Hello Sri69,
Can you please provide more details on the process? I am going to the passport agency on Jun 2nd at 9:30 AM since I am traveling to Canada on Jun 5th. Both my wife and I have to get our passport by then. Didnt know the law changed even for land crossing!
Thank you!
I'm not a pro at this and you're pretty near the deadline, so make sure to double check on the information. But here is a general summary.
1. Make an appointment using the 1-877-487-2778 national passport line --
http://travel.state.gov/passport/fri/schedule/schedule_852.html. Typically the appointments are in 15 min or 30 min intervals. You can keep cycling through the available appointments using the automated system. If you don't make an appointment, you won't be allowed to enter the building (at least in LA over the past couple days). That is, unless you are an aspiring actor or actress and can talk your way through an emergency situation with the passport security staff. Saw some pretty entertaining dramatics at the door throughout the day.
2. Once you get entry to the building, you give the security guard your appt. number. Note: You can show early. We had an appt for around 1:30pm or so, and we were allowed to stand in line at about 11:15am.
3. You'll wait in the first line where they basically assemble a passport package. They'll look at your itinerary, take your documents (nat cert, driver's license, or whatever applies to your situation). Then you'll get assigned another number and the wait continues. It provided an estimated wait time on the ticket... It took nearly double the estimated time for the number to be called.
4. When your second number is called, then the clerk will enter the info into the computer and double check the paper work. They'll gladly take your money at this point. If you are traveling any time soon, this is your opportunity to beg. Otherwise, you'll be put in the standard queue with the risk of not having your documents in time for pickup. There were countless people that were arguing/pleading their case about how they had expedited their passport, but it had not yet arrived and they were traveling next day. The cutoff for same day passports in LA was some time around 12:00pm-1:00pm or so. If they tell you next day by xx time, expect xx plus another 3-6 hours unless they've addressed the backlog.
5. You pick up the passport at the will call window (in LA). You goto the end of the line... wait... if the passport is not ready by the time you reach the window, they cycle you back to the end of the line. Rinse and repeat.
6. Ironically the parking lot has a limit to 3 hours max at LA. At least they were not handing out citations the past couple days.
Couple other misc. notes at LA -- you can't (or at least not supposed to..) take food or drink into the passport waiting room. But you can eat in the hall, and/or there is a cafe in the building across if you get stuck waiting over lunch time. If your number is called, they recall about 2-3 times.. then cycle to the next number. So stay alert and keep an eye as it gets closer to your number.
A couple of the national news agencies are mentioning that the dept. HLS is stating that people crossing without the appropriate docs will be given background checks and a warning, but allowed to re-enter the USA. But you know how fun that would be, so it would be a good idea to sort out your docs and get the passport (or nexus, etc.).
Wish you good success with the processing and with some luck you might be able to swing a same day PP. And if you plan to go to LA office for 9:30am, be sure to plan for the traffic. The congestion around the I405/I10, etc. is in its own world class of breed.
And please do the research, as you'll only have one chance to sort this out before the 5th (get a 2nd opinion, not just mine), especially if you are going to another regional facility - rules may vary.
