I handed in all the necessary paperwork for my 3 young children's 1st passports on July 19. Today I received their passports in the mail. I renewed my passport by mail on July 25 and received it on August 6. No expediting service was used. Not gloating but it does beg to question, why are we lucky? W/the children I used an agent or contractor located at the post office in town. Besides the application, I wonder if these contractors have to also send a form describing their impressions of the applicants. I know that the local passport office (very long lines not worth going there) is a block from the post office. This particular agent may have a long time relationship w/this passport office. Or maybe this agent is qualified to do preliminary checking. I wonder if the destination on the application affects the process time, ie, mainland China vs France. Or how much direct info the feds may have on the applicant. In my case the FBI has 3 sets of fingerprints. No. I'm not a felon! I wonder if geographic location of local passport office makes a difference. From a previous thread, posters who commented on the long wait time tended to be from the western 1/2 of the country. Any comments, any facts?
Posted by
Bloomington, IL, USA
9363 posts
From people I've talked to in my area, there doesn't seem to be much delay around here, either. Renewals are always quicker than new applications. I doubt that it has much to do with destination since you don't have to list a destination or even proposed travel dates to apply for a passport. I would think that demand in your region for passports would be the most important determining factor in how quickly they are processed.
Posted by
Atlanta, GA, USA
1 posts
I applied for a new passport on July 10 and I recieved my passport on august 20th. I didn't expidite it either. I was surprised because when I applied the agent said it would most likely October when I recieved it. Maybe the gov't. is finally getting their act together at the passport offices. Who knows..
Posted by
Provo/Orem, Utah, USA
2 posts
I applied on April 30st and received it on August 22nd. Perhaps someday I'll be able to enthrall my grandkids with stories of being in the great passport rush of '07 :-)
Posted by
Pittsburgh, PA, USA
510 posts
My 5-year-old son's passport was set to expire in February 2008, so, reading and hearing all sorts of horror stories, my wife and I decided we better get busy and apply for his renewal now. We submitted the paperwork through our local Post Office in the middle of August and received his new passport this week. I know that many people have had significant issues with obtaining new passports or renewing their expiring passports, but our experience was very positive also.
Posted by
Everett, WA
49 posts
Wow... You all seem to be very lucky. I know you've seen my other post... "Passport Nightmare"... 12+ weeks for me (if they had gotten it correct the first time). I live in the Seattle area and I know there is a passport office in Seattle and one in San Fran. However, my passport application went to South Carolina!!! I don't think it has anything to do with your geographical location.
Posted by
Portland, OR, USA
389 posts
I'm with Heath. We applied in Portland and it went to Louisiana while my family in Texas applied in Amarillo and it went to Maine! Clearly there are big bins under some sorting machine and like balls falling in pin-ball they land in the basket with no rhyme or reason! Of course the only real reason we know this is that we were on the phone worrying over the passports up until we left. I hope the government is getting their act together, but anytime the rules change new people are added to the mix. I advise everyone to have a passport, just in case! Opportunities might present themselves or the rules might change again.
I was wondering, does everyone in Europe have a passport. It seems like it, but I don't know and I suppose if you didn't want to travel ever you might be able to live without one. Hard to imagine.