Checks cashed, in the system..NOW how long do I wait??

Whew!:D

 

We finally got in the system and the checks were cashed! :D Now I just need to know WHEN they will come.

 

But then, I just need to be happy the checks were finally cashed, right?LOL:rolleyes:

 

How long does it usually take after the checks are cashed? I was going to get just in case birth certificates next week, but maybe I can put it off until May 1st since we don't leave until May 13th...

Maybe it would help if you told us what check you are talking about? Not sure what you mean.

The check I paid for my passport with. I just checked and it was cashed and the website said I was in the processing stage.

I just read on one site with information for passports that due to summer travel and everyone sending for passports at one time it may take 10 weeks to get it.

 

Good luck We are going May 13 on Carnival Victory I'd get birth certificates just in case, if they are not there soon

 

Have fun on your trip

Now the post makes sense. If you can walk in and pick up a birth certificate I would wait to see if the passports come until 2 weeks before. What is the turn around these days for the passports? You know what will happen. You'll go get the birth certificate and the very next day the passport will come!:) Have a great cruise!!!!!!

Thanks. I will get the BCs anyway. Better safe than sorry. Thankfully, I live in the same town as I grew up and can pick them up in about 15 mins.

You better check with the passport agency to see if you can travel without a passport. It is not the cruise line or the countries that you are visiting that require the passport, it is the US. It is my understanding that although you can get on the ship with a birth certificate and ID and go to the Islands, that due to US homeland security you cannot re-enter the US without a passport now. Living on one of the islands sounds nice, but I would check to make sure you can get back into the US!

I expedited my passport on 3/21 and received it last week. My boyfriend had expedited his on 3/20 and hasn't received it yet. If you didn't expedite it, then getting a BC is definately a good idea... just in case;)

I applied on 2/24... I got into the system on 3/28 (4 1/2 weeks later)... And here it is 2 weeks since I been in the system and the message online still says they have been recieved and are being processed. So... don't expect a change in wording online anytime soon :(

 

I am now up to 6 1/2 weeks since I applied... Gave myself a total of 11 1/2 weeks and all I have to say is that they better get here on time!!! The gov't wants to put laws in place, but they can't handle the aftermath... pathetic!!!

Hope your wait isn't too long. Not sure how long it will take to get them back with the delays like they are. I applied for mine on Sept. 6th of last year and got mine in early October, and DH applied for his Nov.29th, and got his in early January, almost exactly 6 weeks later with the cruise docs in the mail box on the same day. I'm glad we applied for ours when we did, because we knew that with the deadlines coming up that the wait time would be horribly long, with everyone putting off getting one until the last minute. Great idea having bc as a back-up plan, hope you don't have to wait too long:)

My husband and I applied Feb 28 and received them yesterday. We did not expedite. I got birth certs just in case because of what I was reading, passports came 3 days later:rolleyes:

You better check with the passport agency to see if you can travel without a passport. It is not the cruise line or the countries that you are visiting that require the passport, it is the US. It is my understanding that although you can get on the ship with a birth certificate and ID and go to the Islands, that due to US homeland security you cannot re-enter the US without a passport now. Living on one of the islands sounds nice, but I would check to make sure you can get back into the US!

 

FYI:

 

Beginning January 23, 2007, ALL persons, including U.S. citizens, traveling by air between the United States and Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Bermuda will be required to present a valid passport, Air NEXUS card, or U.S. Coast Guard Merchant Mariner Document, or an Alien Registration Card, Form I-551, if applicable.

 

As early as January 1, 2008, ALL persons, including U.S. citizens, traveling between the U.S. and Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Bermuda by land or sea (including ferries), may be required to present a valid passport or other documents as determined by the Department of Homeland Security. While recent legislative changes permit a later deadline, the Departments of State and Homeland Security are working to meet all requirements as soon as possible. Ample advance notice will be provided to enable the public to obtain passports or passport cards for land/sea entries.

I applied on 2/24... I got into the system on 3/28 (4 1/2 weeks later)... And here it is 2 weeks since I been in the system and the message online still says they have been recieved and are being processed. So... don't expect a change in wording online anytime soon :(

 

I am now up to 6 1/2 weeks since I applied... Gave myself a total of 11 1/2 weeks and all I have to say is that they better get here on time!!! The gov't wants to put laws in place, but they can't handle the aftermath... pathetic!!!

The gov't wants to put laws in place, but they can't handle the aftermath... pathetic!!!

At the same time, they made the new laws no secret and everyone knew well before the deadlines that they were coming, but put off getting them anyway. Now you want to call the government pathetic because you waited until after the first of the year to apply for your passport knowing the wait times were going to be longer? :confused: The government has hired on extra people and extended their hours to try & accomodate the tons of applications that are now coming in before the deadline, even trying to get new application centers opened up to deal with it all, to me, that's not pathetic, at least they are trying ...and you didn't try to apply for your passport before the beginning of the year when it was a known fact they were gonna get hit hard & there would be delays because...............:rolleyes:

To everyone who is currently waiting for their passports, good luck, I hope the wait times don't interfere with your travel plans. I hope that you all have a back-up plan, birth certificates, etc. in case the wait times are too long. No matter how you travel, birth certificate or passport, with any luck we'll all be on a ship somewhere at sometime sipping a tall drink, and say I don't know why I was so worried......we're here!:)

Yeah, I was hoping somewhere here would give me some type of wait time AFTER the cashed checks. Maybe it will be short. I hope anyway.

 

Sidenote-Didn't mean to get anything started up about the battle of when you should apply or what the gov. should do. Sorry! :)

Yeah, I was hoping somewhere here would give me some type of wait time AFTER the cashed checks. Maybe it will be short. I hope anyway.

 

Sidenote-Didn't mean to get anything started up about the battle of when you should apply or what the gov. should do. Sorry! :)

You didn't get anything started, nor was I intending to, in my honest opinion, it was just wrong to call the government pathetic for making the new laws and not being able to handle it, when in fact these laws were never a secret to begin with. I mean how can they say my passport had better be here in time. Ok, or what? Not a lot they can do if it doesn't show up on time, except have a bc and go. I mean, as I stated earlier, the new laws were never a secret, they waited to apply so now they have to wait, no one to blame there but themselves, not the govt.

Maybe your wait time won't be too long. Have you tried checking with their website to see the status? I used to check every day until we got ours. Good luck:)

At the same time, they made the new laws no secret and everyone knew well before the deadlines that they were coming, but put off getting them anyway. Now you want to call the government pathetic because you waited until after the first of the year to apply for your passport knowing the wait times were going to be longer? :confused: The government has hired on extra people and extended their hours to try & accomodate the tons of applications that are now coming in before the deadline, even trying to get new application centers opened up to deal with it all, to me, that's not pathetic, at least they are trying ...and you didn't try to apply for your passport before the beginning of the year when it was a known fact they were gonna get hit hard & there would be delays because...............:rolleyes:

To everyone who is currently waiting for their passports, good luck, I hope the wait times don't interfere with your travel plans. I hope that you all have a back-up plan, birth certificates, etc. in case the wait times are too long. No matter how you travel, birth certificate or passport, with any luck we'll all be on a ship somewhere at sometime sipping a tall drink, and say I don't know why I was so worried......we're here!:)

 

Before you go assuming that I knew about the laws and should have gotten a passport way back when.... I didn't have plans on traveling for 2007 until I booked in Feb... AND was told when I handed in my app that it would take 6-8 weeks!!!!! OK fine... then it becomes announced 10-12 weeks about a week or 2 later... and this is my problem how???? And the gov't should have been well prepared, they knew this was coming! With all the $$ they are making off of this and having the nerve to charge an extra $60 on top of $100 to expedite??? I bet they are paying the workers as little as they can, while they rake in all this revenue off of travelers that have no other choice but to fork over the $$ for a passport!!!

Before you go assuming that I knew about the laws and should have gotten a passport way back when.... I didn't have plans on traveling for 2007 until I booked in Feb... AND was told when I handed in my app that it would take 6-8 weeks!!!!! OK fine... then it becomes announced 10-12 weeks about a week or 2 later... and this is my problem how???? And the gov't should have been well prepared, they knew this was coming! With all the $$ they are making off of this and having the nerve to charge an extra $60 on top of $100 to expedite??? I bet they are paying the workers as little as they can, while they rake in all this revenue off of travelers that have no other choice but to fork over the $$ for a passport!!!

All caps is considered yelling, and I see no reason to yell at anyone. Now that you have given a little more information and we know that you had no plans to travel until Feb., when you applied, if they told you that it would take 6-8 weeks, that is all it should take. If they announced longer waits after you applied, the longer waits should not apply to you since you applied before the announcement of longer wait/processing times, so that should not be your problem or an issue for you. They didn't wait until now though to charge an extra $60 to expedite, they have been doing that all along. And as far as they(the govt) knew this was coming, so did most everyone else (the general public). I hope you don't have a long wait, and I also hope when you do get it, you enjoy your travel plans.

You will get lots of arguments here it seems, although alot of people like myself planned our trips last minute and had not planned to need a passport. I applied 2/7 with my two traveling companions. They got theirs yesterday and mine is so messed up its crazy. However, we did call in the two week time period and they will expedite at their own expense. They did my friends' and they got theirs. Mine has a "note" according to the people at the passport agency to expedite, but has not been done yet. My last call today, they told me to drive 3 hours to another state and wait in line for another try at getting one, which the wait time will be ???????

I am confident I will get it on time. The frustrating part is that it is located in an office about 15 mins from my home but it is not accessible to the public. Do call in the 14 day time period if you do not have it (and keep calling!). And its ok to ask everyone even if you get negative opinions. I believe everyone has a right to their own opinion and this forum is supposed to be for advice right?

Good luck to you and me and all the others waiting!! :D

GET A BIRTH CERTIFICATE NOW! lol :D

 

Was I demanding enough? ;)

 

I applied Feb 19

Check cashed - MARCH 18

Status online - MARCH 21

 

Today is April 10th - still no passports and our status is now gone. I applied for birth certificates and instead of 7-10 days it took 19 to get them! They said they are busy now too. :rolleyes:

 

We leave on April 28th. So believe me, get a birth certificate. It will be the best $10 you ever spent. And it will give you some peace.

I applied Feb 1st. Mid March my passports showed up in the system, with an estimated delivery date of March 26. A few days later, the estimated date was taken away.

 

I called March 22 and was told my passports would be flagged "priority" to get here faster. April 1 was my cruise date - no passports! GOOD THING I HAD BIRTH CERTIFICATES READY.

 

As of today, about 10 weeks later, still no passports. I'm still waiting.

2 Weeks Ago The Sytem Said The "10 Weeks From Application Date" Message And My Mom Called And Told Me That She Received Her Passport Today!!! So There's Hope. They Didnt Apply Until 2/10 Or 2/17 (can't Remember Which Of The Two).....so Maybe It's Two Weeks After The "processing" Message...

2 Weeks Ago The Sytem Said The "10 Weeks From Application Date" Message And My Mom Called And Told Me That She Received Her Passport Today!!! So There's Hope. They Didnt Apply Until 2/10 Or 2/17 (can't Remember Which Of The Two).....so Maybe It's Two Weeks After The "processing" Message...

 

Eve though I shouldn't base my own passport on this timeline, it helped to put a smile on my face! (Tomorrow would make 2 weeks since I got into the system) Thanks for the grin :D

I have no problem with a backlog as long as they continue to give accurate projected dates. If they estimate 10 weeks, hopefully, it is 10 weeks. My family applied on 03/09/07 and are in the system, as of today. The workers at the processing sites are depending on the government giving accurate return dates. Our post office worker said there was no need to expedite for a 05/27/07 cruise date, citing the 10 week delivery time......so let's hope he was right, giving out that advise.

 

Carol

Any idea of when the msg "processing" turns into an actual proposed date of mailing/arrival???

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you that you get them soon!