New US passport hasn't arrived in over 10 weeks. What to do next?
I applied on February 11th at an acceptance facility. In approximately April, a received a letter from the Department of State asking for more info, which I promptly provided within 2 weeks, and info which was confirmed delivered by me (via tracking number) to the Department of State on April 13th -- almost 3 weeks ago. My status on the site says, "It is being processed." It has said this since the beginning and will not change. I contacted the Department, and this woman with a horrible attitude just basically summed everything down to, "It's at their discretion, and there's nothing more I can tell you regarding your status." This was over a week ago.
I emailed them and they tell me to call them -- I call them and they tell me they can't do anything or tell me anything other than what the site says, so it's a waste of time for both parties here. The person in the email also stated that the, "Site is having problems." I'm not too confident in that, but anyways...
What can I or should I do at this point? It's been well too long and they've left me without any closure.
I've looked around and heard that I could contact local congress to help me, but what could they do that I couldn't by inquiring information? I question whether such a thing would be helpful and how.
Maybe someone else has been in this dreaded position and can give some tips or options to me.
Note: this is not a renewal, but a first time passport.
Best Answer
Processing time for routine applications are "approximately six weeks" according to the website of the U.S. Department of State:
As of Monday, June 20, 2016, we are processing routine applications in approximately 6 weeks from the time of application.
This is up from 4 weeks in 2015.
In your case the time from 11 February to sometime in the beginning of April corresponds roughly to those six weeks of processing time, i.e. it took them that long to look to it. Since you needed to send additional info (arriving on their desks on April 14), it seems your case took to another round of waiting for processing, which, as you state in your final comment, lasted roughly another 3 weeks until 7 May.
I'm afraid that this is how public institutions work and especially since there was no time-pressure about upcoming travels to your case.
In case you do need the passport urgently, expedited procedures are described on the same website.
Pictures about "New US passport hasn't arrived in over 10 weeks. What to do next?"
Why is it taking so long to get my passport back?
Why is it Taking So Much Longer to Get a Passport? The coronavirus pandemic has caused passport processing times to take longer than normal because passports are currently backlogged. Many people applied for passports before the pandemic, and now the government is trying to process each passport to lessen the backlog.How long are passports taking right now USA?
For standard passport processing service, the State Department anticipates eight to 11 weeks for processing.How long would it take for a passport to come back?
How long does it take to get a new passport? Standard online application processing times may change quickly with the government stating processing times can take up to ten weeks. The time it takes for your new passport to arrive may vary depending on the reason for your application.The New US Passport: Next Generation US Passport
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