:

We are currently experiencing a very high volume of calls. Please expect delays if you wish to speak to a customer service representative. You may have to call several times before reaching a representative. However, please note that representatives are available from 7:00 a.m. to 12 midnight, ET, Monday-Friday, except federal holidays.

Representatives are also available for limited weekend hours for emergency situations in which travelers are leaving in 7 days or less.

*
  Telephone Number: 1-877-4USA-PPT (1-877-487-2778)
*
  TDD/TTY: 1-888-874-7793. Telephone number for customers with telecommunication devices for the hearing impaired. This telephone number cannot be accessed by a standard touch tone or rotary dial telephone.
*
  Customer Service Representatives and Operators for TDD/TTY are available Monday-Friday, 7 a.m. to midnight, Eastern Time, excluding federal holidays.  
*
5

Kimstu, thanks, your link worked. It told me that my application was being processed.

IrreverentTone, thanks, I’ll keep the number just in case.

6

If you have to call go to bed early and set your alarm for O’dark:30.* Call as soon as the office opens. Most people won’t do this and the phone lines get way busier later in the day.
You can go back to bed after you get off the phone.

*[Robin Williams] The O stands for Oh, my God it’s early![RW]

7

Wow, that’s a really long time. I mailed my passport renewal last Monday and got it back on last Friday. Of course, it did cost a lot of $$$, but I didn’t pay for it, so oh well… :o

8

New passport laws went into effect in January, and that’s caused a huge backlog for the state department. January-to-April is typically their peak demand, anyway. State Department says they’ve got 1.5 million new applications in March alone. They’re saying 10 weeks for normal processing, four weeks for expeditied procesing.

Here’s an AP article on the subject, and a link to statement from the state department.

9

Is yours a diplomatic or exempt passport? They are handled differently. My husband has an exempt passport for his job.

Rick, that would be fine, except the phone is only answered until midnight EDT.

The funny thing is, I watched the news a few minutes after I posted this thread, and they had a huge story about all the people asking the same question. :rolleyes:

Mine should be here soon. It’s been 11 weeks today.

10

No, it’s a normal passport. My company just pays many hundreds of dollars for special service, ostensibly because “we don’t want to lose a project because you’re waiting on a passport.” I also travel internationally…well, a lot, so perhaps checking my renewal status is more of a rubber stamp? I don’t know. Eleven weeks sounds insane.

11

:dubious:

I said to call when they open not when they close. 7 AM Eastern = 4 AM in Seattle. Get out of bed, and call at 4 AM. You will get right through. Or wait till 9 AM in Seattle and spend all day listening to busy signals.
Your choice.

12

Picunurse, I applied for a new passport in the first week of January, and today I got a letter from them asking for, among other things, an explanation of why my previous passport was mutilated, photocopied picture ID, and new photos. Irritated.

13

Duh :smack: I’m up at 4:30 getting hubby off to work, so you’re absolutely right.

14

Call your Congressman’s office, and ask for their assistance. They have staff that handle just this sort of situation.

15

The special service is generally someone going in person the the passport office. That’s why they can guarantee it to be fast – it never goes into the whole queue.

16

Actually, no person is necessary, just money. Cite.

If you are traveling in the next 10 days, you can go to a passport office and get one in person the same day. (at least you could a few years ago, when we did this for my daughter). Now the passport office says to call if you are traveling in the next 10 days.

17

Last night’s news interviewed people leaving for various places in the next few days who had been standing in line at the passport office all day, and would probably not get service. I guess I’ll just wait quietly, since we have no travel plans at the moment.