US Passport
Reviews and Complaints

.Every time congress inquire s about it I get ADDITIONAL INFORMATION NEEDED this sounds like BS. It been 6 months I don't know what to do anymore.

I have been reading about this problem a lot since I got the same supplemental worksheet. the news articles I found said :
» All use of the current Supplemental Worksheet is in violation of the Paperwork Reduction Act.
» Anyone who is given, or who has been given, the Supplemental Worksheet (or any other form without an OMB control number) has an absolute right to decline to provide any answers. They could also report the officer who gives them to form to the State Department Office of the Inspector General for violation of the Paperwork Reduction Act.
» Absolutely no penalty (including denial of a passport, denial of permission to travel, or interference with the right to travel) can legally be imposed on anyone for declining to provide any information requested on the Supplemental Worksheet.
http://papersplease.org/wp/2011/04/27/state-dept-already-using-illegal-passport-questionnaire/

The people at the State Department are total fools. They have standards that they give to the District Clerk's office stating what is required to apply. When you have sent in your money - that you can't get back - they send you a letter telling you that your documentation is not good enough even though you appeared, in person, and the clerk checked all your documents against the requirements and found that everything was in order according to the instructions they received from the Department of State.
It would appear that the Department of State has forgotten who they work for.

Is this your first time applying for a US passport? A quick google search of US government websites has told me that if it is your first time, you actually need to apply in person.

http://travel.state.gov/passport/get/first/first_830.html This site describe the process of applying for your first passport.
"When applying for a U.S. passport in person, evidence of U.S. citizenship must be submitted with Form DS-11. All documentation submitted as citizenship evidence will be returned to you. These documents will be delivered with your newly issued U.S. passport or in a separate mailing."
"When applying for a U.S. passport in person, acceptable identification must be presented at the time of application."

I agree with you completely the Passport Agency SUCKS.

I applied for my application Early February (Feb. 6th) And they didn't even get started on it till the 13th. Then about a week later they said my Photo ID was invalid. So I sent the letter back with a better photo. Then about March 15th they now say my personal documents are not qualified. I heard by the website you need just your Birth Certificate and Photo Identification in order to receive a passport. Also bear in mind my travel date is the 31st of March. It's the last week and they said you can send it on a different service for about 60.00, however you cant upgrade a card if it's already in the system. They didnt state that on the website so that site is completely useless, and the email notification is even worse. I constantly get bombarded with useless and pointless emails statements on the government issues and their "Oh we are sorry it's not finished yet, we are working our best to get it to you in time." BLECH. Now I have to travel all the way to Chicago and grab my card in hand. I have thrown in about 300 dollars into the government from all their failures and over looks. 50 for the Card, 12.95 x2 for the Overnight shipping, 60 for the upgrade, and 45 for the different session so I get it in time when I go up. I swear I'm going to get back at the government for screwing me so hard and dragging me around.

The passport process is totally broken. The website info is out of date. The customer service is pathetic. It's a completely dysfunctional system/organization. It's actually shocking how bad the service reps are - and that there is seemingly no incentive for them to actually HELP anyone. The entire process has left me speechless, and to date, without a passport.

I applied for a expedited passport a couple of months back. Still no passport. Is this another way that the government is trying to annoy us. I know that they had an idea of the number of travelers that leave the country, yet they didn't have the workforce in place to start issuing passports. Such an inefficient process.

It seems that they will just take the money and forget the passport, I paid for expedited because the woman in costumer service said i could get right away just pay 60 + overnight fees they will overnight it for me. I did it paid them and waited, i was told it is in process, but how long, and now, probably, I will lost the round ticket for my daughter, My flight is 3 day from now and the passport according to them is still in process, I will probably leave without her because INS did not issue the expedited order that according to them is 24 hours service.

Hi All –

I work with a law firm that filed a class action lawsuit against the U.S. State Department for the passport problems in 2007.

The suit represents everyone who submitted the $60 expedite fee for a rush passport and didn’t receive their passport within 21 days or a refund. Anyone who’s experienced problems since 2001 can join. It’s worth checking out.

You can learn more about the case at the firm’s Web site – www.hbsslaw.com/passport.

I, together with my children, became citizens of United States by virtue of Naturalization last year. All five members of my family here missed travel to the Philippines to attend my Mother’s 75th birthday. We planned this celebration 5 months before her birthday. My frustration started when we applied for US Passports. It was April 29, 2007, when we went to the Post Office to get started. We paid expedited fee to get the passports within 2 to 3 weeks, that was according to the Department of State’s website and authorized Passport Agencies.

If that was true, then we could have gotten our passports one month prior to our travel date of June 29, 2007. My husband and stepson got their passport within 14 days of application.

As a requirement, I submitted the certified copy of my son’s birth certificate, which was the copy I submitted to INS 10 years ago. Two weeks after the application, someone from Norwalk Connecticut Passport Agency, Patricia, called me questioning the birth certificate I submitted. She also requested for new photos, which were mailed via over-night service the next day. Receipt of which was confirmed by her through a courtesy call.

Going back to the birth certificate, she concluded that it was a photocopy even though the National Statistics Office in the Philippines stamped it. I told her that my daughter, who is now twenty years old and also applying for Passport possesses a certified copy of birth certificate, which was stamped just like my son’s birth certificate. She instructed me to mail it and then she would let this case go.
That was probably May 14, 2007.

Since our expedited application took more than five weeks, I checked the application online.
Online status showed, “Your application is now under processed. You requested for routine application.” Therefore, my application went from expedited to routine. That was the first error there.

I was nerve-wracked. I needed to speak to someone at the Call Center immediately

However, if you would like to speak to a Call Center Customer Representative, the requirement is that you should be leaving within 14 days. If you need to make an automated appointment to Norwalk Passport Agency, your travel date should be within 14 days.

I waited and call on the day when it was exactly 14 days prior to my travel date.
When I made the automated appointment, the only day and time available was 3 days before my travel date. I was getting nervous already. I made the appointment to see someone at the Norwalk Passport Agency and started calling the Call Centers from June 15, 2007.

Every day, for two weeks, I called and spoke to different Customer Service Reps.
What were amazing were the different versions of the status of my application. I must have called 17 times during that 14- day window before you can speak to a Rep requirement. I was so delighted when in one of my several persistent calls, I spoke to a gentleman and told me our passports are ready to be mailed out. His exact words were, “I had goose bumps looking at the status.” I did not quite get what he meant by that. He added that I should call after two days to check again. After two days, 10 days before our departure, I called again with excitement to check. To my dismay, the lady on the other line told me that our passports were still under processed and that we were missing photos.

I told her about what the man told me two days ago and that the matter about the photos has long been resolved. She advised me to make an appointment with the Norwalk Passport Agency, which I already did. Before hanging up, adding to my already frustrated spirit, she told me that generally, it takes 10 to 12 weeks to get the passports. My argument that I paid for expedited service really did not matter anymore.

In June 25, 2007, a woman from Norwalk Passport Agency called me in the morning. She advised me to go the East Hampton Probate court, which is the nearest authorized Passport Agency, or to a Post Office to apply. She said, “Just tell whoever is going to take the application that you are bringing the form personally after filling out to Norwalk.”

Suddenly, I began to ask if these people at the Agency knew what they were talking about.
Did this woman check their system first before calling me? Did she know that we already applied five weeks ago and paid for expedited service?

June 26, 2007, my twenty-year old daughter took a day off from her work to join us for that hard-to-get appointment schedule with Norwalk Passport Agency. It was the much awaited and anticipated date. The last iota of hope for my son, my daughter and myself.

We arrived at Norwalk at 1:30PM. Our appointment was at 2PM.
The Agency watch person stopped us at the door but we were ushered in quickly after knowing that we have a 2PM appointment. I filled out a piece of paper with the information requested. It also required proof if you paid for expedited service. I was happy that I printed the canceled checks from the bank.

At 2:20, I asked the man in uniform watching over the people packed in approximately 30x30 square feet room if passports will be issued on the same day. According to him, passport pick-up time is 3PM. Worriedly, I told him that we have been waiting for almost an hour. I saw people who came after us were called in first. He assured us that our names would be called soon. He asked for my last name and headed towards the window in front of us. The woman at the window told him that someone was working on it.

Fifteen more minutes lapsed, 25 minutes before pick up time, I was relieved when a woman approached an empty window and called our last name. The smile on my face suddenly vanished when she could not do anything at that time. She emphasized that she has been e-mailing Manila for two months now. I did not know whom she was e-mailing. In her own words, “You know how Manila is.” The buck was passed on to Manila, whichever office she was dealing with

Before we left, my husband asked her if our application was processed through expedited service because we were just wondering why the Call Center and online status check website showed that our application went through routine service. She pointed at the paper she was holding. “It showed here you paid for expedited service,” she replied. Was this a case of error, omission or lie?

Combining ignorance with incompetence, she advised us to go to INS to get our Green Passports stamped. “You can still travel with that,” she added. Her name was Miss Figueroa.

Out of desperation, my daughter and I went the next day, June 27, 2007, to INS in Hartford, Connecticut. I requested the INS Officer to stamp my Green Passport. With a seemingly surprised look, she asked for our permanent resident cards. I told her that they were taken away when we were sworn in as Citizens of the US. She could not believe what she heard because we did not have business there anymore. We need Blue or US passports to travel. We should have known that. We tried out of desperation and frustration.

We left the INS building. My daughter and I were walking as if the whole world was on our shoulder. Our feet were heavy as we dragged them towards the parking area.

I called my husband and told him what happened. As soon as I got home, I went online and checked on the Philippines’ National Statistics Office website.

My thought was perhaps it would help if I could send the NSO direct contact information to the Passport Agency Call Center.

That was if Norwalk Passport Agency was trying to prove the veracity of the birth certificates. So I called the Call Center again on that same day and gave the person I talked to the link to the website where they can e-mail the person from NSO to verify the information.

My husband and I also sought the help of the offices of Senator Christopher Dodd and State Representative Joe Courtney.

A woman named Anita from Joe Courtney’s office tried hard to contact Norwalk and speed up the processing of our passports. Nevertheless, to no avail.
Two days are what we have.

Curiosity pushed me to chat again with the Call Center. I already memorized the numbers to press to bypass the recording. Press#1 for English; followed by #1 again if you are traveling within 14 days; then press# 0 for operator. Then, I was transferred to a live person. I told her about the whole story from the very beginning. She told me that I should have pressed #3 instead of #1 when prompted. I argued that I have been pressing the same series of numbers every time I called Call Center.

Anyway, she still transferred me to another Customer Service Rep. The man on the other line explained to me that the change in the telephone system was made because of the misinformation that other Reps were giving out to the public. In short, if you have applied and it was taking more than the promised date, then you are required to press #3 to get to a more competent person. Well, he talked as if he was more competent than the others were. At least, there was understanding and compassion to his tone. I was not sure if he helped at all. But I was happy by the way he handled my frustration. A woman I spoke with earlier that day even blamed for not marking my application form as expedited, which was the job of whoever was taking the applications at the Post Office.

Our travel date came. There was no sign of passports at the mailbox. We missed our trip. We have to pay cancellation of $287 per ticket. Multiply that by five. We lost almost $1500 of hard-earned money.

If you missed your trip, as in our case, and still would like to contact the Call Center to follow-up, the Rep will ask you what your travel date is.

I called the Center again in July. Because our travel date already elapsed, I could not give the Rep a travel date, which was the first question a Rep would ask. However, I made sure that I emphasized to her that we already missed the trip and that we were still waiting for the passports so we can book a flight soon. The Rep quizzically asked,” So you don’t have any travel date yet?”

Did these Customer Service Reps receive their degrees in the “Art of Aggravating People?
Did they think that people would book flights again after missing their trips without the Passports? Did the travel date really matter? Not at all.

And by the way, Call Center should change the message recording immediately.
It should eliminate the recording where it says, “If you are not traveling within 14 days, don’t worry. We hired staff to make sure you don’t miss your trip.”

It should say, “If you have not received your passports yet and it was taking longer than the expected, you really have to worry.” Because you may get not it on time.

It should also eliminate the promise of delivery within 2 to 3 weeks for expedited service and 10 to 12 weeks for routine service.

My son can travel with his Green Passport. My daughter and I could have traveled with Green Passports if we did not become Citizens of United States last year.

I was holding and looking at my Philippine passport as I was writing this. After all this mess, who would argue with me if I say, “Green is better than Blue.”

I found this tips on the delay on US passports complaint.. check it out (I'm gonna try them on Monday):

Just started calling today 14 days before a month long trip to Europe. I have included all tips so that it may help others.

National Passport Center [protected]

Passport status requests [protected]

Washington passport desk at [protected].

US Consular Task Force (WATCH DOG) [protected]

US Department of State phone directory unclassified
http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/82073.pdf

The following is a list of the abbreviations you will see next to the employees name in the directory. Assuming you know where it’s being processed look for the following. Once you have found someone make sure you have your passport locater number, name, DOB, SS# ready.

CA/PPT…………………………………………………….Office of Passport Services
CA/PPT/BN…………………………………………………..Boston Passport Agency
CA/PPT/CG………………………….……………………..Chicago Passport Agency
CA/PPT/HH……………………..…………………………Honolulu Passport Agency
CA/PPT/HN……………………………….………………..Houston Passport Agency
CA/PPT/LA………………………………………….…Los Angeles Passport Agency
CA/PPT/MM…………………………………………….……..Miami Passport Agency
CA/PPT/No…………………………………...……….New Orleans Passport Agency
CA/PPT/NPC……..……………………National Passport Center, Portsmouth, NH
CA/PPT/NY……….……………………….………………New York Passport Agency
CA/PPT/PA…………………….………………………Philadelphia Passport Agency
CA/PPT/SE……….………………….……………………….Seattle Passport Agency
CA/PPT/SF……………………..……………………San Francisco Passport Agency
CA/PPT/SIA…………………………………………….……Special Issuance Agency
CA/PPT/SM……………………….……………………….Stamford Passport Agency
CA/PPT/WN……...…………………………………….Washington Passport Agency

EMAIL THE FOLLOWING AND ASK FOR A CONGRESSIONAL REFERRAL AND GO TO A PASSPORT CENTER IF YOUR GETTING TO CLOSE AND DON'T THINK YOUR GOING TO GET IT ALTHOUGH THE TASK FORCE IS VERY EFFECTIVE.

Email your congressman at http://www.house.gov/

Email your Senator http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

Just for fun call
Maura Harty. Her line is [protected].

Update: 25th of June.
Update: Just read this last night on the state travel site:

We have finished processing your passport, and it has been mailed to you.

You requested delivery by regular mail. Passport Agencies use Priority Mail. This means you should receive your passport on or about 06/30/2007.

That would be 4 days before my trip... We will see..

Update: June 26th
Final update!

Just called the talk force and they gave me a fed ex tracking number that says the following:

Jun 26, 2007 8:10 am
On FedEx vehicle for delivery

AND RECEIVED!
How happy am i! Wooohooo

I have renewed faith in our system! With deepest sorrows for all of you who haven't received your passports in time for your trip. And to those who are panicking use the task force at [protected]. Ask for Jamie or Dave they are great! Thank you all.

I had to change my flight and all my family (4 of us) because my babies passport is still in process... it was supposed to take 2-3 weeks and it's been 4 weeks and still no passport.. I've called about 7 times and all i heard is call tomorrow to check the status, there is nothing we can do. We do not know ho to help... blah blah blah.. i had to cancel and gonna have to pay to change ALL our tickets. Plus we are not gonna be able to assist to a very important family member wedding and everyone had schedule vacation during our stay to see our babies and visit us. We still don't know an estimated date for my baby's passport to arrive, from ALL the millions of passports they've done they can't tell in average how long would it take for and expedite passport to arrive. Every one in the customer service passport agency had a different story. Two days before our trip Heather said the passport was almost done and they were gonna ship it next day. I called next day and Natasha told me that the passport was still in process and should be done that day, next day... nothing i had to cancel... Why they said it would take 2-3 weeks and THEY ARE STILL saying it's taking 2-3 weeks... If i knew it would take longer i just would schedule my flight later and could save all this stress and headaches, the money, and about 6-8 hrs of trying to reach the appointment line, and the agent to talk to..

Just wanted to share some tips on getting though to the passport office that I learned from others on this complaint board and my own experience. We just got my daughter's passport after filing in March for our June trip to Europe. We got it in time for the trip because I did several things: (1) called the passport office daily and ( 2) got my congressional representative involved. My senators were no help-- they had lots of other people to deal with first who were leaving sooner than us. My congressman's office called me every other day with an update. End result: call your senators and congressman for help and go with whichever one will help you the most.

In calling the passport office, I found getting through in th afternoon ( like 5:30 EST) best. In the morning, most of the time the system was down. You do need to give them a date that is earlier than your actual departure date in order to get any action and to get it in time for your trip. The date you give them has to be within 14 days of when you call. Dial the 1-877 number, when it starts with the tape, push 1, wait for the start of the next general message & push 3. If you get the "due to the high volume" tape, push 3 before it ends. You will get a message saying it did not understand the command-- push 3 again. This will usually but you into the line for calls on hold. You may get a message that then cuts you off-- if this happens, hang up and go thru this process again until you are just on hold ( sometimes there is blank air when you are on hold, sometimes there is music, sometimes there are other little messages). By doing this, I was able to get through in a half hour at the longest. One time I even got the person who handles inquiries from members of Congress.

Once you get thru and talk to someone, you cannot be assured that the passport has been sent unless they give you a fed ex or other tracking number. Ask for one! They are sending all passports now by fed ex or express mail at no cost because of this mess. with the fed ex number, you can then track it yourself. Ours came two days after I got the fed ex number.

this is the goverment working for you, they dont give a fyilng f...k, I am renewing my passport, present my birth certificated, my social security card and the aplication. Guess what this guys send me a an additional application to fill up asking for my last jobs (20 years), my family personal info, the phone mumbers of my 25 year employers etc. and also en explanation of how I got my social security card can you beleived this, So welcome to the land of the free,

I just got back from my second trip to the local US passport office (and finally have my passport in hand) and I am going to write what did and did not work for me so that others may benefit. Waiting up until 2 days until departure was stressful for me and my family .My desire is to help others avoid what I went through.I want to say one thing about this experience. It taught me that playing by the rules and following directions and doing what you are told to do (by representatives of our government in this case) may be the worse thing you can do. As you will read below, I did everything I was supposed to do. I did everything the State Department web site and the customer service representatives told me to do and in the end, when I arrived at the passport office I found out it had gotten me no closer to actually getting my passport than if I had done nothing at all. Keep my story in mind as YOU are told what to do and remember that rules are meant to be broken.

#1: Do not necessarily rely on information given to you by anyone-in my case I made 3 trips to local post offices for answers on what to include and none of the advice I received turned out to be correct. US passport Customer service reps may also be unreliable. I was told by one that the system was down and would not be working for 4 days.

#2: Immediately begin checking via email for yout "status" and print out confirmation when it finally comes up. Add your email address for contact purposes when you do the status check and keep track of all emails : both emails sent to you and by you.

#3:Do not wait until you are within 14 days from departure to make your automated appointment with the passport office. If you wait until that point you may find, as I did, that no appointments are available until well after your departure date. I did wait and the only appointment I was able to make was 4 days after my departure. So, go online and get that phone # and call at least 3 weeks prior so you can get a date several days prior to departure.(You may need to go back so give yourself wiggle room-it looks like it takes one visit to get passport applications to the surface so they can be finalized and a second visit to actually pick the finished document up)

Also-and this may not be true : a customer service rep. told me the appointment system is updated between 4a.m & 6a.m. each day. If you are unable to get an appointment in time it may help to call back early the next day. The reason I suspect this advice maybe untrue is I tried it and never found an earlier appointment.

#4: Writing local elected officials: I wrote local politicians for help. I began with emails as that seemed quickest and I was desperate. I was told you have to call or show up in person. It seems that emails get lost so talking directly to someone is best.It turns out that this effort ended up not helping me and it is not to be relied upon. Try your local council person, senator and so on-it maybe good to do simply so that elected officials know that scope of the problem and so that you can feel as if you have done everything you could to advocate for yourself. I personally think the high demand problem is going to go on for several months beyond the expected date and folks need to get the word out.But-I can not stress enough that you should NOT rely on them for help. You may find yourself without your passport if you do.

#5: WILLCALL: I have no idea what this magic word means but: after I had done everything the passport web sight requires-I called for my status, I emailed for it, and finally, at 72 hrs. to departure, we called and were told there was nothing we could do ... we asked to speak to a supervisor. The supervisor put us on the "WILLCALL" list and made an appointment for us that day. This is what worked for us. I hope it helps others.

#6: we did not rely on the US mail system.If you need your passport within the next 72 hrs. and can pick up your passport in person I would suggest you go. There is just too much that can happen -and the truth is there is no way you can accurately track things or control things once your passport enters the US postal system.

#7:As the new restrictions currently in place to help ease passport demand for those traveling to Mexico, Canada,Bermuda & the Caribbean require a drivers license and printed proof of one's passport application-I am more than a bit surprised that this has not resulted in lawsuits. Anyone who is disabled and therefore unable to drive and get a license is, in effect, discriminated against by this new requirement. As all other photo I.D. (learners pernit, non-drivers I.D. and so on)is state issued and therefore not valid-only people with drivers licenses are able to travel to Mexico , Caribbean, Bermuda and Canada if they have applied for but not yet gotten their passport. That leaves a huge segment of Americans unable to travel... I speak as someone who works with people with disabilities and who believes each of us should have the same rights and opportunities as Americans.

Sir,
I have applied for my new baby passport on May 4th and Police verification completed in july, so far i didnot receive my passport.I have been emailing passport office but no response and their telephone lines always busy and if it rings they will not pick.Is there any way so that my issue can be solved and i am in need of passport right now please make it as soon as possible.

Appreciate ur support

File no -HYD w604327
DOB-05/10/1990

Thanks and Regards
G.Sri divya
Mobile - [protected]
Email - divya.gandhe@gmail.com

The passport office in my city is appointment only. I've been trying to get a appointment for two weeks. Someone from the passort office keeps leaving me a message saying if I still need a appointment for my son to call them back. I can't get anyone on the phone with the scheduling office. This ridiculous!

been waiting for my passport over 2 years

I have been waiting for the passport for my daughter (16 months old now). And, it's been 4 months since the application. Even if she gets the passport now, the length of time waiting for her passport would be about one fourth of the time she has lived in this world. Gee, I could really see how important this document is!
When we applied, we were told we have plenty of time. And, now, we already postponed our trip to China once. Looks like we need to postpone again.

I tried to be as neutral as possible when looking at this mess. But, I was disappointed again and again. I feel totally helpless. And, I really do not know how to reconcile this with the reputation of America being a place of efficiency.

My wife and son applied for passports more than 4 months before our trip to Rome. They're supposed to leave this week but have been told that the passports will likely not arrive in time, even though they've been classified as "urgent status." And the Manhattan office isn't taking appointments to expedite. A trip we've been planning for 9 months might not happen, and we'll be out over $2,500 in plane tickets. As if one needed another reason to be disgusted with the US government.

Totally agree that tickets should not be bought before getting the passport. However, if you do not have the tickets to show that you are going to travel within 14 days, they are not gonna process your application and they would not even want to talk to you. So, better off not traveling outside the US and not knowing what's going on in the other part of the world. This is a great attitude towards the American dream...

It is not Department of States problem you people purchase your tickets and then decide to apply for a passport. It makes more sense to perhaps have your passport and then buy your ticket? That may be the smart approach. DOS is not sitting around twiddling their thumbs waiting for you to apply for your damn passport nor do they care when you are traveling when you and every other stupid damn citizen in this country think the world revolves around you. It is not a product that you can go purchase at a mall... it is a government travel document that the government has the right to not issue and even revoke. It is a travel privilege. Its amazing how you all will dish out $6,000 on a trip not knowing if you will even get your $97 passport in time or not.

So this problem hasn't only been happening to me, well I would hate to repeat just about the same scenario over again, but I had the same situation but in my case they also did it to my partner and myself and we have different addresses and last name .

I just got back from my second trip to the local US passport office (and finally have my passport in hand) and I am going to write what did and did not work for me so that others may benefit. Waiting up until 2 days until departure was stressful for me and my family .My desire is to help others avoid what I went through.I want to say one thing about this experience. It taught me that playing by the rules and following directions and doing what you are told to do (by representatives of our government in this case) may be the worse thing you can do. As you will read below, I did everything I was supposed to do. I did everything the State Department web site and the customer service representatives told me to do and in the end, when I arrived at the passport office I found out it had gotten me no closer to actually getting my passport than if I had done nothing at all. Keep my story in mind as YOU are told what to do and remember that rules are meant to be broken.

#1: Do not necessarily rely on information given to you by anyone-in my case I made 3 trips to local post offices for answers on what to include and none of the advice I received turned out to be correct. A US passport customer service reps told me that my passport status could not be check as the system was down and would not be up and working for 4 days. I have no way of knowing if this was true but it sounds impossible unless things really are worse than we think.

#2: Immediately begin checking via email for your "status" and print out confirmation when it finally comes up. Add your email address for contact purposes when you do the status check and keep track of all emails : both emails sent to you and by you.

#3:Do not wait until you are within 14 days from departure to make your automated appointment with the passport office. If you wait until that point you may find, as I did, that no appointments are available until well after your departure date. I did wait and the only appointment I was able to make was 4 days after my departure. So, go online and get that phone # and call at least 3 weeks prior so you can get a date several days prior to departure.(You may need to go back so give yourself wiggle room-it looks like it takes one visit to get passport applications to the surface so they can be finalized and a second visit to actually pick the finished document up)

Also-and this may not be true : a customer service rep. told me the appointment system is updated between 4a.m & 6a.m. each day. If you are unable to get an appointment in time it may help to call back early the next day. The reason I suspect this advice maybe untrue is I tried it and never found an earlier appointment.

#4: Writing local elected officials: I wrote local politicians for help. I began with emails as that seemed quickest and I was desperate. I was told you have to call or show up in person. It seems that emails get lost so talking directly to someone is best.It turns out that this effort ended up not helping me and it is not to be relied upon. Try your local council person, senator and so on-it maybe good to do simply so that elected officials know that scope of the problem and so that you can feel as if you have done everything you could to advocate for yourself. I personally think the high demand problem is going to go on for several months beyond the expected date and folks need to get the word out.But-I can not stress enough that you should NOT rely on them for help. You may find yourself without your passport if you do.

#5: WILLCALL: I have no idea what this magic word means but: after I had done everything the passport web sight requires-I called for my status, I emailed for it, and finally, at 72 hrs. to departure, we called and were told there was nothing we could do... we asked to speak to a supervisor. The supervisor put us on the "WILLCALL" list and made an appointment for us that day. This is what worked for us. I hope it helps others.

#6: we did not rely on the US mail system.If you need your passport within the next 72 hrs. and can pick up your passport in person I would suggest you go. There is just too much that can happen -and the truth is there is no way you can accurately track things or control things once your passport enters the US postal system.

#7:As the new restrictions currently in place to help ease passport demand for those traveling to Mexico, Canada,Bermuda & the Caribbean require a drivers license and printed proof of one's passport application-I am more than a bit surprised that this has not resulted in lawsuits. Anyone who is disabled and therefore unable to drive and get a license is, in effect, discriminated against by this new requirement. As all other photo I.D. (learners permit, non-drivers I.D. and so on)is state issued and therefore not valid-only people with drivers licenses are able to travel to Mexico , Caribbean, Bermuda and Canada if they have applied for but not yet gotten their passport. That leaves a huge segment of Americans unable to travel... I speak as someone who works with people with disabilities and who believes each of us should have the same rights and opportunities as Americans.

We filed our children passport application on May 3rd for an August 2nd trip to Europe. At that time we were told 8-10 weeks. Based on this information we did not file for expedited service as we were well within the stated time frame. As the trip approached we followed the directions on the website an tracked the progress, which stated "In Progress". Two weeks to departure (on an Monday) we called and after 4 hours trying to get through we were told that they had actually only begun to process the children applications on Saturday. We were told when asked that we best cancel our plans... which we did and lost about 700.00. Today, August 19th, I receive an email stating that we should receive them on August 22nd... 20 days after our scheduled departure. Nice Vacation!