U.S. Passport problems
I’m reporting the following as a cautionary warning to anyone needing a passport for foreign travel any time soon.
Our son and daughter-in-law planned a 10th anniversary trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico several months ago. The DIL, who is incredibly anal about never waiting until the last minute for anything (one wonders why she married into this family), went to the post office to renew her passport six weeks ago. The lady who waited on her asked when her trip was, the DIL said six weeks, the lady said it should take no more than four weeks, the DIL (her anality kicking in) said I want to pay the extra $75 to expedite and get it here in two weeks, and I want to pay the extra $15 to have it overnighted. The lady told her that all that was unnecessary, but it was her money.
After four weeks had passed with no passport, the DIL tried to call the number given to her as a number to use to check the status. She would call, get an automated message telling her that all agents were busy and to stay on the line and her call would be answered in the order in which it was received. She would stay on the line for 10-15 minutes then get a message that said there were an unusually large number of calls right then, please call back later, goodbye, and would then disconnect. She went through this process a couple of dozen times over two days, then hied herself back to the passport place at the post office.
After spending almost an hour in a long line (while managing two toddlers), the agent told her that there was nothing that could be done there but that she should call Kay Baily Hutchison’s (KBH) office. KBH is one of the U.S. Senators from Texas. The DIL called KBH and talked to the staff. They took her number and said many people were having the same problem and that they would get to work on it. After a week, with her trip looming a few days away, the DIL called KBH again. The staff told her they were aware of her problem and working on it, but that all their efforts were going into the problems of people leaving the next day, not the next week. Don’t call back, they said, we’re working on it.
As the day of the trip (May 30th) drew near, the DIL happened to hear of someone else heading to Mexico who had encountered a similar problem. She called this person only to find her gone, but her mother told the DIL that her daughter had gone to the airport early with a certified copy of her birth certificate and her driver’s license and had been given a temporary travel visa to Mexico. The DIL called American Airlines (the airline on which they had their tickets) and asked about a temporary travel visa. The person at AA told her that they had never heard of such a thing.
The DIL waited for Tuesday, the day before leaving, and received no passport. What she did get was MD and me showing up to babysit the kids in finest grandparent fashion while she and son were gone.
Early Wednesday morning, I took them to the airport a couple of hours early so they could see what they could figure out. They talked to the agent at AA who told them she would let them board the plane with the certified birth certificate and driver’s license, but couldn’t guarantee that the customs agents in Mexico would accept it. She told them that if they had trouble getting in to Mexico that they should slip the agent a $50 and said agent would probably let them through. She told them the big problem would be getting back, and that they should be prepared to bribe the agent in Puerto Vallarta to let them back on the plane to the U.S. Once in the U.S., she said, it would be up to the U.S. Customs and Immigration officer as to whether or not they would be hassled and to what degree.
They left yesterday, got through Mexican customs without a hitch, and are enjoying their 10th anniversary today.
I’ll give a report as to what happens when they come back late next Sunday afternoon. Keep your fingers crossed.
This is just another instance of the incompetence of our own government and its employees. The DIL wasted her $85 $90 ($75 for expedited and $15 for overnight); do you think she has a prayer getting it back? Is it even worth trying? And her long-awaited 10th anniversary trip is being somewhat marred by what she has gone through already and the stress that is weighing on her wondering what’s going to happen when she tries to come back. And do you think one single government employee gives a rat’s hind end about her plight? The incompetence and lack of concern is appalling given the amount of tax money we pay these swine.
The only time I’ve ever found that government employees are actually on the ball is if they’re trying to screw you. In fact, I’ve come up with what I call the Eades Law of Government Hiring. Everyone who is hired by the government is given a lengthy test. The ones found to be abysmally stupid and lazy are directed to the branches of government set up to help people. The ones found to be smart, ambitious, and eager to work are directed to the branches of government set up to hassle people, i.e., the IRS, the FTC, and other ‘regulatory’ outfits. It’s a real shame.
Today is Thursday and we are suppose to leave for a trip to Costa Rica this coming Monday.
Sent our passports in to be renewed in March and still no sign of them. We have been calling daily and had the operator say she would issue an urgent to the passports.
Apparentley they were in New
Hampshire and had not been printed yet.
I am hoping we are not out of luck since the hotel is non-refundable.
Bob–
You should be able to get into Costa Rica with a state-issued picture ID and your receipt that you applied for your passport. At least that’s what I’ve been reading.
Good luck.
MRE
An update to my earlier post and a few tips from the lessons I learned. I applied Mar. 17. Got my son’s passport on Tuesday and mine is out priority mail for delivery on Monday (we leave on Wed. Jun 20).
First, forget about the “877″ number. Call 606-526-7600. It’s a direct line to the passport agency. You’ll immediately be placed on hold, but you’ll get through pretty quickly. If you don’t want to incur the long distance charges, dial the “877″ number, don’t hang up when you get the “call volume” message. Press 9-3-1 and you’ll get right back in the loop. Next, call the passport task force in DC at 202-647-7948. They’re very helpful and will get involved to expedite if you’re traveling within 72 hours. My passport was in New Hampshire and I called them directly at 603-334-0523. Someone answered, took my info, then I got a call back within 2 hours saying my passport was expedited and would be sent out priority mail the next day. I also kept calling my congressman. And start calling everyone early!!! Don’t wait until the 14 days before that the passport agency suggests. Get on it and stay on it.
Good luck to those who are waiting!!
Hi Kelly–
Thanks on behalf of all those waiting in desperation. I’m sure your info will be tremendously helpful.
I’ve used your comment as an actual post so that more will see it.
Best–
MRE
I applied for a renewal of my passport on March 26th. I am leaving for Italy on June 22nd. On June 11th at 7:15am it was expedited. The earliest appointment I can get at the passport Center in D.C. is at 9:30 am, the same day that I depart! It’s hard to imagine that given the incompetence of this system that I will waltz our of there with a new passport in enough time to catch my plane. If ever there was an argument against government regulation of health care, this is it. The people answering the phone are very nice but not very helpful. I am trying very hard not to panic!
See today’s post.
Good luck. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you.
MRE
Does anyone know if people are actually being issued passports when they go to the regional office. A customer service representative said “yes,” but I find this hard to believe. I applied in March and am leaving in 7 days. The earliest appointment I could get was the day of my departure. I called the 202 647-4000 number mentined in one of the postings above, but they too now have an automated message for people with passport problems and are not very helpful. I’ve expedited it and have my Congressman’s office working on this too, but any other suggestions? I am going to a medical conference in Italy with my kids. They have their passports, which had to be renewed earlier than mine, so no problem there. Do you know of anyone in my position who has done everything right (applied in March) who has NOT been able to travel because the passport did not come, AND the regional office was not able to “make” a passport in enough time?
Thanks
Hi Eileen–
No, I don’t know of anyone personally.
Take a look at today’s post. Maybe you can get some help there.
Good luck, and let us know if it works for you.
MRE
I tried the new #’s posted by Kelly(above), the first was is a rotating # that worked 1 time ,but not the next. So I called the passport task force at 202-647-7948. They will help you if you are traveling within the week. I spoke with them Monday about a 14 week renewal(and traveling to Ukraine on 6/23). They were very helpful. I received my daughter’s passport today.
Thanks you so much Kelly. Oh, and thanks everyone else.
Hi Elaine–
I know you’re relieved. Thanks for writing. Have fun on your trip.
Cheers–
MRE
Good morning,
I just read your article and I have “zero” sympathy for my fellow Americans currently going through this passport issue. The change to the passport rules for Mexico and Canada has been well known for the past couple of years. The Auto Club and AARP have been alerting its members to this rule change frequently as soon as it was known. I’ve seen other ads for it as well. I have traveled all over the world and dealt with obtaining other countries Visas and I get to work on the necessary paperwork months before I leave. For your DIL to only begin to try and get a passport 6 weeks before her flight is shocking. I’m sure she began planning this trip more than 6 weeks prior. At that time she should have begun the necessary passport paperwork!
This is another example of people procrastinating and then deferring their personal responsibility on another entity.
No, I do not work for the government. I work for a private company.
Regards,
Tom
Hello Tom–
Actually my DIL started planning her trip only after going to the passport place to renew her passport where she was told that her passport would get to her in 6 weeks at the latest and in two weeks if she expedited, which she did. Once she got her passport in the queue she began planning the trip to Mexico, which she scheduled for almost 7 weeks later just to make certain she would have her passport in time.
It may come as a big surprise to you, but the vast majority of people applying for passports are not members of AARP nor of the Auto Club, so the fact that these entities alerted their members that there could be a problem was immaterial to nonmembers. Most people get their information from other people. I would imagine that almost everyone in this bind had called a friend or relative who had recently gotten a passport and asked how long it took. Had the DIL called me, I would have told her that the last time I got a passport it took about 10 days expedited.
The fault here is not irresponsibility on the part of the people seeking passports; it’s massive incompetence in the people running the passport section at the State Department. And I don’t know how you can say that people who applied 10-12 weeks in advance for a passport that usually takes a few weeks are irresponsible.
MRE
Fyi Tom, I had no idea my son’s camp was going to take the senior boys on a bus trip to Canada until I got a letter from them in March telling me about the trip. When I applied for his passport the new rules were still in effect and along with his application all his documents had to be submitted too – so even the relaxing of the rules didn’t help us. Also, since neither my husband nor I have any plans to take our child abroad (he can wait until he is in college like we did) there was no reason he needed a passport until this trip. And we were told at the post office when we applied in early March that it would take 6-8 weeks at most.Not everyone knows in advance when they will be traveling. Things happen that even the most conscientious can’t control.
My parents our going to Italy in October. They applied to renew their passports in February but as they didn’t have any travel arrangements yet put no date for intended travel on their application. They only booked their trip last month. It has been 4 months since they applied and they still haven’t received their passports and I’m sure because there is no travel date on the application they will be in the same boat as everyone else is right now just in October.
Goods news did come today from my Congressman’s office that my son’s passport is being Fed Exed today (I even have a tracking #) and I should get it tomorrow. Passport Task Force, as of last night could do nothing but tell me it was still in a “lockbox” and I had been calling them for over a week for help. Also called New Hampshire directly on Monday, was promised a call back which never came either. Thankfully had both my Congressman and Sen. Schumer’s office working on
it apparently that worked in my case.
This is for Thomas Q… My daughter had a passport that was to expire in April of 07. So we reapplied for a renewed passport in March 07. Renewals are usually quick because the info is on the orig. passport.
I am a member of AAA and I was not informed of poss. delays and when I spoke to the post office personnal when we delivered the paper work they were not aware of the long delays.
According to the news, the State Department underestimated the numbers by 1.5 million. I also read the Citi Bank who collects the cks and forms, held the forms then flooded the passport handlers at the State Dept. with 1 million forms all at once.
I am not going to point fingers. There are many
people to blame. Besides, when you point a finger- three are pointing back at you TQ.
Your DIL was very lucky. My daughter has a trip planned to Italy in 4 days (Monday). She is the first of 25 cousins to graduate college and this trip was a surprise from her aunt and uncle after years of saving. She applied for her passport over 10 weeks ago and was assured she did not need expedited service. She’s been calling daily for weeks and contacted Congressman Kirk’s office 2 weeks ago. No one has been able to help. Finally today someone indicated that it had been moved to expedited status but it was unlikely that she would receive it in time. They suggested that she try to get an appt. somewhere else in the country at a regional office to see if they might issue an emergency one. Unfortunately they told her that wasn’t an option until you were within 2 business days of travel and at that point no appointments are available anywhere. No one at the passport office who speaks with customers has any ability to do anything other than send e mails to the final decision makers. The incompetence and failure to plan adequately for this anticipated surge in applications is astounding. Apparently my daughter will lose out on the trip of a lifetime. Great reward for 4 years of hard work.
Hi Jane–
The only thing of possible value to your daughter from this whole nightmare experience is that she has learned to not depend upon government for anything.
Cheers–
MRE
After submitting my comments last night I tried some of the numbers listed above and left messages where I could. I also e mailed Sen. Obama and Sen. Dick Durbin’s offices. One of them must have helped as I got a call at 6:30 this morning that her passport was being issued today and we’d have it via Fed Ex tomorrow. Many thanks for the advice above.
Hi Jane–
Glad you got squared away.
Cheers–
MRE
June 21st
Just started calling today 14 days before a month long trip to Europe. I have included all tips so that it may help others.
National Passport Center 1-877-487-2778
Passport status requests 1-606-526-7600
Washington passport desk at 202-647-7948.
US Consular Task Force (WATCH DOG) 202-647-7948
US Department of State phone directory unclassified
http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/82073.pdf
The following is a list of the abbreviations you will see next to the employees name in the directory. Assuming you know where its being processed look for the following. Once you have found someone make sure you have your passport locater number, name, DOB, SS# ready.
CA/PPT .Office of Passport Services CA/PPT/BN ..Boston Passport Agency CA/PPT/CG . ..Chicago Passport Agency CA/PPT/HH .. Honolulu Passport Agency CA/PPT/HN . ..Houston Passport Agency
CA/PPT/LA . Los Angeles Passport Agency CA/PPT/MM . ..Miami Passport Agency CA/PPT/No … .New Orleans Passport Agency
CA/PPT/NPC .. National Passport Center, Portsmouth, NH CA/PPT/NY . . New York Passport Agency CA/PPT/PA . Philadelphia Passport Agency CA/PPT/SE . . .Seattle Passport Agency
CA/PPT/SF .. San Francisco Passport Agency CA/PPT/SIA . Special Issuance Agency CA/PPT/SM . .Stamford Passport Agency CA/PPT/WN … .Washington Passport Agency
Email your congressman at http://www.house.gov/
Email your Senator http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
Just for fun call
Maura Harty. Her line is 202-647-9576.
Update: 25th of june
Update: Just read this last night on the state travel site:
We have finished processing your passport, and it has been mailed to you.
You requested delivery by regular mail. Passport Agencies use Priority Mail. This means you should receive your passport on or about 06/30/2007.
That would be 4 days before my trip… We will see
Update: June 26th
Final update!!!
Just called the talk force and they gave me a fed ex tracking number that says the following:
Jun 26, 2007 8:10 am
On FedEx vehicle for delivery
How happy am i!!! Wooohooo
I have renewed faith in our system!!! With deepest sorrows for all of you who haven’t received your passports in time for your trip. And to those who are panicking use the task force at 202-647-7948. Ask for Jamie or Dave they are great!!! Thank you all.
Hi Michael–
Thanks on behalf of all the readers who will get their passport due to this info that you’ve uncovered and passed along. I’m going to use part of your comment for a post all its own. Hope you don’t mind.
Best and thanks again.
MRE
[...] A truly industrious reader (who finally got his own passport) sent the following information for anyone having passport troubles. You can find more information by reading his full comment (#51) on this post. Good luck to all who are having trouble. [...]
First, I would like to thank Kelly (#42) and Mike (#51), although I found the latter after I have finally received the passport. The information offered was very valuable helping to make me feel little better and more in control. Calling the main Passport office # was like praying to Santa Claus, or a “black hole”, feeling totally lost in a Kafka’s Castle. Being doomed no matter what you do…
I was very stressed out with passport renewal problems. My passport was valid till Jan, 8, 08, but the travel agency insisted that we need to have 6 months left after departure from South Africa (I had over 5 months). Anyway, on March 30, I have applied for a new passport and 11 weeks later it was not coming. I have called legislators, Governor’s office, Clintons office, public advocate, representatives, you name it. I must have spent at least 50 hours on it including calling passport office where nobody responded and than the New Hampshire # where I finally got a response from a human. It looked like that I will not be able to go and we would lose all the money (travel insurance that we did get would cover only sickness not this). Anyway passport finally did come on Friday 6/22 one week before our departure and I drove to FedEx office to pick it up.. I don’t know what finally helped and I made sure to call back and thank everyone who tried to help. The irony is that South Africa only insists on one month after departure and two empty pages in the passport. Maybe I did not have to go through this hell and I could have used my old passport? I do not know if Americans require the whole 6 months when returning back to the USA from another country. Anybody knows?
Hi Vera–
I’m glad you got your passport in time. I’m sure it’s a huge load off your mind.
Thanks for giving us the report.
MRE
I read post #51 and 42 also and when I called the task force I found out that they are inputting “000-00-0000″ for ssn to expedite the app process in some instances. we mailed our renewal on may 1 and nothing was in the system. after talking to a supervisor at the 202 number she provided a letter. this was on friday. this morning at 930 cst, fedex delivered my wifes passport.
Hi Jeff–
I’m glad you got it in time.
Cheers–
MRE
I cannot say how grateful I’m to all the wonderful message posted on this website. I got my passport this morning (07/23). My travel date is early morning (07/26). I called Phaedra at the task force 1-202-647-7948 last Friday (07/20). Apparently, the systems worked. Phaedra told me my passport was processed and approved on Saturday. I actually got a false scare Sunday afternoon when the on-line status showed my application changed from expedited-service to regular service. I know I’m incoherent because I still cannot believe the system can work so effectively! I am a naturalized US citizen in June. I really love this country more now.
Hi Kevin–
I’m very happy that it all worked out for you. Enjoy your trip.
Cheers–
MRE
I am so glad i found this site as now I feel better knowing I am truly not alone in this passport mess! We are leaving on a family trip to Portugal on 8/2. After many calls and tons of time on hold we were able to get my husband’s passport 2 days ago after he submitted for his renewal 12 weeks ago. He did not pay for expedited service as at that time we were still being told it would take 8-10 weeks. Now however, we are waiting on my daughters passport. She is 2 months old so needless to say, we couldn’t apply to far in advance (we’ve been planning this trip since March). We submitted her paperwork, paid the expedited fee and for express delivery both ways. We still have not received hers. I’d also like to point out that I fibbed and told them we were leaving today. I am a government contractor and make it a practice to always give myself a “buffer”. Each time I call someone tells me something different. I actually spoke to a woman yesterday at the 877 number that told me because I keep calling to check the status, and they’ve send emails prioritizing our passport, I’ve slowed down the process! What!?!? I have called my congressmans office and they are also trying to help us. I now have 1 week until my “true” travel date. I am so grateful for all the info everyone has submitted here. I’m going to try the task force first thing in the morning. We also heard that the Washington Agency takes walk-ins on Mondays- does anyone know anything about that? We were able to get an appt. but its on Wed, the day prior to our travel.
If we are unable to travel we will not only be missing out on seeing my family but my cousins wedding as well as my daughters baptism.
Hi Ana–
I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you. I’m glad you got some ideas from this site. When I posted about my daughter-in-law’s experience, I never dreamed that my blog would become the passport help center. But I’m glad it did. I hope it works for you.
Keep me posted.
Best–
MRE
Hello,
It’s nice to know that I am not the only one in passport purgatory!
I don’t know where to turn.
I am a U.S. citizen residing in Canada and the 877 helpline doesn’t work from here (although it doesn’t sound like I’m missing much!).
My local U.S. embassy/consular services office just gives me automated links to irrelevant depts. or back to generic U.S. sites and #’s.
I applied to renew my passport almost FOUR months ago. This week I received a letter stating that they required proof of name-change. I have ALREADY submitted an original document with my application. It sounds like they have LOST it!!!!!!
I am livid and frustrated and don’t know what to do now.
June
Hi June–
Passport purgatory? Sounds more like passport hell to me.
Hope you get it all straightened out without too much more brain damage.
Cheers–
MRE
POSTSCRIPT!
Ok, I found a generic e-mail status-check form on the State Dept. website. After three tries, I finally got a human response. At first they wouldn’t give me any info. Then they said I should contact the New Hampshire office, even though I applied to the Philadelphia office.
Then one e-mail said they couldn’t find my application at all, but today they said the New Hampshire office sent it out yesterday!!!
So I am happy, but not completely happy, if you know what I mean. I don’t trust them to have the correct info., especially after that bizarre and disjointed e-mail exchange.
So things are looking up, but I won’t breathe a sigh of relief until it lands in my mailbox!!
Cheers,
June
I’m keeping my fingers crossed for you.
MRE
Thank you for the e-mail address your site has provided:
littlefieldME@state.gov
It was enormously helpful!!!
I am a U.S. citizen residing in Canada, and applied to renew my passport more than three months ago.
The State Dept. 877 number doesn’t work in Canada (but it doesn’t sound like I’m missing much!) and I couldn’t get a useful human response via the various web forms I filled out to inquire about my status.
One e-mail told me they needed my birthday to track it (even though it was clearly on the web form they responded to!). Another said they had no record of my application. One told me to contact the New Hampshire office, even though I sent my application to Philadelphia, and it appeared that some important supporting documents had been lost by them.
I was ready to scream….
but after writing to the littlefield address above, I got an IMMEDIATE response within 24 hours, and was told my application had been upgraded to “expedite” and my passport was FedExed yesterday!
Whew!
Thanks again for your website. It is not only helpful, but therapeutic. It’s nice to know that I am not the only one in passport purgatory.
Cheers!
June
Hi June–
I’m glad you finally got some action. What a nightmare. Sorry you had to go through it. And I’m glad this site helped in some small way.
Cheers–
MRE
The real problem is not an incompetent government (although it clearly exacerbated the problem) but the number of Last-Minute Lucy’s running to get their passports 2 weeks before they travel. Who in their right mind would plunk down thousands of dollars on a vacation – planning MONTHS ahead to purchase tickets, reserve hotels etc. and then wait until 2 weeks (or even 6 weeks) before they travel to take care of arrangements necessary to get back into the country? Apparently everyone as indicated by the many examples above. The government’s error was in not anticipating the number of disorganized people that would be applying for passports at the last minute. That sudden and ongoing increase in expedited requests overwhelmed the expedite process (which has to take precedence over the regular service) pushing expedites from 2 weeks to 4 weeks to process and then pushing back the regular service from 1 month to 3 months. Even now with all the press coverage talking about delays, people who planned their trips months in advance are still rushing in to get their passports at the last minute and then whining about government inefficiency when you all aren’t that efficient yourselves!!!
I guess you didn’t read all the comments. Most people writing applied months in advance. My daughter-in-law applied several months in advance and was told that she should have her passport in a matter of weeks. In fact, the woman at the passport place told my DIL that she shouldn’t spend the money (which she did spend anyway) to get expedited delivery because she had ordered it so far in advance that it would get there in plenty of time via the regular mail. It did not come in time even with expedited delivery.
I’m curious. Which branch of the federal government do you work for?
MRE
MRE