Passport Received - Interesting Experience
Went for my passport appointment yesterday at 8:30 AM at the NYC regional passport office. NYC office is very near the Houston Street subway stop on Line 1.
Process was fairly straightforward. Make sure you have your appointment confirmation number with you. Once I was checked in at the information booth (about 10 minutes in line), I was asked to go to the 10th floor, where I waited just a couple of minutes before my number was called.
Gave Naturalization Certificate, completed application form, travel itinerary, and photos to the lady at the counter. I signed something, paid $157 by credit card, was given a pickup slip, and we were done in just a few minutes. Pickup slip said the passport would be ready at 10 AM! Damn, just 1.5 hour, awesome! I'll just wait here till then.
But...
As I was waiting, 10 AM became 10:30, which became 11:00, and then 11:30. Finally, at 11:45, some official announced that the passport system was down, and that no more passports would be printed!!! (a few made it through earlier, but it was slow goings)! Everyone who was waiting for a passport was asked to leave, and only those who were traveling the same day were allowed to stay, and there was still no guarantee that they would get their passports.
So I left. FYI, there's no way of finding out if your passport is ready (you can't call, you can't check online, etc). I, however, am very lucky that my parents live in Manhattan, so I gave my pickup slip to my father (you can sign it over to an authorized person for pickup) and he went today and it was ready. So he picked it up, and they returned my Naturalization Certificate as well, of course. Took him just 2-3 minutes for everything. So, all is good!
A few pieces of advice:
- Complete the passport form online and print out the resultant PDF. This print-out contains a bar code with all the information you entered, so one scan and all your information gets uploaded. Easy for them, easy for you.
- Don't arrive more than 15 minutes earlier than the scheduled appointment time - they will turn you away and ask you to come back closer to the appointment time.
- Don't lose your pickup slip! One guy had lost his, and they gave him a pretty tough time.
Well, that ends my process! I travel on Saturday on a US passport for the first time, and I am looking forward to it. Thanks all on this board for all the advice and info! Timeline (below) has been updated. I will still be monitoring the boards for the near future, but of course not when I am traveling!
Happy Holidays to all of you (I sure got a great present)!!!
Regards.
___________________________________________
04/17/07 : Application sent by UPS
04/18/07 : Received Date, Priority Date
05/02/07 : Receipt notice
05/10/07 : Fingerprints notice
05/23/07 : Fingerprinting completed at Newark
10/02/07 : Case status disappears online
10/04/07 : IL received (dated 09/29/07)
12/12/07 : Interview/Oath completed at Newark, Naturalization Certificate received
12/18/07 : Passport appointment completed at NYC regional passport office
12/19/07 : Passport picked-up from NYC regional passport office