2020/ 21- US Passport & Card Application-Tracker

[EternalForeigner 57]

5 hours ago, captain_lowman said:

approved on 8/17

delivered on 8/20 

A little surprise - door to door - 5 weeks for Routine service.

I and my wife applied our 1st time passport; my kids renew their minor passports. 

All arrived at the same time.

Good luck, guys. 

 

it was shipped with priority mail. 

return address on the label is from Los Angeles, CA. 

tracking info on Web shows it was from Tucson, AZ. 

So locator 50 means either Los Angeles, CA or Tucson, AZ. 

 

 

That’s great news!

 

I have a small question though: when you applied, did you pay for expedited shipping (as in to quickly have your application sent from the post office to passport processing)?

[aa1979 100]

51 minutes ago, EternalForeigner said:

That’s great news!

 

I have a small question though: when you applied, did you pay for expedited shipping (as in to quickly have your application sent from the post office to passport processing)?

It looks like that "expedited" only affects when they begin processing your application, not how fast they process your application once they begin. "expedited" is over-rated in my opinions unless that waiting time (the couple of extra weeks) in the beginning really matters to you before they begin the actual processing of your application in routine service.

If you think about it, it totally makes sense. It is NOT like someone begins the processing, and then they look at your application to see if it is routine vs expedited then decide to maybe take more breaks or grab a soda/tea/coffee while they process routine applications... and they are not permitted to move from their desk if it was expedited. I don't think they do that.

 

I think once they begin processing, they do it the same way for both (at least at this time). Therefore, the expedited service is over-rated in my opinion and I would not feel bad for the routine service you purchased. Get busy with something else while waiting, and it will pass so quickly.

 

[EternalForeigner 57]

8 minutes ago, aa1979 said:

It looks like that "expedited" only affects when they begin processing your application, not how fast they process your application once they begin. "expedited" is over-rated in my opinions unless that waiting time (the couple of extra weeks) in the beginning really matters to you before they begin the actual processing of your application in routine service.

If you think about it, it totally makes sense. It is NOT like someone begins the processing, and then they look at your application to see if it is routine vs expedited then decide to maybe take more breaks or grab a soda/tea/coffee while they process routine applications... and they are not permitted to move from their desk if it was expedited. I don't think they do that.

 

I think once they begin processing, they do it the same way for both (at least at this time). Therefore, the expedited service is over-rated in my opinion and I would not feel bad for the routine service you purchased. Get busy with something else while waiting, and it will pass so quickly.

 

I asked because I’m trying to clear up something that’s been causing me confusion. On another forum, I was told that I should’ve paid for express mail to send the packet to the passport processing office. Other have said that there’s no such thing. So I’m trying to find out if it’s going to take mere days or like five weeks for them to actually receive my documents and start processing. 
 

I paid for expedited processing and for 1-2 day return delivery. But I’m unsure about the part where the stuff actually gets delivered to them. Some have said I should’ve been given a tracking number but I was not. 
 

So I’m hoping someone can clear this up for me. 

Edited August 21, 2021 by EternalForeigner

[millefleur 5,046]

15 minutes ago, EternalForeigner said:

I asked because I’m trying to clear up something that’s been causing me confusion. On another forum, I was told that I should’ve paid for express mail to send the packet to the passport processing office. Other have said that there’s no such thing.

Wondering about this, too. Does anyone here have any experience with sending a pre-paid envelope for express mail return?

[EternalForeigner 57]

1 minute ago, millefleur said:

Wondering about this, too. Does anyone here have any experience with sending a pre-paid envelope for express mail return?

I’m not actually asking about the return. 😭 I’m asking about USPS taking my documents and sending them to passport processing. 

[millefleur 5,046]

Just now, EternalForeigner said:

I’m not actually asking about the return. 😭 I’m asking about USPS taking my documents and sending them to passport processing. 

Oh got it. My husband said when he went to the post office to apply, they just took the application and other documents and he paid for expedited shipping and they shipped it express and they gave him a USPS tracking number. Hope this helps.

[EternalForeigner 57]

6 minutes ago, millefleur said:

Oh got it. My husband said when he went to the post office to apply, they just took the application and other documents and he paid for expedited shipping and they shipped it express and they gave him a USPS tracking number. Hope this helps.

Thank you. That’s what I’ve heard from some, too. But I wasn’t given a tracking number, nor was I offered express shipping. Others have said their documents were also sent without express shipping. Yet some said their checks were cashed within days 2-4 despite not having their documents sent express. That’s why I’m trying to find out if I screwed myself or not, since someone on the other forum said that because of this, my process might not start until 5-6 weeks from now, just because I didn’t have my documents sent via express mail, despite paying for expedited processing and 1-2 return (which I know have nothing to do with actually sending the docs to get processed). 

Edited August 21, 2021 by EternalForeigner

[EternalForeigner 57]

Well, never mind all my crying and confusion. My passport tracker application says in process now (Aug 20)! The locator number starts with 34.

[millefleur 5,046]

2 minutes ago, EternalForeigner said:

Well, never mind all my crying and confusion. My passport tracker application says in process now (Aug 20)! The locator number starts with 34.

There you go! Sometimes patience is the key.

[captain_lowman 1]

4 hours ago, EternalForeigner said:

That’s great news!

 

I have a small question though: when you applied, did you pay for expedited shipping (as in to quickly have your application sent from the post office to passport processing)?

No, I didn't. 

Only paid $35 each passport for routine service. 

[El Escocés 217]

4 hours ago, EternalForeigner said:

Others have said their documents were also sent without express shipping. Yet some said their checks were cashed within days 2-4 despite not having their documents sent express.

That’s me. I forgot to ask for expedited shipping but did ask for expedited processing. My passport timeline is in my signature and our application was sent on a Thursday before a July 4th weekend 

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

14 hours ago, EternalForeigner said:

I asked because I’m trying to clear up something that’s been causing me confusion. On another forum, I was told that I should’ve paid for express mail to send the packet to the passport processing office. Other have said that there’s no such thing. So I’m trying to find out if it’s going to take mere days or like five weeks for them to actually receive my documents and start processing. 
 

I paid for expedited processing and for 1-2 day return delivery. But I’m unsure about the part where the stuff actually gets delivered to them. Some have said I should’ve been given a tracking number but I was not. 
 

So I’m hoping someone can clear this up for me. 

What were you charged for on your USPS receipt? From what I’ve picked up here, the shipping services are separate from the expedited, and some USPS offices assume you’ll ask for what you want and don’t tell you what the different options are, some offer you the options, and others (like mine) assume that if you ask for expedited you want the whole shebang, and she just automatically added express mail there and 1-2 day shipping back - it was all listed and charged for on the receipt (well the shipping back was on the passport agency check not Usps). She stamped a big orange (or red?) “expedited” stamp on the envelope, so I do believe it goes into a separate pile once it reaches the passport agency.

 

I agree that if you don’t have urgent travel needs of some sort it doesn’t necessarily make sense to pay extra for expedited, especially now that the time difference between regular and expedited seems to be shrinking again (though this also partly seems to be luck of the passport agency draw). My daughter’s was the only passport we applied expedient for, because we had a travel agent in another country awaiting passport details before being able to finalize some high season bookings on a bucket list trip and didn’t want to jeopardize those. (Hoping COVID doesn’t jeopardize it either, at this rate who knows what December travel is going to look like…)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 21, 2021 by SusieQQQ

[EternalForeigner 57]

7 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

What were you charged for on your USPS receipt? From what I’ve picked up here, the shipping services are separate from the expedited, and some USPS offices assume you’ll ask for what you want and don’t tell you what the different options are, some offer you the options, and others (like mine) assume that if you ask for expedited you want the whole shebang, and she just automatically added express mail there and 1-2 day shipping back - it was all listed and charged for on the receipt (well the shipping back was on the passport agency check not Usps). She stamped a big orange (or red?) “expedited” stamp on the envelope, so I do believe it goes into a separate pile once it reaches the passport agency.

 

I agree that if you don’t have urgent travel needs of some sort it doesn’t necessarily make sense to pay extra for expedited, especially now that the time difference between regular and expedited seems to be shrinking again (though this also partly seems to be luck of the passport agency draw). My daughter’s was the only passport we applied expedient for, because we had a travel agent in another country awaiting passport details before being able to finalize some high season bookings on a bucket list trip and didn’t want to jeopardize those. (Hoping COVID doesn’t jeopardize it either, at this rate who knows what December travel is going to look like…)

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don't have "urgent" travel per se, though I am hoping to go on a short trip in October, which is why I'd like to have a passport by then. Plus, I have GAD and so any type of anticipation in terms of something like this (wanting to keep my documents valid and in check) makes me agonize exponentially. But in terms of your question, I was only charged a $35 processing fee and $15 for passport photos. Nothing in the receipt about priority/express mail or a tracking number. So I'm glad it's "in process" as of yesterday.

[Usagi_tsukino 89]

Hi again everyone, just want to report the progress, hope it can be useful.

Like i posted previously i got my passport on august 11th, so, just a few days after that i got my passport card; my naturalization certificate with the name change document was received back yesterday. Applied on July 23rd, so overall everything took exactly 4 weeks. Super fast. Still not having fully recovered from my AOS experience haha, I expect every organization to mess things up and be super slow, so I am pleasantly surprised.

For the name change i sent certified copy.

[millefleur 5,046]

18 minutes ago, Usagi_tsukino said:

For the name change i sent certified copy.

Thanks for sharing! For the name change, was there some reason they needed that? My husband had a name change at the oath but he didn't needed to provide anything other than the naturalization certificate as it had his new name there already.