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So, we just got word today that our passport application has been approved and that our new passport is (allegedly) in the mail. We’ve been sitting here sweating bullets for the past two weeks wondering when or if we were ever going to receive our passport. You hear so many horror stories these days about screwed up travel plans and missed trips because of the severe delay in passport processing. We practically have to pop a Klonopin every time we see a news report about the chaotic state of the US passport agency.
When we went to the post office on Sutter Street again, this time with all the correct paperwork, we decided we would avoid any chance of passport mishap by opting for the very expensive expedited service. Be prepared, because they will whole-heartedly assure you that your passport will arrive between two and three weeks and no later than three weeks. Now, we really tried to break down the agent on this point.
Us:Are you sure it will arrive in three weeks? Are you positive? Have there been any delays with the expedited service?
Her: Yes. Yes. No.
Our passport is scheduled to arrive by Friday. That will be 5 weeks and 3 days since we submitted our application. Thank God we had the foresight to cushion the waiting period with a couple extra weeks before our much-anticipated trip to the Czech Republic.
What we want to know is, what did we pay an extra $60 for? Has anyone out there actually missed a trip or had to reschedule one due to the current passport chaos? Please share.
By Deborah
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One of the Balkinization guys told this story:
http://balkin.blogspot.com/2007/06/travelers-beware-caught-in-bureaucratic.html
Why did you wait this long to get your passport in the first place? Why didn't you get passport, oh, say, five years ago? Ten years ago?
You did the right thing by paying for expedited service and going through the post office. I work right near the actual Passport office on Folsom and Hawthorne, and there have been block-long lines almost every day this summer.
Sometimes there are two lines one up Folsom and one down Hawthorne. And the lines don't move. I go out at lunch time and see the same poor souls that were there in the morning.
The Chron did an article a while back on why the passport agency is so backed-up Summer.
Renewed mine in December ... good til 2016. :)
Guest, #2, I changed my name.
I paid $200 to get my passport expedited and got mine in about two weeks after reapplying for one. But what I really want to know is why I am being told that I need one when I am only going to Alaska. Non-stop.
What up with that?
Deborah, if you're going to be so angry when someone questions your putting off a passport application, why don't you put the "I changed my name" actually in the story?
You don't really think your life is so important that everyone is going to breathlessly click every link in this story to get the full scoop on something as mundane (and well known)as the ridiculously slow wait times for a passport, do you?
A little tip - if you're really caught and you're leaving in the next two weeks, make an appointment with the passport office on Folsom Street near First (phone number is on the State Dept website - just look for the San Francisco Passport Agency). You have to bring proof that you have an international flight within two weeks (an itinerary or ticket), and all of the passport paperwork.
But, it'll get done in less than two weeks. The system is badly backed up, and will remain so through next year, when they're planning on instituting passport requirements for ground travel to Mexico/Canada.
Tip for future passport-getters...the 'burbs. When I went to get mine some years back, I was working in Marin. I took my photo and form to the post office in Corte Madera, waited
I applied for my passport in the beginning of May and had my trip to Japan planned for mid-June. They highly recommended I pay for expedited processing so I reluctantly shelled out the extra cash. I was really glad I did, though, because I got my passport in about 2 1/2 weeks.
heh. Cut off. Moral of my story is the 'burbs = short wait time. Of course, mine was a standard application. No change-naming or anything. (Simmer down, there, Deb. Sheesh.)
We applied for our daughter's passport in April. We had to go down to the passport office in July, to finally get it.
We called Nancy Pelosi's office, who got us an appointment the next day. She has someone on staff full time to handle people with passport crisis.
@baldguy: Some years back, there were not thousands of backlogged applications due to a rule change. I applied for a renewal passport in 2001 and had it in a few weeks without expediting.
I have heard many horror stories of passports taking two or three months. My passport is good until 2011, but I am almost out of blank pages, which can be a problem when attempting to enter certain countries. I may have to deal with the passport system to get extra pages added. I travel out of the US once every four to six weeks, so a huge delay is a problem.
Many people don't know that you can apply for a passport at City Hall. Room 104, if I remember correctly, practically no line, very nice ladies help you out. Renewed my passport the other day and was in and out in just a few minutes.
Guest 14 at 6:01:
A friend of mine has a passport horror story, actually from 2006 before the rush, and it is all because of the nice ladies at city hall who gave him nice, but utterly, stupidly wrong information.
His application turned into a 3 month anxiety attack starting when he applied in February that only ended when he got his passport 24 hours before we were to leave for Norway in May.
Those nice ladies will help you with you federal income taxes if you give them a chance too.
c'est la vie.
"Our" passport? You guys SFist collectively share a passport? What up with that?
I second the suburbs. Go to the Daly City county offices. I received mine in a week after going there.
Makfan:
You can add pages to your passports at consulates overseas in about an hour.
The line was actually pretty short at Sutter Street. Why do all those people line up at the passport office on Hawthorne and Folsom, when the lines are so much shorter at the post office or City Hall, #3?
I procrastinated too long and found myself paying for the expedited service. I went to the Sutter station last month early July and definately received my passport within 2 weeks. I was definately pleasantly surprised.
I think they are making refunds of the expedition fee for all the slow "expedited" processing. You might check. I got a new one last winter, non-expedited, and it took about 5 weeks.
My non-expedited passport renewal had not come through after 13 weeks. Calling the State Dept. was useless as the earliest appointment they would give me was in 15 days, after I was leaving the country, and the three people I talked to gave me contradictory information. (They're swamped and probably putting everyone on the phones even though they don't have customer service training and don't know a thing about passports.)
So, what worked for me: Calling Nancy Pelosi's office. Her office got me an appointment in 24 hours. They were awesome.
Mine expires in 2013. I think I'll try to renew next year or the year after.
I'm afraid if I wait until 2012, they'll be issuing ones with micro GPS/DNA sample chips, along with a micro web cam chip so all citizens can be properly be protected from the terrorists.
because of ALL the horror stories, i decided not to chance it. i tried to get an appt at the SF office via their automated phone system, but it drove me insance. i ended up using CIBT (passport expediting service), and they were amazing. my passport renewal turned around in less than 7 days...literally from when i sent it in to when i received it (they did it through the houston passport office). and if the stupid passport office didn't send back the paper work since i signed in red ink, it would have been even sooner. i'm leaving this sunday for kenya, and i received the passport yesterday. you pay for the service, but it was worth it when you're a procrastinating idiot like me.