April 09, 2007
Fast New Passport, Part 3
My 5-year-old's expired passport and his new one, which arrived only 8 days after we mailed in the old one. My new one took only 6 days!
by Wendy Perrin
For those of you following my recent passport posts on How To Get A Passport Fast and How Long DOES A New Passport Take? you will probably be astounded to hear this: I mailed both my and Charlie's passports from our local post office to the State Department on Friday, March 30. I ordered expedited service and two-way overnight delivery. My new passport arrived on Thurs, April 5, and Charlie's arrived on Sat, April 7. UNbelievable, huh? Looks like the State Dept. really has hired new staff for its passport agencies and expanded their hours.
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I'm so glad to hear that everything went smoothly for you, especially after reading some of the nightmare stories. Looks like paying for expidited service is definitely worth it.
Posted by: tracker1312 | April 09, 2007 at 11:26 AM
I hope you experience is or becomes typical but less than a week ago the stats were that the average wait was 10 weeks.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070316/us_nm/usa_passports_dc_1
Chris Christensen
http://AmateurTraveler.com
Posted by: chris2x | April 09, 2007 at 12:19 PM
I'm insanely jealous. Maybe they knew who you were? I just find it hard to believe they've gotten their act together to that extent that quickly. I'm still recommending expedited service for everyone who has ANY travel plans whatsoever - just in case.
Leian
http://www.childofleisure.com/search/label/passports
Posted by: leian | April 09, 2007 at 01:12 PM
Hi Leian,
They definitely didn't know/care who I am: My son Charlie's passport renewal took only 8 days, and his last name is different than mine. Furthermore, someone at Conde Nast Publications far more important than I has been waiting 11 weeks for his passport to come back (unlike me, he didn't request expedited service).
I'm with you: Anyone holding tickets to fly overseas should spring for the expedited service.
Posted by: WendyPerrin | April 09, 2007 at 02:51 PM
That is wonderful! I was very lucky this year, I renewed my passport and submitted my 7 year old son's application on the 3rd of January and we received ours within 6 weeks without expedition! I think we were ahead of the big summer rush as now people are waiting 11 weeks plus. Before I received our passports, I checked the state dept. website for an update and it was right on the mark for the date that we actually received our passports!
Posted by: SuzR | April 09, 2007 at 08:32 PM