July 21, 2023
Are you stressed about getting your passport in time becuase you’ve got a trip coming up?
So many of you have contacted me panicking about this. So I did some more digging and found a few things that may help.
And yes I’m going to tell you about it in this video, but I will also send all the information out to you tonight in my news girl news roundup email so make sure you sign yourself up.
As I told you in this video a few weeks ago the State Department says they are so backed up that routine processing for passports is taking between 10 to 13 weeks or more and expedited processing is taking between 7 and 9 weeks.
First – the State Department says if you applied for a new passport or renewed an old passport either in person or by mail – you don’t have to call — you can just check the status of your passport online after two weeks. You can also sign up for email alerts about your status. To do that — go to passportstatus.state.gov to see if your application is either — in process, approved or your passport has been mailed. If you renewed your passport online, you can check the mytravelgov website to see if your application has been submitted, received, is in process, is approved/printed or mailed/shipped.
Here’s what you need to know if you have already applied for a passport, still don’t have it and you need it faster than the current processing time.
If you are traveling in more than 14 days you should *not* call the State Department. The state department says you should check your passport status online. The only thing you can do in a phone call at that point is change your address, upgrade your processing to expediting service or request 1 to 2 day delivery of your completed passport.
If you are traveling in six to 14 days, you can call the State Department and they will notify the agency processing your application and request that your passport is processed in time.
And if you’re traveling in five days or less, you can call the State Department to see if you can get an in-person appointment at a passport agency or center. But appointments are limited and cannot be guaranteed.
If you have not applied yet for a passport and you are traveling abroad in 14 days or less, you can call the State Department. You’ll need to get an in-person appointment. Again, appointment times are limited and cannot be guaranteed. The phone number to call for all of this is 877 487 2778.
And don’t forget – if you want to apply for a *new* passport, the State Department is hosting passport fairs across the country all summer long.
Read more about getting your passport faster here.
Read more about the Passport Fairs near you here.
