surfer jim - 10-18-2008 at 05:42 PM
Sent my passport in for renewal on Oct 2. Just used regular mail service and the "standard" processing. Got it back yesterday. There was even a
holiday during that time. Two weeks!! Government employees must be on best behavior because of the election?
tjBill - 10-18-2008 at 06:48 PM
Wow, two weeks is fast. Last year there was a big backlog. They must have solved the problem. 
thebajarunner - 10-18-2008 at 09:26 PM
Sent my wife's in on Tuesday of this week,
we shall see how quickly they react
and will report the result
karenintx - 10-19-2008 at 07:02 AM
My passport was due for renewal this past April so on March 16...a Sunday morning...the hubby and I went over to Kinkos to overnight the package.
According to the instruction on the application when overnighting you send the renewal to a street address in Delaware not the PO Box # in Philly.
Six days, yes I did say six days later the renewal & old passport were in our mailbox. I did pay the $65 extra to expedite the process but this
was during the time of the "big backlog". Don't know if by sending it to a different office was the reason was the rapid reutrn...I was just "HAPPY"!
BajaTrooper - 10-19-2008 at 08:31 AM
Has anyone got the new "passport card"? If so how long is it taking to process? It's my understanding that you must send in you current passport and
they will return both once the process is finished. So...you are without your passport until completed. Just wondering. 
Oso - 10-19-2008 at 11:02 AM
I got the passport card a month or so ago. They sent my book passport back right away by express mail, the card followed in a couple weeks.
As citizens we are getting good service. Not so for resident aliens like my wife. This summer we noticed her green card had expired, needed to
renew. Started the process JUNE 25, online. Paid $370. A few weeks later got an appointment letter for her to go in for "biographics". A month
later, another appointment because her fingerprints didn't take well. Did them over again.
It still ain't here. $370 and in a few days it will be FOUR MONTHS, all for something that should be as simple as renewing a driver's license. INS=
Incompetent Nasty Sonsobitiches.
13 Days!!
thebajarunner - 10-28-2008 at 05:29 PM
My wife's renewed passport came back in 13 days.
I was very impressed, to say the least,
and relieved as well.
However, we applied for the passport card, and did not get that yet (Are they even issuing them, as yet?)
And, they did not punch out the old passport and send it back either, perhaps holding it until they issue the card.
(My wife was born in Jalisco..... guess once issued, it is not problem getting renewals, I expected a bit more scrutiny, somehow)
surfer jim - 10-28-2008 at 06:37 PM
Wife just got hers back (name change only) in two weeks also.....
Old passports have been returned seperately about a week after new one arrives.....
And now, the passport card is here!!
thebajarunner - 10-30-2008 at 09:38 PM
13 days for the passport and another three days and the card arrives.
Hurrah for the good guys!!!
Now waiting to see if they send back the old one with the swiss cheese holes.
And now the end of the story
thebajarunner - 11-1-2008 at 02:11 PM
Today the canceled passport arrived,
thus completing the cycle in amazing speed and dispatch.
13 days for the passport
16 days for the passport card
and 18 days to get the old perforated card returned.
I am still shaking my head in amazement...
Pompano - 11-1-2008 at 08:17 PM
I was getting ready to take a fishing trip out in the Pacific this last June and realized my passport had just expired.
I had 10 days before plane departure time. Applying at the Midway US Post Office in San Diego with the 'rush amount' of $75, I had the passport and
small passport card in 8 days. A very pleasant surprise.
thebajarunner - 11-1-2008 at 11:31 PM
We did not do the "rush", "expedited" or any special service,
just put a few stamps on the packet and mailed it in.
13 days for regular service completion, hard to imagine how "expedited" could improve on that.
2-tie-dye-4 - 11-2-2008 at 12:00 AM
I'm glad to hear you are getting your old passports back. I don't know how it's done these days as mine is due for renewal next year. I'm leary of
giving mine up without a new one in my hand, and I want the old, very full one (yippee) for a souvernir so when the Altzheimers is in full swing I can
look at it and be amazed. I haven't looked into the little card passport thingy, but as a bartender, they are still not legal to buy a drink in
Arizona. As of Jan 08. Next seminar will prolly be different.
thebajarunner - 11-2-2008 at 09:03 AM
The "little passport thingy" is a lot more legit as I.D. than an Arizona driver's license.... guess they just don't get it.
On a more upbeat note,
The card can be ordered at the same time as the full passport renewal, just check the correct box, add $20 to the $75 for the passport and you are in
business.
No extra forms, no extra fotos.
In fact, we submitted two fotos for the pair of documents, and when the old passport came back the extra foto was stapled to the expired passport.
Go figure.
Best of all, you an download the 'printable' forms on line at the State Dept website and fill them out right on your computer, then print and mail.
Simple,
cheap (sort of)
and very quick