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Has anybody received a new pasport since the "Passport computer system meltdown"???

tmcon01

By tmcon01,
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sail7seas

sail7seas

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Posted
Thanks Keith

If it doesn't come in the next week or so we probably will be making that call

 

Why are you waiting?

Just because the House and Senate are on vacation, maybe their staff is hard at work but remember...... it is Congressional 'break time'. Call now.

 

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ginamichelle

ginamichelle

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My wife applied for a new passport 6 weeks ago at local post office. Still haven't received it. Status sill says "being processed". We cruise to Alaska Sept 7. She is starting to freak out.

We didn't expedite because we had over 2 months and it seemed most people received their passports well under the 4-6 week time given by passport agency. But now with the Passport computer meltdown that happened around July 20th and still hasn't been completely fixed, we are starting to really worry.

 

Had we only know we would have expedited and probably would have gotten it before the computer crashed.

 

Since it is a round trip Alaska cruise, she could have gone with just her birth certificate, but now we don't even have that.

 

Has anybody received their passports in the last week or so and when did you apply?

 

If there is a problem with the application will they send the birth certificate back then or hold it until they get more info from us.

 

Hi don't know if this will help since I did expedite mine. got it in less than a week in early July. Had a name change issue but my check cleared in about two days. Has your check cleared? If not you may have a issue. If it cleared I think you should be ok but no harm in calling your rep. Good luck.

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tmcon01

tmcon01

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Well my wife called the passport office last night and they weren't much help. Just said it showed that it was still processing. Asked her about the computer crash and she said she hadn't heard much about that. She just gave us what seemed like a bunch of generic answers that she was trained to give. So basically didn't get anything out of her we didn't already know.

My biggest worry is that in another week they will contact us with a problem and there won't be enough time to fix it.

 

We went ahead and ordered another birth certificate from Vitalchek. We just hope the end result of that leaves us giving a good review of them and not a bad one. But for now it just gives my wife one more thing to worry about.

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Avalon35

Avalon35

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We sent ours in 2nd week of July. We just today received status email that it will be sent out next week. We don't physically have it in hand yet and have asked for overnite mail. We did not expedite the process either . Good luck to you.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

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tmcon01

tmcon01

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We sent ours in 2nd week of July. We just today received status email that it will be sent out next week. We don't physically have it in hand yet and have asked for overnite mail. We did not expedite the process either . Good luck to you.

 

Thanks that gives us more hope.

I do see that your in Florida and we're in Oregon so I'm pretty sure ours went to a different passport office so that could make a difference.

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dfish

dfish

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Is there a reason you don't wish to ask your Congressman or Senators for help? This is part of what they do for constituents.

 

 

Absolutely right! They are in those offices to serve you, their constituent. They actually do like to help with these matters - it makes them feel good.

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tmcon01

tmcon01

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Is there a reason you don't wish to ask your Congressman or Senators for help? This is part of what they do for constituents.

 

 

When we called passport office last night we were told that they received the application 1 week after we applied at the post office and were told we were still under 6 weeks, therefore they couldn't really do anything. We assumed when they say 4-6 weeks from time of application it meant from the day at post office. Unfortunately the P.O. was slow in delivering. They said call back after the 6 weeks are up.

So at this point it's not that we won't call for help, to be fair to everyone (and not feel like an ass for jumping the gun) we feel the need to wait till the (new) 6 week date we were given.

I now know for sure that they won't give me the time of day and will only talk directly to my wife.

It is still more then 3 weeks till cruise.

We also applied for the passport over 2 weeks before we ever booked the cruise so at the time didn't have any reason for expediting it.

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tmcon01

tmcon01

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When I started this thread I just wanted to hear from some people that have gotten their passports lately to see the time frame. That was accomplished and I see that they are coming a little slower than usual but were still getting delivered. That eased my mind. I already knew all about the passport computer problems and the agency was claiming to get them out usually under the 6 weeks.

 

From everything I've read, the passport agency is one of the few of our government agencies that, for the most part, actually works. I can now see that even when problems that are out of their control happen, they are working around them.

 

Although I mentioned my wife was freaking out over this, I'm not. I'm the calm type and can wait for at least the 6 weeks to come.. That being said, in a few days, if nothing has changed, I will be on the phone calling my Representative, Congressman or the Whitehouse (LOL) when the time comes.

 

I want to thank everyone that commented here.

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TampaJules

TampaJules

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Oh my, good luck to you!

 

We applied yesterday for ours. They pointed out that our birth certificates (neither, from different states) have our parent's names and that could mean a rejection. Since we never have time to go get the application submitted, we went ahead and submitted it and I will order new "long form" birth certificates to be ready to go once they send a rejection letter. I didn't expedte since it seemed pointless with a probable rejection.

 

What was odd was I brought my marriage license, but she insisted they won't need that. How can my name not matching not matter but my parent's names not showing does? BTW, my parents names are on my marriage license.

 

I totally didn't even think about giving them our original birth certificates, and that now, if we don't get the passports back by our cruise, we won't even have them for the cruise. I suppose I'll need to order two copies of the new certificates just in case.

 

Vitalchek is a waste. They don't do anything more than go to the County or State Vital Statistics office and get the certificate for you. You probably pay more and wait longer than if you ordered it yourself. I order death certificates often at work and never use Vitalchek and only order direct (by mail) from the County or State. Just an FYI for those out there.

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tmcon01

tmcon01

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I would have gone directly through the county recorders office but they only do it in person or by mail or through Vitalchek online. As per their website it would take 15-20 business days plus mailing time in both directions. That would put it at least 30 days out probably more. However if doing it online through vitalchek they would process it in 3-5 days after they receive a notarized Certificate of Identity. This info is from the county website and not vitalchek.

Since my wife works in the loan dept. of a bank, she was able to have the certificate notarized first thing this morning (as they have their own notary in the building) and faxed to them by 10 AM this morning. Two hours later I checked status and it showed the fax, payment and application received at county office. So if they hold up to what they say we will have it next week as we paid for overnight delivery.

Personally I didn't trust vitalchek for a second but so far it seems to be working.

 

To tell you the truth, I don't know why it even takes 3-5 days much less 15-20 as if you walk in in person, it takes about 15 minutes for them to look it up and print it and you're on your way.

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Seago2

Seago2

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Just want to jump in in case anyone is renewing a green card. My husband is English. It just took eight months to get his new green card in the mail. That was cutting it extremely close- he got it about two weeks ago and we sail in two days. They give you a little sticky thing to use with your expired green card but trust me on this- renew ahead.

Edited by Seago2
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Teeara "Live from...." Rare

Teeara

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Wow! I must've really gotten lucky and just missed this nightmare. I sent my passport renewal in the first week of June and had my new passport book, old passport book and passport card by the first week of July. I was very impressed with how fast it went. I had expected more time since we were heading into summer at that point.

 

OP, please keet us informed of how it goes and when you actually get the passport.

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tmcon01

tmcon01

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Well here's an update on our situation.

 

Birth certificate: Paid Vitalchek for birth certificate on Wednesday evening. Friday afternoon, it was marked shipped and had a UPS tracking number for 1 day air. Arrived Monday morning.

Less than 48 hours from time of ordering till being shipped. Vitalchek and the Santa Clara County Recorders Office impressed me.

 

Passport: Thursday we got a letter from Passport Agency stating THE PASSPORT APPLICATION WAS NOT SIGNED. Oh man, I about flipped my lid. The application cannot be signed until the (postal) Agent has you sign it in front of him. He never had my wife sign it. A new application had to be filled out and taken back to the Post Office for a redo. This time my wife got the Postmaster who very apologetic and told her his co-worker has been making a lot of mistakes on them lately and would have to be talked to. He sent it back to the (Seattle) Passport Agency express mail at no charge. He told her that because the new application was being sent to Seattle (and not the main office) with the passport locator number stamped on it, that her passport was already printed and they were just waiting for the new signed application to get there and they would be sending it out and we would have it before the cruise. She said he was very sincere about saying this and seemed to know what he was talking about, but I have my doubts. We'll see!

The application was delivered in Seattle on Monday. There are still no changes on the Passport Status website as of today, Wednesday.

 

In any case, we have her new Birth Certificate and she is able to go without the passport if it doesn't come. Yay!

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montekat

montekat

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Thanks for the update. Glad that Vitalchek came through for you. Never hurts to have an extra birth certificate. You certainly had an experience with the Passport, but at least you will have it in time for the cruise.

 

Hope you have a great cruise!!

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  • 2 weeks later...
TampaJules

TampaJules

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Update...

The checks cleared to the government, so at least they got the applications. Looks like it being processed in New Orleans. Long form birth certificates are on order, pending the rejection.

 

Got the rejection letters today, needing the birth certificates. Hubbie has his and I still haven't gotten mine. They also rejected mine for the photo being not the right size (from chin to hairline). Purchased at Walgreens drug store for like $12. I measured the duplicate and its within the guidelines so I don't know what they are talking about. I called the main 877 number and they basically just left a message for the New Orleans office to call me. Strange.

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