Know what? I mailed my passport application on July 11, 2023 and got it back on July 28. That’s just 17 days later. That’s, like, UNHEARD of, nowadays, y’know? So yeah, I’m pretty sure I just won the passport lottery. I didn’t win any money, but I’ll tell ya, I feel like a million bucks!
I don’t think I did anything particularly different or more unusual than anybody else. Well, save for some very small things that shouldn’t have made any difference in how fast my application was processed. And, of course, who knows how the State Department does things, makes decisions, etc? But in case it helps someone else, here’s how I did it…
My old passport still had almost a year left on it – it didn’t expire until late June 2024. But we have plans to go on a cruise this coming February. We’re big fans of Virgin Voyages (these are 36 things Virgin Voyages doesn’t tell you about their cruises – we wrote this right after we got off the ship last summer; most remain true, except for the Covid info) and they require their “Sailors” (guests) to have a passport with at least 6 months left before expiration (true, they did make this big change in June 2023, so as the good blog says, Your Mileage May Vary).
My passport would only have 4.5 months left on it by the time we cruised, so I needed to get a new one before February. I decided to play it safe and start the process to get a new one very early, since the State Department says their current wait time is 10-13 weeks for regular processing, and 7-9 weeks for expedited service. And that doesn’t even include mailing time back and forth. Plus I’ve heard anecdotal horror stories of some people waiting 6+ months for their passports to finally arrive. So why not start it now, right?
Monday, July 10
On July 10th, I got my photo taken at a local UPS Store. I hate that we’re not allowed to smile for passport photos (here’s why) because I naturally have resting b*tch face. Between that and looking more and more like my mother every day, well, let’s just say my passport photo makes me look like a little old lady who sucked on a lemon. Not exactly flattering, y’know? (and no, I won’t show you the photo LOLOL)
I read the instructions, filled out the form, attached my awful photo, wrote the check (I got expedited service), and put everything in an envelope.
Tuesday, July 11
I brought it to the local post office the next morning. I even made it “Facebook official.”
As Samantha said, Godspeed, passport renewal application and old passport….($1.83 stamp artwork is Joe’s. He collected stamps as a kid. He has leftovers and looks for every opportunity to use them. I told him if he wants me to use them, he has to lick ‘em)
July 19
The State Dep’t said they received my application (why or how it took 8 days to get from Orlando FL to Philadelphia is beyond me; the USPS should be ashamed of themselves. Either that or they received it days earlier and it just didn’t get posted until the 19th, I dunno). From my Facebook:
Welp, it’s a start…I know they got it, at least.
“The U.S. Department of State has received your application for your passport book on 07/19/2023. We’re now reviewing your application and supporting documents.
“You requested expedited service when you applied. Expedited service can take 7-9 weeks. Our processing times begin the day we receive your application at a passport agency or center, not the day you mail your application or apply at a local acceptance facility.”
July 20
As per my bank, they cashed my check.
July 22
I checked my status again and, not surprisingly, it hadn’t changed from when I looked at it on July 19th. It was still “In Process.”
I decided I’d only start looking once a week from there on in, because it was just going to be a long, drawn-out 2-month process where little would change.
But here’s where things start to get a little crazy.
July 28
Lo and behold, my passport arrived via Priority Express mail. {{{THUD}}}.
Now, the thing is, I didn’t even realize it was my passport. I saw the Priority Express envelope and immediately assumed it was a credit card Joe had gotten for me. That happens….a lot. So I didn’t even look to see who it was from. He was at work, so I just left the envelope on his desk.
Joe gets home from Job #1 that evening and says, “Sharon, this is for you. Is it your old passport, maybe? It says it’s from the government.”
Well, holy cow, yes it was from the government!
U.S. Government Official Mail
Thomas P. O’Neill Federal Bldg
Boston, MA (anybody else see “Boston, Mass” and immediately sing “02134” in their head? Anybody?)
02222
I opened the envelope, and nope, it wasn’t my old passport – it was my brand new one! You seriously could have knocked me over with a feather!
July 26 (in 20/20 hindsight)
That’s what my new passport says is its issue date.
July 29
My status has been updated to say they mailed my old passport back to me that day.
Application Status: Supporting Documents Mailed
We sent your supporting documents via First Class Mail on 07/29/2023 to the mailing address you provided on your application.
Supporting documents may include a previous passport, birth certificate, naturalization certificate, or other citizenship and identity documents.
New passports and supporting documents are sent in separate mailings at different times. If you have not received your passport after two weeks or your supporting documents after eight weeks, contact the National Passport Information Center at 1-877-487-2778. If you are deaf or hard of hearing, call 1-888-874-7793.
Your application locator number is #########
So there you go. I sent out my renewal on July 11th and got my new passport on July 28th. 17 days. Can you believe it???
17 Days? How did this even happen?
I have no idea whatsoever.
I read lots of travel-flavored message groups and sure, sometimes people will say they got theirs back earlier than expected…say, 6 weeks, even though they didn’t pay for expedited service. A handful of people have even said they got theirs back in 30-something days. But just SEVENTEEN days? Unheard of.
These are the only things I can think of:
I followed the directions
It sounds silly, but I followed all of their directions to a T.
- I used black ink
- I wrote everything in all caps block letters and made sure everything was 100% legible, with no mistakes
- I added the info they wanted on the check (applicant’s full name and date of birth printed on the front)
That big envelope
Because I had to include my old passport, I had to use a bigger envelope. I was hoping we had one of those 4″ x 8″ or 6″ x 10″ ones in the house, but we didn’t. That’s why it went in an 8″ x 12″ mailer.
I brought it to the post office
We live in a community where they use cluster box mail boxes. There’s a slot in the unit where we can mail stuff, but it only fits standard sized envelopes. Anything wider than a greeting card won’t fit. So I brought the envelope to the post office. That REALLY shouldn’t have mattered, since whatever the postal person collects from our cluster box eventually goes to the same place, anyway.
The stamps
That’s the ONLY thing I can think of that would have really made the envelope that held my application stand out. I mean, who puts lick-on 22¢, 5¢, and 2¢ stamps from the 1980s onto an envelope that has a passport application inside? Maybe that made it “interesting” so they put it on the top of the pile? Was someone at the State Department’s passport processing center a stamp collector when they were a kid and they were so tickled with seeing those nearly 40-year-old stamps that they made my passport a priority? I have no idea.
But I’m not complaining. 😉
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6 comments
You should really send in your passport via priority mail so there is tracking on it. A flat rate envelope costs like $7 and includes tracking, then you aren’t wondering if it got there or where it is. That is a valuable document in that envelope.
In the past, I wanted to renew the passport after the old one expired. I had hoped to get maybe a few years extra over the course of decades. Now, with slow and unpredictable processing, it’s major strategy.
My passport expires in January 2025. If I use it between July 2024 and January 2025, it will be to countries that do not require 6 months of validity. However, I have NEXUS so I must get the new passport by January 2025. It’s possible that I might chance it and early February 2025 might be ok. So when should I apply? Maybe October 2024, unless I want to use the passport, then maybe November 2024? So complicated.
(It seems like the UK requires 3 months and 1 day of validity on the day of entry. The EU requires 3 months of validity on the day you plan to exit the EU.)
USPS isn’t at fault here – you would know that if you used a trackable service. The date of receipt for your application at the processing center is not the same as the date it’s received at the PO Box in Philadelphia.
First Class mail from Florida to Philly could easily take 3 or 4 days. It can then take another 4 or 5 days for the application to be received and acknowledged by the processing center.
I was comparing today’s USPS service to what it was, say, a decade or two ago. NY to California took 5 days. And Florida to Philly took 2 or occasionally 3. Now it takes 2 days for something to go first class from Orlando to Miami.
Hello, I would appreciate any helpful advice to track my passport application! I applied for a new passport at my local post office in Scottsdale, Az. on May 12th, 2023. I explained that I reported (online) my passport was lost/stolen last Sept. (I left a belt bag with it inside at a Mod pizza place in west Seattle September 11, 2023. I ran back to the restaurant 30mins later and it was gone!). Luckily I had one old passport book to bring into the post office apt which seemed to help. I paid to expedite it and kept checking my passport status with only seeing the words “in process”. On June 28th 2023 I received an email asking me to fill out an additional form reporting it stolen. Since I had international travel coming middle of July 2023 I quickly printed the form and the cover letter put it in a priority envelope and paid to overnight it to the address required in Virginia. I paid another $60 to have it there as quickly as possible.
I proceeded to wait anxiously and call the one and only phone number available. I waited 2-3 hours per day to speak to a human. Each time I tried to schedule an appointment there were NO appointments available ANYWHERE in the country!! One time an employee asked me if detroit was ok… I was thrown off so I said let me check flights being that it was within 12 hours. As soon as I was about to answer (within a minute) the employee said, “I’m so sorry, it is gone”. I drove almost two hours to Tuscon July 3rd 2023 to a Passport Agency with no appointment hoping to be a walk in for missed appointments…no luck either!
I have also tried to email with no luck and a response saying to check the status update. I had to cancel my plans to Croatia this summer and I am left not knowing what more I can do. What if it’s lost in the shuffle? How will I know if it will ever come? Thank you, Michelle
Oh my, that sounds like a mess! I’m sorry that happened. Unfortunately, we have no idea how the government does their thing. Best advice I can give is to contact your congressperson…sometimes they have almost “magical” abilities to get through the red tape. Good luck!