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For those curious about current passport turnaround times...


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I know people often ask how long it takes. Although it may be different for some people, this is how long it took us to get ours.

 

Applied at post office afternoon of April 5th.

 

Received in the mail today, April 22nd.

 

We used ROUTINE service.

 

I'm guessing turnaround times will increase here shortly because vacation season is coming up. Hope this helps!

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We needed to have our passports renewed.

While getting our passport pictures taken at Walgreen's, noticed they had the forms right there to send in to the US Passport Service.

We filled ours out the next day and mailed them.

New passports were back in two weeks.

 

LuLu

~~~~

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We applied for our kids' passports at the post office on 3/30, and haven't heard anything yet. They are quoting 4-6 weeks, but I've heard others lately saying they've been getting them back in 3 weeks or less.

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Great thread, OP. I mailed my renewal application on 3/9 (also routine processing) and still haven't gotten it yet. I won't book my first cruise until it's in my hands. The web site for checking the status is not accurate in my case (or else I would have gotten it by 3/30 per the status email). The email reps acknowledged that there were 'website issues and upgrades' and the phone reps kept saying that my application was still being processed. I called again today and it's finally in the delivery stage (should get it in 3 - 5 days).

 

Did you all put a travel date in your application? I didn't put one down and they keep asking me for one every time I call; I wonder if not having one caused the delay.

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Great thread, OP. I mailed my renewal application on 3/9 (also routine processing) and still haven't gotten it yet. I won't book my first cruise until it's in my hands. The web site for checking the status is not accurate in my case (or else I would have gotten it by 3/30 per the status email). The email reps acknowledged that there were 'website issues and upgrades' and the phone reps kept saying that my application was still being processed. I called again today and it's finally in the delivery stage (should get it in 3 - 5 days).

 

Did you all put a travel date in your application? I didn't put one down and they keep asking me for one every time I call; I wonder if not having one caused the delay.

 

I did put a travel date, even though it's not until Sep 22. It also asked for countries that we are visiting. I thought that the reason it would ask for that is to determine if ROUTINE or EXPEDITED service was needed, but I'm not sure.

 

Strange. I wonder if it did have anything to do with the long delay...

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Online it just says that it's currently being processed. I called and was told the same thing this morning. I guess I'll just wait.....

 

Yeah....hopefully it'll come in any day now.

 

What's weird for us is that we are still waiting on our birth documents, birth abroad certs, etc, to come back, lol

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The turnaround times depend somewhat on which office the application went to. My daughter and I got passports at the same time, mailed on the same day, and they went to different offices for processing. Hers came back quickly. It took mine 9 weeks...yikes! Got it the week before our trip. (This wasn't recently.)

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Yeah....hopefully it'll come in any day now.

 

What's weird for us is that we are still waiting on our birth documents, birth abroad certs, etc, to come back, lol

 

 

That may be normal. I have a co-worker that got a passport for her daughter a few months back. She got the passport in about 2 weeks, but said the birth certificate came back about a month after that.

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Just sent off for my renewal on Saturday. Hoping it arrives before we sail on June 10th! While it is expired, hopefully it arrives sooner than a first timer passport would.

 

Keeping our fingers crossed for you that they'll be back in two weeks like those of us who have recently done simple passport renewals have experienced!

 

Let us know when you get them!

 

LuLu

~~~~

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Ughh... It looks like I'm one of the unlucky ones! We received letters in the mail Monday night from the Passport Center in Tucson for both of our daughters requesting additional information. The information they are asking for is nearly impossible to get. I called the 800 number, and they are no help. The response was, "if they ask for the information you have no choice but to provide it, or you won't get a passport". They also mentioned that I won't be getting any fees back regardless.

 

I asked to talk to someone at the actual passport center to explain to them that according to their own website, I had already submitted the required documents, and find out why they wanted a document that may be impossible to obtain. They told me I can't talk to anyone in Tucson... but could write a letter of appeal. Finally at the end of the conversation Monday night the guy said he would put in a message to have someone in Tucson call me, but it was at their discretion whether or not they would. I haven't heard anything yet.

 

Great... government bureacracy. The odds of this getting resolved in just over 2 months is slim to none. I talked to my Senator's office yesterday, and they are going to look into it for me.

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Ughh... It looks like I'm one of the unlucky ones! We received letters in the mail Monday night from the Passport Center in Tucson for both of our daughters requesting additional information. The information they are asking for is nearly impossible to get. I called the 800 number, and they are no help. The response was, "if they ask for the information you have no choice but to provide it, or you won't get a passport". They also mentioned that I won't be getting any fees back regardless.

 

I asked to talk to someone at the actual passport center to explain to them that according to their own website, I had already submitted the required documents, and find out why they wanted a document that may be impossible to obtain. They told me I can't talk to anyone in Tucson... but could write a letter of appeal. Finally at the end of the conversation Monday night the guy said he would put in a message to have someone in Tucson call me, but it was at their discretion whether or not they would. I haven't heard anything yet.

 

Great... government bureacracy. The odds of this getting resolved in just over 2 months is slim to none. I talked to my Senator's office yesterday, and they are going to look into it for me.

 

What kind of document were they requesting?

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My daughters are adopted, and they are requesting original birth certificates from their birth country. I can't even imagine what it might take to make that happen, but I'm pretty certain it won't happen by our travel date even if it's possible.

 

There is a Federal Law called the Child Citizenship Act that pertains to our situation. There is even a section about it under the passport section of the State Department's website, that states exactly what you need to apply for a passport for your child. We have provided all of the information they need. They absolutely do not need an original foreign birth certificate, and I have no idea why they are asking for it. It could only possibly pertain if they are under the mistaken assumption that they are our biological children that happened to be born outside of the U.S. I would have thought the certified adoption decrees included with our paperwork would have cleared that up.... but who knows?

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  • 4 weeks later...
Keeping our fingers crossed for you that they'll be back in two weeks like those of us who have recently done simple passport renewals have experienced!

 

Let us know when you get them!

 

LuLu

~~~~

 

Just came in today, so roughly 3 week turnaround for me this time!

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