Passport Agency says application was not signed

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dhlunar

Registered Users (C)
My wife applied for her first US Passport in late May.

Today, she gets a letter in the mail from the Washington, DC Passport Agency saying the application was not signed in front of the acceptance agent. The office retained her Naturalization Certificate until this matter gets resolved.

The letter had an envelope in it addressed directly to the Passport Agency in DC. My wife paid for regular service. Once she gets it signed off by again at a Passport Acceptance Agent and it is mailed to the DC Passport Agency, will my wife's application be rushed or will it wait at the end of the line? Is it possible, although, it would mean another execution fee of $25 for my wife to make an appointment and appear at the Washington, DC Passport Agency directly.
 
UPDATE: Wife called the National Passport Information Center (NPIC) tonight and the agent told her that she can visit the DC Passport Agency tomorrow without an appointment to properly execute the application. The agent also said that she would not be charged the $25 execution fee if she visits the Passport Agency.
 
So after receiving the letter on Tuesday and on the advice of the NPIC call center agent, my wife went to the Washington, DC Passport Agency without a appointment on Wednesday. She took everything the letter told her to bring: the letter, a passport photo, ID, and a new DS-11.

She said that she was at the Passport Agency for two hours. When she was there the clerk went to the processing area to pull her original application. My wife was able to see that her original application was not signed as they stated. My wife signed the original application in front of the passport services clerk. The clerk said that her passport would be available on Friday and that she could pick it up then. My wife was going to be out of town on business on Friday, so the clerk said they would mail it. My wife was not charged a new $25 execution fee when she went to the Passport Agency. Yesterday, Saturday, she received a Priority Mail envelope with her new US Passport Book and her Naturalization Certificate.
 
If just the USCIS was as responsive and as efficient as the Department of State... Sorting out a mistake with the USCIS (whether it is yours or theirs) can take ages.
 
König said:
If just the USCIS was as responsive and as efficient as the Department of State... Sorting out a mistake with the USCIS (whether it is yours or theirs) can take ages.
Click to expand...

Never experienced a rejection from USCIS due to lack of signature, but from what I heard it seems like USCIS is better with rejections by mailing the entire application package back to to the applicant in a timely manor. It took six weeks from the time that my wife went to the Passport Acceptance Agent till the time that she got the letter in the mail. However, on the flip side it was nice that the Passport Agency allowed my wife to go in-person to sort it out and to also rushed her application once the issue got resolved.

Of course Passport Services has gotten better over the years. I can recall having to dial a 900 number in order to speak with a customer service agent at the National Passport Information Center back in 2003.
 
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