It has been 12 weeks for my passport renewal. I'm getting close to my two week departure date. When is the best time to make that phone call and what happens then?
Posted by
Seattle
223 posts
You cannot call until you are 14 days from your trip.
How close is Grapeview to Seattle? What will happen, typically, is you'll call and explain to them that you need your passport soon. If they can find you in their system, they will expedite processing.
If they cannot find your application (which is what happened to me), they'll have you go to your nearest passport office (different that the neighborhood service centers where you dropped off your application), which is probably Seattle, and re-apply, bring new pictures, etc. along with a copy of your plane ticket (or email receipt). They'll then issue you a new passport and they say that they'll refund your oringal payment. However, in my case, when they found my original application they mailed me a second passport.
God bless America.
Posted by
Orangevale, CA, USA
125 posts
I started getting concerned one month before I left when I didn't have my passport and called anyway and told them my trip was in 10 days. I know it's lying but I did not want to wait 2 weeks prior to my trip (plus I was graduating from college and didn't want the added stress). I found the best time to call was around 9 am (Pacific time) and 10-20 minutes before they close which was 8:45 pm (pacific) at the time.
Be prepared to wait on hold for a long time. After I called I received my passport 3 days later.
Good luck.
Posted by
Seattle
223 posts
Also, people on this site have been recommending contacting your US congressman (as opposed to senator because they re re-elected every two years and desperately need your vote). Apparently many congressmen have assigned staffers to passport issues because it has become such a big problem in the past few months.