Expedited Passport

Passport application timeline

Applied for U.S. passport in person at USPS in Washington, DC - Expedited Service requested: 2/12/07 (2 checks; one for $30 and one for $127)

Check for $30 cashed: 2/14/07

Check for $127 cashed: 3/6/07

Passport received by USPS Priority Mail: 3/12/07

Online status for my application did not appear until 3/10/07, at which time it stated as follows:

"Thank you for submitting your passport application!

Your passport application locator number is [ ].

We have finished processing your passport, and it has been mailed to you.

You requested delivery by regular mail. Passport Agencies use Priority Mail. This means you should receive your passport on or about 03/12/2007.

Your Priority Mail delivery confirmation number is [ ]. *** Please note that the delivery confirmation number is not a tracking number. It is a number that will provide information as to whether or not an envelope has been delivered. You can click on the delivery confirmation number to check delivery status or call USPS at 1-800-222-1811."

Contrary to the above, you may then track and confirm your package from the USPS website, which will tell you when the package has been received by your local post office ("Arrival at Unit") and then when it has been "Delivered" to your address. In my case, there was a two day time lag.

The date of issue of my passport, as printed on the inside front cover, was 3/6/07.

I would advise anyone who intends to travel within 4 weeks to apply in person at a Passport Agency within 2 weeks of your travel date.

Good luck to everyone!
 
rbarrage said:
Applied for U.S. passport in person at USPS in Washington, DC - Expedited Service requested: 2/12/07 (2 checks; one for $30 and one for $127)

Check for $30 cashed: 2/14/07

Check for $127 cashed: 3/6/07

Passport received by USPS Priority Mail: 3/12/07

Online status for my application did not appear until 3/10/07, at which time it stated as follows:

"Thank you for submitting your passport application!

Your passport application locator number is [ ].

We have finished processing your passport, and it has been mailed to you.

You requested delivery by regular mail. Passport Agencies use Priority Mail. This means you should receive your passport on or about 03/12/2007.

Your Priority Mail delivery confirmation number is [ ]. *** Please note that the delivery confirmation number is not a tracking number. It is a number that will provide information as to whether or not an envelope has been delivered. You can click on the delivery confirmation number to check delivery status or call USPS at 1-800-222-1811."

Contrary to the above, you may then track and confirm your package from the USPS website, which will tell you when the package has been received by your local post office ("Arrival at Unit") and then when it has been "Delivered" to your address. In my case, there was a two day time lag.

The date of issue of my passport, as printed on the inside front cover, was 3/6/07.

I would advise anyone who intends to travel within 4 weeks to apply in person at a Passport Agency within 2 weeks of your travel date.

Good luck to everyone!
Click to expand...

rbarrage, I have applied on 02/24/2007 using expedited service. And currently, my Status shows that the passport has been mailed to me, and I should receive it on or about 03/14. Do they require a signature in order to deliver? I am afraid they will leave it in front of the door which is extremely unsafe. I am also wondering how come it took you 4 weeks while some applicants here received it in less than 2 weeks.
 
Hi medievalKnight...when my passport came to me, I had to sign for it.

The envelope stated that it had to be delivered by 12pm and the guy that brought it to my door (not my usual postman by the way but a Post Office representative) came at 11.40am and asked if I was the person stated on the envelope.
 
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Should I go to a passport agency?

My oath date is March 22 and I need to travel to Europe on April 7. Based on the latest processing time, is it better for me to go directly to a passport agency? What's your advice?

What's the difference between a passport agency and a Passport Acceptance Facility? Why don't people just wait until they have to travel in 2 weeks to go directly to a passport agency if the normal (or expedited) processing takes so long these days?
 
If you are planning to travel on April 7th, I would highly suggest that you apply at a Passport Agency and bring your itinerary with you to prove that you are travelling within 2 weeks.

Most folks like to get their passports before they really need it. Thus, most folks apply via the Passport Acceptance Facility.
 
MedievalKnight,

If you asked, and paid, for your passport to be returned to you by overnight mail, then I believe that you will be required to sign upon delivery. I did not pay for overnight delivery (I probably would have received my passport three days sooner if I had). Therefore, my passport was sent to me by USPS Priority Mail and no signature was required. The envelope was placed in my post box.

rbarrage
 
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rbarrage said:
MedievalKnight,

If you asked, and paid, for your passport to be returned to you by overnight mail, then I believe that you will be required to sign upon delivery. I did not pay for overnight delivery (I probably would have received my passport three days sooner if I had). Therefore, my passport was sent to me by USPS Priority Mail and no signature was required. The envelope was placed in my post box.

rbarrage
Click to expand...

Happigal, rbarrage, Thank you both for answering promptly to my query! In fact, I did not pay for overnight delivery. I am assuming they will probably leave it in the mail box. I am just wondering whether it would fit in there :confused:
Cheers!
 
My Timeline

Got my Passport yesterday, a few days sooner than I expected. It was in a stiff envelope, which the postman bent when trying to fit it into my mailbox. Not a problem, though; everything survived just fine. :cool:

It's one of the new e-Passports, with anti-fraud measures and an embedded chip.

Next I'll be sending in my Indian Passport for cancellation to the Consulate in SFO, followed by an application for a PIO card. That should all take about 2-3 weeks to get done.

So my timeline is as follows:

Became a US citizen: 3/1/07 (see here for my full citizenship timeline)

Applied for Passport: 3/2/07, with expedited processing at King Country Courthouse, Redmond, WA

Check cashed: 3/9/07

Online status appeared: 3/9/07

Status changed to Passort "has been mailed to you by priority mail": 3/10/07

Passport received: 3/12/07
 
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My fabulous passport is finally at hand!:) I had to go and get it personally from the post office, but it's indeed worth it! It took 17 days in total. For those in line for citizenship or waiting for their passport, just hang on, it will come with litte of patience. Good things happen for those who wait. Good luck to all!!!
 
I applied on Feb 22nd. My check is not cashed. I applied as expedited both ways. I went through the delays in citizenship. I don't know why this is just happening to me. I may need to go the passport office to get my passpot application. When i call the custome service, they say they cannot track until the check is cashed. This is ridiculous. I hope this will get fixed immediately.
 
r2ichennai2007....I am just wondering...did you apply for your passport with expedited service or regular service? I understand from your postings that you paid for overnight express delivery both ways but it's not really clear if your passport is expedited.

If it is, it might be delayed due to the overwhelming request for passports. It looks like it's taking 3 - 4 weeks for expedited and 10 weeks for regular.

I understand it's frustrating but I'm sure you'll get your passport soon. Hang in there....
 
r2ichennai2007 said:
I applied on Feb 22nd. My check is not cashed. I applied as expedited both ways. I went through the delays in citizenship. I don't know why this is just happening to me. I may need to go the passport office to get my passpot application. When i call the custome service, they say they cannot track until the check is cashed. This is ridiculous. I hope this will get fixed immediately.
Click to expand...

I applied for my Passport on Feb 23 and my check is also not cashed till now. I went for the regular service (big mistake in hindsight) with expedite shipping for tracking purposes.

The lady said at the postoffice it is taking 3 weeks for case to appear so I am hoping it will be come up net week.
 
Ha, another Feb 23rd on here too. Or was it Feb 22nd that I applied. No clue, just now checked to see if my checks were cashed and nope they haven't been. I did regular service as well as I wasn't keeping up with the news, I figured it would take 4-6 weeks. Didn't realize that it will take probably 4-6 weeks just to cash the check in.

Figure there's a lot of us in that boat with the regular service, so eventually they'll get around to it. I am just glad I haven't planned any trips as of yet to go back to my fatherland...
 
My Passport Timeline...

I am supossed to be leaving traveling to Europe March 21st...

Visited local post office with application and was told Routine service was more than enough time, and not to worry about it.

That was January 19th, and today is March 16th and still NO passport.

It is IMPOSSIBLE to contact the NPIC. I have called hundreds of times, between 10-12 at night, AND starting at 7AM. It always says the system is too busy and try again later.

1/19/07 - Applied for routine service (because that's what they recomended)

The first time I checked (in Early March) it said:

you should receive your passport on or about 3/12/07

Then I checked again a few days later and it said:

you should receive your passport on or about 3/13/07

Then I checked a few days later then it said:

you should receive your passport on or about 3/17/07

Then I emailed, because calling is impossible and their email response was call us if you don't have it by 3/12/07.

So I email them back on 3/14 saying it's impossible, so they write me back 3 days later (on 3/15) with this response:

Per your email, we have notified the passport agency regarding your application and urgent need for the passport.

So I check the status again after that email and the new status says:

you should receive your passport on or about 3/20/07

I wrote another email on 3/14 saying I was desperate and I'd come pick it up so I wouldn't miss my trip. I did not receive a response for that email.

Today the status has change to say:

Your passport application is in the final processing stages.

you should receive your passport on or about 03/21/2007.

IF I RECEIVE IT ON 3/21/2007 THAT WOULD BE TOO LATE!

This is so frustrating.
 
My brother's Experience...

My brother is going on this trip with me and he lives in Las Vegas. Here is his timeline. On March 5 he called the automated line to schedule an appointment for the LA Agency (5 hour drive). The earliest available appointment was noon on March 15th. He arrived at 11:50 at the Agency in LA, and by 4:15 walked out with a promise of a passport. They said come back at noon tomorrow and your passport should be ready for you to pick up.

They said, we can overnight it, but we are so backed up that we might not be able to get it in the mail for a week. So instead of chancing it and driving back to Vegas he got a Hotel and is going back at noon today to pick it up.

I tried to schedule an appointment on March 12 at the Chicago Agency and it said there were no appointments available until March 26 (14 days later). And they only schedule 14 days out! Since I leave on March 21 that was not an option. What a nightmare!
 
March 16 Article on Passport Delays (WashingtonPost)

U.S. Warns of Long Delays For Passports

Overwhelmed by unprecedented demand, the State Department is warning would-be travelers to brace for lengthy delays in getting U.S. passports, even when they pay a hefty fee to speed their applications.

The department has hired hundreds of employees to process passport requests over the past two years as tougher immigration rules have taken effect. Even so, the department says a crush of new applicants -- more than 1 million a month -- has inundated its staff and caused delays of up to 1 1/2 months amid the peak January-to-April season when many people are preparing to travel over the spring and summer.



Complete Story: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/15/AR2007031501827.html?sub=AR
 
warlord said:
Ha, another Feb 23rd on here too. Or was it Feb 22nd that I applied. No clue, just now checked to see if my checks were cashed and nope they haven't been. I did regular service as well as I wasn't keeping up with the news, I figured it would take 4-6 weeks. Didn't realize that it will take probably 4-6 weeks just to cash the check in.

Figure there's a lot of us in that boat with the regular service, so eventually they'll get around to it. I am just glad I haven't planned any trips as of yet to go back to my fatherland...
Click to expand...

r2ichennai2007 and warlord,
Let us keep each other posted if you see the check is cashed or status shows up.
I guess we have applied at the same time with same service so we may be getting it done around the same time... hopfully.
 
Hello Happigal,
I applied expedited. I applied via overnight both ways so there is no delays there. Still no luck.

Imy,
I will keep you posted. Looks like happigal got lucky.
Just a few hours made a big difference. I missed the 21st due to huge crowd at the post office. otherwise i would have got it earlier.

I am planning to schedule an appointment and go there and check it either way.
 
Just an update.

According to the website, my passport date has been pushed back for the 5th time.

Now according to the website, I should receive my passport on or about March 24th. My travel date is March 21st. The nightmare continues....

Also, the status has changed and now says it that the passport is in the mail, and I have a confirmation number for shipping, but that doesn't guarantee that it's in the mail yet. It just means they've printed the label.
 
Hello Imy,
A good news today.
Cheque was deposited on March 15, 2007 and cashed out on March 16, 2007.
Online status says the following. I hope you guys application will show online soon. I am atleast now feeling better. My vacation is in April 2nd week. This helps me to plan my vacation accordingly.

Your application is still being processed, but the timesframe for issuing your passport has increased due to workload.

When you applied, you requested Expedite Service, but paid additionally for Overnight Return Delivery.

This means you should receive your passport on or about 03/24/2007.

If your travel plans change and you need your passport sooner, please contact the National Passport Information Center.
 
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