Question:
Just curious, I am a US citizen
that will be applying for a first
passport tomorrow or next Tuesday.
I am going to pay for the expedited
service ($60.00 extra) which is
supposed to hurry my passport back
to me within 2 weeks. I am only
5.5 hours away from the Chicago
office where I was told by the US
Passport hotline my application
would be going. Is it going to take
the entire 2 weeks to get my passport
back?
Is the passport
office kind of hit and miss as far
as sticking to their estimated return
times? I have talked to some people
who have not even paid the expedition
fees and received their passport
back in less than a week and even
a couple people that paid the the
expedition fees and it took a month
or so to get it. Does anyone know
of a quicker way to get a passport
without paying insane charges to
some 3rd party company?
Answer:
Go to the Passport office w/ a International
air ticket. I have heard of no one
in the last three years that has
waited more than 10-11 days to receive
their passport via normal channels.
You could call the Chicago office
and try to wheedle an off-the-record
answer to your question. Ours took
11 calendar days....Kentucky to
the New Orleans PP office and return.
I think there is even a place online,
or a phone number that you can call
to check the status once you have
filed your application. I remember
doing that and being told that our
applications were already processed
and our PP's were in the mail. BTW,
many Post Offices now offer to take
your photos. Ours gets $12.00, which
is 60% of what a local photograper
gets.
