Dear Department of State,
I am very angry with you. I hardly know where to begin. The whole process of applying for a passport is nigh onto ridiculous anyway, but like hundreds of thousands of my fellow Americans, I gamely filled out forms, stood in line at the post office, and jumped through hoops without complaint.
Then I waited, and waited, and waited. My checks cleared. Still I waited.
Look, your website and recorded messages say that due to the increased demand for U.S. Passports, it is currently taking up to 10-12 weeks to receive a passport. So please apply early, etc.
I mention your website and recorded messages, because they're my closest points of contact with you. This, of course, increases my frustration exponentially. I cannot get to a live person on the phone, despite calling over and over and over, at various times of day. I can't get a response to my emails.
And listen, civil servants, I applied more than 12 weeks ago, my "estimated date of departure" is less than a week away, and still I do not have my passports!
I would willingly hang around on hold for an hour or more, waiting for the next available representative. But, no, although my call is "very important" to you, all representatives are always busy assisting other callers, and my call cannot be answered at this time. Or any time.
I applied early, as suggested. I repeatedly checked the website for the status of my passports rather than bothering your representatives. I waited until inside of your magical 14 day window to call, as you requested.
You took my money. There is no reason why these applications are anything but straightforward. My problem is urgent. AND YET I CANNOT FIND ANYONE TO TALK TO ME.
Jerks.
--Sarahlynn
Passport Status:
Paul: Still has valid passport from our honeymoon. Lucky dog.
Sarahlynn: Passport renewal application submitted over 12 weeks ago. Approved yesterday. Scheduled to arrive in the mail the day before our departure date. I hope my mailman isn't late!
Eleanor: Needed a passport. Applied at the same time as my renewal application. Request still "currently being processed."
Adelaide: Needed a passport. Applied a couple of weeks later than Ellie and I, due to not having a birth certificate yet. Requested (and paid royally for) "expedited service" since window to travel date was smaller. Received passport weeks ago, although not within "2 weeks" promised with expedited service.
Unacceptable!
New Release Spotlight: Cara Putman
-
Happy release day to author Cara Putman! In this suspenseful novel, Janae
Simmons left the small town of Kedgewick, Virginia, ten years ago to pursue
her...
1 week ago
17 comments:
My husband's renewed passport arrived only a week and a half before our trip to England--and he'd applied so early there was no apparent need to pay for expedited service. Yes, he freaked out every single day the mail came and yet again, no passport had arrived.
My friend's dad didn't get his passport until about two days before his trip to England (we all went for the friend's wedding). She could've kicked him for not paying the expedite fee--but again, it seemed early enough at the time he applied.
The take-home lesson: If you really care about getting your passport by a certain date and that date is within three or four months, go ahead and pay the extra $60. It's so worth it for the peace of mind. (But don't wait until two weeks before departure to do the expedited application, because you'll be sorry!)
P.S. Can we blame the Bush administration for not securing more funding and staffing for the passport agency when suddenly everyone flying to Mexico, the Caribbean, or Canada needs a passport? It's not like they didn't know the new requirement would increase passport applications!
We are leaving for Australia in July. We submitted our renewal applications in May, but not trusting our friends at the state dept, we paid for the expedited for both of us (ugh). That being said, D's arrived promptly in about 2 weeks, while mine sat languishing around for another 2 after hers, for unknown reasons. We luckily are all set now, but I feel your nervousness!!!
I applied for my passport on April 5, 2007 for travel in September. The check has cleared...I hope I get it in time!!! That's 5 months! Maybe they sort them by estimated travel dates, and don't do them in the order they are received or something. Who knows! I hope your passport arrives and you have a great trip!
If you have any delays getting passports, contact your local member of Congress - that's what he or she has been elected to do, to represent you!
BTW, my word verification was
hrzgovq, which I translated as
Here is government queue. Qhite apt!
X'ing my fingers for you!
Here in Canada we're having the same problem mainly due to the new regulation to have one to cross the US border. I have no plans to travel anytime soon. But I've already filled out forms for me, Carys and Patric and will be submitting them next week.
Our estimated wait is 10+ weeks as well. People have been lining up around the block at CIC offices. To the point that in Vancouver they're now given estimated service timecards and told to go away again.
Orange, yes indeed, we can blame the current administration. First of all, they have a habit of rushing into big decisions without considering the obvious side effects. Second, "big government" isn't really all so bad, you know. Like when necessary agencies are fully staffed. That doesn't suck.
Congrats, Tracey! I'm glad you had a happy ending. I really thought that 3+ months was enough lead time . . . especially since the state department is still insisting that 12 weeks is the max wait!
Becca, I believe that they are sorting by travel dates, but unfortunately it turns out that people are still missing their trips.
Stushie, hah! Also, thanks for the advice. I've contacted my representative and both senators. Here's hoping.
Beach, that sounds like a Walt Disney World Fastpass! But less fun.
Note: to keep the automated system from cutting you off, press 9-3-1 when it tells you that they're too busy to keep you in the queue. That puts you briefly back in the queue. We've been doing this approximately every 30 seconds for over an hour, but at least it beats redialing the whole number and navigating through the menu system (1,3,1).
Also? It turns out that these call centers are out-sourced and not really related to the processing of passports. Reportedly, they're even lying to people to get them off the phone. (E.g., your passport will go out via Fed Ex tomorrow!)
Oh good lord, that's really bad.
Seriously, you might want to contact your congressman's constituent service center. It is amazing what a service-oriented congressman can do for you in terms of cutting through the red tape of a government agency. After 9/11 when the antrax attacks happened in NJ, a tax rebate check, I suspect, was incinerated due to being in that facility. I had little luck contacting the IRS directly. My congressman arranged to have the IRS call me after I gave my permission for him to do so. At this point, it wouldn't hurt.
When people talk about universal healthcare coverage, I think of headaches like this. Imagine how much worse it would be if this were a healthcare issue!
Thanks, Deb. I called my rep's office yesterday and have been pleased so far.
Update:
My passport arrived today! And due to my calls or my congressman's office's interference, Ellie's passport is being expedited. There's hope that it will ship via Next Day delivery either today or tomorrow.
WRT universal healthcare, I prefer not to give up on healthcare for all Americans without giving it a chance. I'd prefer to try to fix the system, or create a whole new system before saying that it can't be done. Perhaps I am an optimist after all . . .
My girlfriend applied for her passports and it took 15 weeks! She just got them this week, with a departure of next week...She too wanted to complain, but who do you complain too? I guess your local congressman will be getting a nice little letter...this one should suffice, don;t you think?
Here's hoping they all arrive BEFORE you leave.
ps the thing that is so ironic here, is that they are more then happy to take your money, and leave you hanging, ahhh the wonderful red tape of buracracy
Glad you're finally all set up!
Heard a piece on NPR today about this exact issue. Apparently the state department vastly underestimated how many applications they'd receive as a result of this new rule that requires a passport to fly to Canada, Mexico, and the Carribean. They hired 200 extra staff and opened a new processing center, but they're still WAAAAAY behind. The NPR report said new passport applications are taking 3 months or so. There's talk that the new rule will be suspended for six months while they work through the application backlog.
Somebody heard your cry... a headline in the STL Post-Dispatch:
US border passport regs suspended
URL-->
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_PASSPORTS?SITE=MOSTP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
At this point I don't think it will help you, but maybe it will help clear up the jam.
-Laura
You know, even in today's news stories, they're saying that it might take up to 3 months to get your passport! Three whole months! But BelovedLife's friend took 15 weeks (almost 4 months!) to get her passport, and after 3 months, Ellie's passport was not ready. It took a full three months for my noncomplicated renewal.
If the state department would just update their website and phone lines to say "up to 5 months," a lot of heartache might be avoided.
If we actually get Ellie's passport, I will indeed be writing my congressman a nice letter of appreciation for his help!
Lady Liberal and Flatflo, the results of the 2007 passport law were easy to predict. It blows my mind that our government continues to legislate ideas, rather than having some of their many many staffers actually researching the likely numbers involved.
The rule has been suspended, but you're still supposed to have some sort of receipt from the state department in the meantime, whatever that means.
I was thinking about you this morning, I guess you have already heard about the state issued id and a recipet from the state dept stating that you have applied for the passport will be good enough, you might want to investigate that one further.
Living in D.C., I have a little bit of insight on this. As Lady Liberal reported, the administration decided to make it mandatory to have a passport for travel to Mexico, but then they didn't hire enough workers to handle the increased demand.
One more peice of advice:
A friend in this predicament contacted his representative and found out a way to get it the same day (a long day of waiting in lines, but it was within a day).
Good luck!
BelovedLife, unfortunately, that grace period is only for Americans traveling to Mexico, Canada, and US territories. So it won't help us, unfortunately.
Tribalchurch, yes, it's theoretically possible to get a passport in one day. One very very long day of waiting in lines outside with two small children, 300+ miles from home, after jumping through many hoops to get there. We're calling that a very last resort.
Post a Comment