Are you in Passport Purgatory?

[shawnal]

You would think you could do that in California. No, I went to the DMV today. 10 days is the quickest service...has to go to Sacramento for processing.

[Lynn the Cruiser]

Applied March 9th. finally got thru monday on phone. They said they would do what they could but could not promise anything. We sail in 10 days. Just checked still says in processing for all 4 of ours. The strange thing is today we got one in the mail. So don't go by what the web site says. Just hope for the best and apply early. We were told it would take 6 weeks. It is now 13 weeks.:(

I'm with you...applied Mar. 8, hubby and I still don't have our passports. We're leavingin 15 days. I haven't been able to get thru to a person and tried calling numerous times! I am getting help from my state senator's office, but so far nothing from them yet either.

[lauren0309]

I wonder if where you apply has anything to do with the processing time. My son applied at our local post office on April 5th and got his passport on May 20th. Not a long wait at all!

[Daghis]

We applied for our kids back in late March, I think. I put a travel date of mid June, which would have been about ten weeks after we applied. I was hoping that we'd be able to drive up to Niagara Falls for a quick weekend getaway this summer, but that might not happen.

 

Fortunately, we still have another ten weeks before we need our passports for the cruise. Well, maybe not need, but since we sent our certified birth certificates along with the passport applications, we don't currently have any proof of citizenship for the kids. At least if I needed replacement birth certificates, I bet I could get expedited copies of them far faster than what it would take to get a passport!

[charlsee]

My niece is gettig married this Saturday, June 9 and supposed to honeymoon in Italy, leaving Sunday, June 10. My niece has always had her passport, but the groom applied in early February - still no papssport. BIL thought he could get situation rectified through his employer, an oil company, so everyone relaxed a bit (except me). Monday they called me in a panic - oil company couldn't help at this late date. From the great info I've learned on CC, I advised groom to call his Congressman, which he did.He followed up today, and they said he should have it tomorrow or Friday - who knows. Please send good vibes for success. I'll let everyone know what happens; I'm stressing.

[kristyintx]

shawnal, does she not have a school photo ID? Anything?

 

That totally sucks...I'd call RCCL and ask them if there's anything else they'd accept...what do they consider an acceptable photo ID? Maybe something you could go get done elsewhere (besides DMV)?

 

I'm sure you've thought of anything and everything you can...just putting that out there in case. Losing 8K ... oh my gosh ... I can't imagine.

[jimd909]

It has been exactly 11 weeks and 1 day since I applied. I checked online and it says processing and gives a locator number.

[mitaxi]

This article sounds like what I did 2 weeks ago.. we were leaving for Cancun on May 25 th... had applied for passports for two sons March 2... showed "processing " after 4 weeks... one arrived May 11th.... the other no where....I called and called.. when it got to 14 days.. I called 4 times aday... that's a LOT of cell minutes..not to mention the time on hold... then I started calling the Ohio Congresswoman's office.. they tried to help... 48 hours before our flights they said it was printed and shipped over night.. but the fed ex tracking # was not showing.. I waited as long as possible and 24 hours before our flight ... I put my son in the car and drove to Chicago...and they DO issue a passport if it has been issued and shipped but not received... and after a 16 hour day total, we came home finished packing and left for Cancun....not to be repeated for 10 years.....

 

all I can say is I am truly sympathic to everyone else waiting...

Michele

[cayenneblue]

We are definately in trouble. My family of 5 is scheduled to leave for Puerto Rico next Thursday (June 14) going on a 7-day out of San Juan. We DID order passports *14 weeks ago*, but they never arrived. Tried to expedite them today, with no luck. We do, however, have birth certs which should be enough. Called RCCL just to be sure today, and found out my 17 yr. old will NOT be allowed on the ship without a picture I.D. (she doesn't have a license yet.) Yikes, unfortuately no time to get one here in CA. At 14 weeks, the passport office told us we did not need to expedite - We should not have listened to them. Now, 5 people will miss a cruise; we're out 8K (no trip insurance)...I suggest everyone expedite from now on.

 

 

Does she have a school ID? The RCCL check-in site said for my 17 year old to show up with either a Drivers License OR a school ID......

 

Keep calling RCCL. They finally "upgraded" my daughters from normal processing to "emergency" (or some such words) processing at 1:52pm today. My son's however is still in "normal".....

 

We have birth certificates, but I'd like the passports just to be on the safe side. Plus, my daughters birth certificate has some spills on it, so I was a little concerned about it passing muster........ :rolleyes:

[gaileeh]

WOW... I guess I'm the lucky one here, I applied on 3-17 and my passport came 10 weeks later... We're not cruising til September, just glad I applied when I did. Thanks to the many CCers for the advice to apply early (I found here...);)

[Cavatelli430]

We applied for our kids back in late March, I think. I put a travel date of mid June, which would have been about ten weeks after we applied. I was hoping that we'd be able to drive up to Niagara Falls for a quick weekend getaway this summer, but that might not happen.

 

Fortunately, we still have another ten weeks before we need our passports for the cruise. Well, maybe not need, but since we sent our certified birth certificates along with the passport applications, we don't currently have any proof of citizenship for the kids. At least if I needed replacement birth certificates, I bet I could get expedited copies of them far faster than what it would take to get a passport!

 

As far as I know, you shouldn't have a problem DRIVING to Niagara Falls. till Dec 31, 2007 you DO NOT NEED a passport to DRIVE to Canada. But if you are FLYING you DO NEED passport. My dad goes on a fishing trip to Canada every year. He's leaving next week and they are driving, no passport needed.

[Daghis]

As far as I know, you shouldn't have a problem DRIVING to Niagara Falls. till Dec 31, 2007 you DO NOT NEED a passport to DRIVE to Canada. But if you are FLYING you DO NEED passport. My dad goes on a fishing trip to Canada every year. He's leaving next week and they are driving, no passport needed.

Right, but I don't have their birth certificates now either. At least I could get new ones if I had to, but the timing for the Canada trip isn't set in stone and can wait a while for that.

 

Plus, I feel a bit better with passports since they are photo IDs for the kids (with last names that match their parents). We've had some minor issues in the past with authorities since our kids have two dads and that raises some suspicion on occasion. :(

[Cavatelli430]

Right, but I don't have their birth certificates now either. At least I could get new ones if I had to, but the timing for the Canada trip isn't set in stone and can wait a while for that.

 

Plus, I feel a bit better with passports since they are photo IDs for the kids (with last names that match their parents). We've had some minor issues in the past with authorities since our kids have two dads and that raises some suspicion on occasion. :(

 

Sounds like you are better off waiting for the passports!

 

I was going to try to talk my husband into a weekend trip in Niagara Falls before the end of the year, about a 4 hr drive for us. BUT, then I surprised him with our cruise in February, so no weekend trips for us! It's ok, we didn't go on vacation anywhere this year, so I'm really looking forward to our cruise!

[King2Be]

I am in Buffalo, NY and my fiance, my parents & myself all went to our local postoffice on Saturday March 24th to apply for our passports. We all received our passports in the mail yesterday, June 6th. That is a total of 10 and a half weeks that we had to wait. We sail on Sept 9th :D Now, my coworker applied for his passport at the end of FEBRUARY and he just got his yesterday too - that means his took an extra 3 weeks. So, basically it's a "keep your fingers crossed that you applied early enough before your travel date" scenario. The postoffice told us we'd have it by the beginning of June - I'm just thankful that they gave me the right information! I think that's fabulous that they were right on the money!

[splash79]

We're in passport limbo, but not worried yet. We applied on 4/18 and they cashed our check roughly a month later, but we have yet to show up online. I'll be disappointed if they don't arrive in time for our cruise, but my only real concern at the moment is it getting lost in the mail or something. I don't want my personal information who knows where, you know?

[KeysRes]

I do think it may have to do with which Passport Office does the processing. A friend here in FL sent in his renewal in late Feb or early March, and it took them two or three weeks to cash the check. The status listed 'in process' until after he actually heceived it (early May I think). For some reason, I think the office to mail renewals (at least for FL) is in Philadelphia.

 

My father just applied for a new passport (his has been expired for 30 years - but he still had it) in MN. I believe MN processing center is in Seattle. He did pay the $60 expedited fee at the local courthouse. They cashed his check in a week, and he had his passport in two weeks. I was expecting much worse from the news.

 

On the other hand, I renewed my own a couple of years ago via mail...not in peak season. After about 4 weeks I finally got a letter telling me that my photos had been 'rejected' (ouch). Turns out the drugstore that claimed to take 'passport photos' used a white screen with a blue stripe on the top that said 'US Passport". They rejected the pics because of the stripe - has to be an all white background. Anyway, sent new pics back and then it was quick. But I was surprised how long it took them to let me know there was a problem.

[shawnal]

Does she have a school ID? The RCCL check-in site said for my 17 year old to show up with either a Drivers License OR a school ID......

 

Keep calling RCCL. They finally "upgraded" my daughters from normal processing to "emergency" (or some such words) processing at 1:52pm today. My son's however is still in "normal".....

 

We have birth certificates, but I'd like the passports just to be on the safe side. Plus, my daughters birth certificate has some spills on it, so I was a little concerned about it passing muster........ :rolleyes:

 

Thanks to all of you for the good ideas. Update: When I called RCCL, they told me a student ID would NOT qualify, however, thank you cayenneblue for setting things straight...I just went through the set sail online checkin and it does show "student ID" as one of the choices for a Federal, State or Local Government-issed photo ID. I'm assuming that means they consider "school" a Local or State Government. If anyone has recent experience of a 16 or 17 year old using a student ID, I'd love the reassurance. In any case, we're going for it and hoping that we won't run into any snags. Thanks again.

[lin712]

It has been 12 weeks today since we applied. I check the web site everyday, up untill today it just said it was being processed and gave a number. today when i checked it had my name, birthdate and last 4 of my ss said it was being processed and the reference # so is that a good sign that now it has my name on there? we don't leave till july 22 but am still worried don't know if i should send for a replacement birth certificate or not.

[CruisinRoxy]

You know what's really weird? My husband's passport is much "prettier" than mine. His has a firmer cover and all the pages have a patriotic background - i.e. the American Eagle, Liberty Bell, Statue of Liberty, famous quotes, etc. Mine looks like the boring old version. And they both were mailed on the same day, same envelope, same place, etc. Go figure. Maybe I'll send mine back and ask for a new one - ha-ha-ha lol:D

[shamu718]

LIN712,

 

Our status shows the same thing (the added info). Hopefully that does mean we are closer to getting our passports. Our Congressman is trying to help us get ours since we leave in one week and applied in March.

 

My son's on the other hand completely disappeared and he no longer shows in the database. :eek: Hopefully, they were just updating his status to show mailed. I can wish can't I? :D

[Cavatelli430]

You know what's really weird? My husband's passport is much "prettier" than mine. His has a firmer cover and all the pages have a patriotic background - i.e. the American Eagle, Liberty Bell, Statue of Liberty, famous quotes, etc. Mine looks like the boring old version. And they both were mailed on the same day, same envelope, same place, etc. Go figure. Maybe I'll send mine back and ask for a new one - ha-ha-ha lol:D

 

Oh my gosh, are you crazy?!:eek: I don't care what my passport looks like when I get it, as long as it's mine I'm keeping it. (Another lady on this thread said she got one in the mail and it wasn't even hers!) They'll probably tell you another 12 weeks wait!

[Lynn the Cruiser]

After 13 weeks...I finally got my passport!!!!!!!:D Now I can relax and enjoy packing and getting ready for my cruise!!!! I did have my senator's office helping me. A big sigh of relief!!!!

[kristyintx]

I just checked ours and all four have the added info. I wonder if that's good news? I sure hope so!!!!! We applied 4/06/07 and did not choose expedite option.

[cleacat]

I wonder if that is just something they changed, we applied 4/12, our check cleared 5/03 and we leave 6/29. I'm starting to get worried, new birth certificates for me and my daughter are no problem since we were both born were we live, my husband was born in New York and I don't know how long it would take to get him a new birth certificate.

Sue

[ShedQueen77]

It has been 12 weeks today since we applied. I check the web site everyday, up untill today it just said it was being processed and gave a number. today when i checked it had my name, birthdate and last 4 of my ss said it was being processed and the reference # so is that a good sign that now it has my name on there? we don't leave till july 22 but am still worried don't know if i should send for a replacement birth certificate or not.

 

Applied 4/9 and checked the website today. Mine has the additional info as well. Even though the applications were sent at the same time and both checks were cashed, my fiance's application is STILL "not found". :mad: We have plenty of time until we need them (December), but I'd still like to know what's up with his, especially since they took my money! :)