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Old 05-31-2019, 12:32 PM   #21
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I know not everyone can do passports in person. If you get totally panicked and down to the wire, you can get your passports thru CIBT in as little as one day.
....
Interestingly, I looked at their site, and a stolen passport is different from a renewal, which is what I was thinking might be the case.

I wonder, when OP phoned them, did the person on the other end of the line (the official) actually look up anything, or just give the standard answer of "in process". Did they confirm when they received it, something that shows they are actually looking at a status screen. etc..
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Old 05-31-2019, 12:35 PM   #22
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Interestingly, I looked at their site, and a stolen passport is different from a renewal, which is what I was thinking might be the case.

I wonder, when OP phoned them, did the person on the other end of the line (the official) actually look up anything, or just give the standard answer of "in process". Did they confirm when they received it, something that shows they are actually looking at a status screen. etc..
That was my original thought it got pulled out of the new or renewal line and sent to the replacing lost or stolen passport line. That certainly could impact processing time.
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Old 06-01-2019, 01:02 PM   #23
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Interestingly, I looked at their site, and a stolen passport is different from a renewal, which is what I was thinking might be the case.

I wonder, when OP phoned them, did the person on the other end of the line (the official) actually look up anything, or just give the standard answer of "in process". Did they confirm when they received it, something that shows they are actually looking at a status screen. etc..
OP here, they did confirm receipt of the passport application but still gave me the standard answer of "in process".

Update: I have been calling the passport office almost daily (my wife too, since we had both of our passports stolen). I get some new info each time, since I am asking different questions each time. But still no firm answer on when we might get our passports. Only 8 business days left before our next travel. They have now "escalated" our application and they have our next travel date in their system. They said they will send out the passports by priority mail when they are complete and we'll get a tracking number via email. They say to keep watching our credit card for when they charge the expidited fees. Today, they also said they have a 72 hour emergency process that can be used??

Thanks to all that have recommended options. The services that promise emergency rapid passports are not an option since the state department is already in process of replacing the passports. On Monday, I plan to contact our US Senator's offices - and perhaps drive there (100 miles), to see if they can help. But with the state of our political affairs these days, I'm not expecting much from them. In the meantime, we wait and worry. When we applied the standard wait was 4-6 weeks. They have now changed that to 6-8 weeks.

By the way, our passports were stolen here in the US so we could still get home with our drivers licenses. But it's a great question as to what happens if you lose them (or they are stolen) oversea's.
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Old 06-01-2019, 01:05 PM   #24
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Today, they also said they have a 72 hour emergency process that can be used??
So can we assume you took them up on that?

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But it's a great question as to what happens if you lose them (or they are stolen) overseas.
If that happens, you go to the nearest American embassy or consulate and they will take care of you. They do that sort of thing every day.
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Old 06-01-2019, 01:11 PM   #25
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So can we assume you took them up on that?


If that happens, you go to the nearest American embassy or consulate and they will take care of you. They do that sort of thing every day.
I think they meant the OP should have used the emergency renewal at application time..too late now..processing in the system...words that strike fear in anyone's heart.
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Old 06-01-2019, 01:18 PM   #26
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I think they meant the OP should have used the emergency renewal at application time..too late now..processing in the system...words that strike fear in anyone's heart.
Ah, I see. Thanks for clarifying that.

On the other point, I once had an office that was inside a consulate building in a large overseas country, and I saw the forlorn faces on visiting tourists who had been pickpocketed. The consulate staff tried their best to take care of them but dealing with people under that much stress is a challenge, so the helpful staffers got yelled at a lot. Unfairly but understandably.
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Old 06-01-2019, 01:48 PM   #27
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I think they meant the OP should have used the emergency renewal at application time..too late now..processing in the system...words that strike fear in anyone's heart.
My understanding is that if you have applied for a passport through the state dept. in the required amount of time, and you still don't have it 72 hours before travel, and you have done all of the right things - they have a last ditch way of still getting a passport to you in 3 days. It's not for someone just trying to get a passport in 3 days. That is why those other places exist and change $500 to do it.

Today was the first time I heard about this after a number of conversations with employees there - and continual pressure from me to seek a remedy. I'm not sure I believe it. The lady there said "we have a process for everything." I'm hopeful.
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Old 06-01-2019, 02:02 PM   #28
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My understanding is that if you have applied for a passport through the state dept. in the required amount of time, and you still don't have it 72 hours before travel, and you have done all of the right things - they have a last ditch way of still getting a passport to you in 3 days. It's not for someone just trying to get a passport in 3 days. That is why those other places exist and change $500 to do it.

Today was the first time I heard about this after a number of conversations with employees there - and continual pressure from me to seek a remedy. I'm not sure I believe it. The lady there said "we have a process for everything." I'm hopeful.
Ok that explains why you didn't do it today..if it makes you feel any better this thread might help someone else in the future.
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Old 06-01-2019, 02:07 PM   #29
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If I was in this situation, besides going crazy with worry, I'd want to enact the 72 hr thing 4 days before the travel, as I trust my postal carrier to be slow.
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Old 06-01-2019, 02:20 PM   #30
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If I was in this situation, besides going crazy with worry, I'd want to enact the 72 hr thing 4 days before the travel, as I trust my postal carrier to be slow.
And it almost has to exclude weekends wouldn't you think?
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Old 06-01-2019, 02:54 PM   #31
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And it almost has to exclude weekends wouldn't you think?
The 72 hours would be three business days. Two days to get the passport, and 1 day to overnight mail.

Just found out our travel insurance doesn't cover this type of claim. And I'm sure homeowner's won't either. Ugh.
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Old 06-01-2019, 04:33 PM   #32
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On Monday, I plan to contact our US Senator's offices - and perhaps drive there (100 miles), to see if they can help. But with the state of our political affairs these days, I'm not expecting much from them.
Don't wait until Monday! Fill out the web forms at the links I gave previously. Do this today so you get as high up in their queue as you can, then call at 9:00 AM EST on Monday to follow up with the casework staff in the senator's DC office. You will need to download and fill out the privacy waiver forms from their website before the caseworkers can help, and it will only delay them from getting started on your issue if you wait two more days to do that.
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Old 06-01-2019, 04:36 PM   #33
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The 72 hours would be three business days. Two days to get the passport, and 1 day to overnight mail.

Just found out our travel insurance doesn't cover this type of claim. And I'm sure homeowner's won't either. Ugh.
I think all travel insurance has an exclusion for the traveler not having the correct docs at the start of the trip, though most will cover you if your passport is stolen in a foreign country. If you have "cancel for any reason" coverage on the Canada trip, you can invoke that.
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Old 06-01-2019, 06:47 PM   #34
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Ah, I see. Thanks for clarifying that.

On the other point, I once had an office that was inside a consulate building in a large overseas country, and I saw the forlorn faces on visiting tourists who had been pickpocketed. The consulate staff tried their best to take care of them but dealing with people under that much stress is a challenge, so the helpful staffers got yelled at a lot. Unfairly but understandably.
Apparently I didn't get it right. There are two types of speedy processes one you pay a private company for before you apply for the passport and the 3 days one the OP mentioned where if it appears your passport won't make your travel date you can use the governments expedited process with your info already in the system. Clear as mud..
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Old 06-02-2019, 09:06 AM   #35
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OP - We are rooting for you to get the passports and go on the trip.

However, could you detail a bit (not actual hotel names), how you will lose $5,000 if the passports don't show up. As this information could be a learning lesson to some, and perhaps others will suggest a way you can avoid some losses.

For example I'm thinking pretend airline tickets are $800, so maybe you can change the flight to some other flight that you can use for $200, saving $600 value of the spent money. (I've never done this, so don't even know if that is possible).
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Old 06-02-2019, 09:55 AM   #36
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OP you might be able to purchase Trip Cancellation Insurance (a good broad one that allows cancel for any reason) via the credit card you booked this $5k trip on?

That, or changing the dates to allow a little more time should be doable with most air/hotel, etc.?
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Old 06-02-2019, 01:19 PM   #37
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Don't wait until Monday! Fill out the web forms at the links I gave previously. Do this today so you get as high up in their queue as you can, then call at 9:00 AM EST on Monday to follow up with the casework staff in the senator's DC office. You will need to download and fill out the privacy waiver forms from their website before the caseworkers can help, and it will only delay them from getting started on your issue if you wait two more days to do that.
Thanks cathy. I have faxed over the privacy act form today and will call the Senator's office in the morning.

With regard to other questions - our next trip is a cruise and most of the funds would be lost if we have to cancel the cruise - no refunds this late in the game.

Our travel insurance does not have a 'cancel for any reason' clause and it is too late to buy any other travel policy now.

I hope I'm not overreacting (we still have 7 business days before our next trip). But when we get this close to our trip and the Dept. of State just keeps telling me to wait, call back, etc. - it's pretty concerning.
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Old 06-02-2019, 01:28 PM   #38
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It does seem odd that they can't offer more information. they must enter these applications into the system, don't they have queue numbers or something to tell what the heck is going on? It's hard to believe that your passports are just sitting around in limbo somewhere. Come in to the system, information verified and then on the printing process and into the mail. They must do them in some kind of order.
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Old 06-02-2019, 02:00 PM   #39
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It does seem odd that they can't offer more information. they must enter these applications into the system, don't they have queue numbers or something to tell what the heck is going on? It's hard to believe that your passports are just sitting around in limbo somewhere. Come in to the system, information verified and then on the printing process and into the mail. They must do them in some kind of order.
Agreed. They keep saying that they have "up to" 8 business days to process the passport with expedited service and then 2 days to mail it. So they must assume it doesn't get done until the 8th day. They can't do everyone's on the 8th day, can they? And since my credit card has not been charged for the expedited service I requested on May 24th, do they wait until the 8th day to do that too? And finally, the person on the phone doesn't have answers to any of that. So how would they expect anyone to have confidence in the process?
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Old 06-02-2019, 02:10 PM   #40
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Agreed. They keep saying that they have "up to" 8 business days to process the passport with expedited service and then 2 days to mail it. So they must assume it doesn't get done until the 8th day. They can't do everyone's on the 8th day, can they? And since my credit card has not been charged for the expedited service I requested on May 24th, do they wait until the 8th day to do that too? And finally, the person on the phone doesn't have answers to any of that. So how would they expect anyone to have confidence in the process?
Riddle me this if they can find it to expedite it, they obviously know how to look for it correct..
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