I’m an idiot. Don’t be like me.

[nancipants]

Be aware that in many States its illegal (i.e., a crime) to photocopy a birth certificate.

Seriously? How do they expect people to get passports? You need to send in the original and a copy.

 

[meremac]

Seriously? How do they expect people to get passports? You need to send in the original and a copy.

It's not illegal to copy your own birth certificate.

 

[harleyquinn]

You also need to be aware that the birth certificates will be sent back separately from the new passports.

Ah, thank you, so now I won't panic...at least about that! lol

Be aware that in many States its illegal (i.e., a crime) to photocopy a birth certificate.

The passport office copied them, so I think I'm safe.

 

[nancipants]

My mom is turning 75 in September and we are taking her on her first Disney cruise in August. She’s been on a cruise before when she was in her 20s and did an Atlantic crossing and sailed around Italy, but never went out of the country since then. I applied for a new passport for her (since of course she didn’t have her old one) in November, and got a letter in January saying her birth certificate didn’t meet requirements. Of course, the letter didn’t say WHY, just a list of reasons that might be possible. I’m assuming it wasn’t certified. And of course, I didn’t think to have her make a copy to keep at home while the passport application processed. I ordered a new birth certificate for her from NY (we live in FL), thinking we’d have plenty of time. She just got it LAST WEEK. Almost four months. I was so relieved when it finally shipped. I had her make several copies so we can use that for the cruise if necessary, but I’m going to send in the certified BC to see if she’ll get the passport in time. SO glad I started the process early or we would have been screwed for the cruise!

Update on this: my mom's passport shipped yesterday!

@harleyquinn, any updates??

 

[harleyquinn]

Update on this: my mom's passport shipped yesterday!

@harleyquinn, any updates??

Still no passports or our original BCs, but we did receive the copies of our BCs only about 10 days after I posted. So we’re good to go. I may call about the passports today as it says to call if you are traveling within 2 weeks, but we don’t need them.

I’m glad your mom’s passport is on the way!

 

[Metalfan]

Passports are one of my biggest concerns. Wife wanted to go to a passport office so we could do it there. We have an appointment on the 28th. Hopefully that's enough time to get them. Almost 5 months.

 

[harleyquinn]

One other thing. I did originally upload pictures of the copies I had of our birth certificates and that was enough to get us a PAT. When the official ones came in, I was able to upload pics of them with no issues.

 

[WDWAurora]

Passports are one of my biggest concerns. Wife wanted to go to a passport office so we could do it there. We have an appointment on the 28th. Hopefully that's enough time to get them. Almost 5 months.

My kids’ passports came in 5.5 weeks. We were quoted 8-11 weeks. You should be ok with 5 months. I like the feeling of having them taken care of early! (We were later than I would prefer).

 

[nancipants]

Passports are one of my biggest concerns. Wife wanted to go to a passport office so we could do it there. We have an appointment on the 28th. Hopefully that's enough time to get them. Almost 5 months.

It should be if you have no issues, like I did with the birth certificate. We sent my mom's in late November, we got a letter back in late January. I sent in her new birth certificate 3 weeks ago and they shipped the passport yesterday. So about 3 months if you subtract the time we waited to get her new birth certificate in the mail.

 

[Metalfan]

My kids’ passports came in 5.5 weeks. We were quoted 8-11 weeks. You should be ok with 5 months. I like the feeling of having them taken care of early! (We were later than I would prefer).

Yea, I like to do things like this early but not going to lie, it completely slipped our minds when we budgeted out the trip. Went to my wife the other day and was like....we forgot passports lol.

 

[TraderStitch]

What in the world? When did getting a passport become so difficult? My original passport came within 2-3 weeks. My renewals have always come within that time frame.
Just bring original docs to the local government building, they notarize it and file it right there.

 

[WDWAurora]

What in the world? When did getting a passport become so difficult? My original passport came within 2-3 weeks. My renewals have always come within that time frame.
Just bring original docs to the local government building, they notarize it and file it right there.

Maybe it depends on where you live? Here there are no walk in locations to drop off and appointments are generally a month out. Then you have to wait and there is a backup due to a high volume of travel this year and this season. It was a challenge 6 years ago and in May of this year due to the amount of time involved. When you have kids under 16, there is the added fun of no renewal, passports only being good for 5 years, and both parents being required to appear in person.

 

[bcwife76]

I'm in Canada and passport renewals are a HUGE mess right now. DD13 is the only one with a passport expiring this year. I submitted her application in person on March 29 and I'm still waiting to receive it Thank goodness I still have her birth certificate so we can cruise on the Wonder from Vancouver next month. It's beyond ridiculous.

 

[nancipants]

What in the world? When did getting a passport become so difficult? My original passport came within 2-3 weeks. My renewals have always come within that time frame.
Just bring original docs to the local government building, they notarize it and file it right there.

March 2020.

 

[Mrs.Milo]

I was a home birth, very rural area on Kentucky/West Virginia state line. The doctor gave my mom an unofficial copy on West Virginia form which I used for everything, school and even marriage license and job applications. Always with questions. So when I applied for a passport 20 years ago I listed West Virginia as my place of birth. They had no record, and suggested I contact Kentucky. Sure enough that’s where my birth was actually registered 50 years before. It was quite a surprise,

 

[YourEveryDayAdam]

Some very recent experience of mine in getting a passport:

We had an appointment at the post office for passports. I had everything in order, paperwork wise.
Our passport appointment with the post office was on May 10th, 2022. Everything at the post office was straight forward. They had said we had too much stuff and helped to get our paperwork streamlined and in order for both of us.
We paid the post office $50 each for their part. This we paid with a credit card directly to the post office. This included passport photo service.
We paid for, what i'm calling, the full passport package (passport, passport card, expedited service). That was another $238.32 paid by a check to the Dept of State.
They took our photos, gathered everything up, put it in an envelope and gave us a receipt with a sort of "postmark" showing that they accepted and processed the application.
All-in-all, it took about 30 minutes in-and-out. This was because we had an appointment. The walk-ins had a line that, i'm guessing, was about 1-2 hours.

The check to the dept of state cleared my bank account on May 16th, 2022. That's when the online passport tracker said "processing"
I checked the passport status every few days. During this time it continue to say "processing"
On June 9th 2022 it switched over to "Approved". I checked in the morning. I'm not sure exactly when it switched. But both of our applications said Approved via the online tracker.
Literally that same day, our passports arrived in the mail via US Mail Express Mail in two separate mailings.

All told, from appointment to getting the passport: 1 day shy of a full month. 30 days.

All that was in the envelope was our passport. Nothing else. On the passport was a QR code that takes you to a website that explains that your original documents will come back to you separately, and if you ordered passport cards, they will come seperately from everything else as well.

Since then, even as I type this, our passport application status from the online tracker still says "Approved" and hasn't switched over to "shipped" or any other such status. I have not yet received the passport card or my original documents.

In regards to the "too much stuff" at our original appointment...I tend to be paranoid and brought everything I though they might need. This included the passport applications already filled out, my original birth certificates, I had an old OLD expired passport (10+ years expired), I had made photocopies of my birth certificate and ID, etc.
My partner had a passport at one point but misplaced it, so I had the forms for all of that filled out to be included.
When all was said and done, they only needed my old passport and nothing else. They didn't need my birth certificate or any of the photo copies of anything. They gave those back to me at the post office.
For my partner, they did need his birth certificate, but didn't need the photocopies of any thing.
The instructions do say that you need these things, but the post office gave them back to us...so i'm not sure if they made their own or if it wasn't truly needed. I would advice taking them with you anyway, just incase. We did get our passports so...?

I will also add, that I did order 2 certified copies each of both of our birth certificates from our various state agencies ahead of our appointment. Those took about a week to arrive.

 

[YourEveryDayAdam]

Some very recent experience of mine in getting a passport:

We had an appointment at the post office for passports. I had everything in order, paperwork wise.
Our passport appointment with the post office was on May 10th, 2022. Everything at the post office was straight forward. They had said we had too much stuff and helped to get our paperwork streamlined and in order for both of us.
We paid the post office $50 each for their part. This we paid with a credit card directly to the post office. This included passport photo service.
We paid for, what i'm calling, the full passport package (passport, passport card, expedited service). That was another $238.32 paid by a check to the Dept of State.
They took our photos, gathered everything up, put it in an envelope and gave us a receipt with a sort of "postmark" showing that they accepted and processed the application.
All-in-all, it took about 30 minutes in-and-out. This was because we had an appointment. The walk-ins had a line that, i'm guessing, was about 1-2 hours.

The check to the dept of state cleared my bank account on May 16th, 2022. That's when the online passport tracker said "processing"
I checked the passport status every few days. During this time it continue to say "processing"
On June 9th 2022 it switched over to "Approved". I checked in the morning. I'm not sure exactly when it switched. But both of our applications said Approved via the online tracker.
Literally that same day, our passports arrived in the mail via US Mail Express Mail in two separate mailings.

All told, from appointment to getting the passport: 1 day shy of a full month. 30 days.

All that was in the envelope was our passport. Nothing else. On the passport was a QR code that takes you to a website that explains that your original documents will come back to you separately, and if you ordered passport cards, they will come seperately from everything else as well.

Since then, even as I type this, our passport application status from the online tracker still says "Approved" and hasn't switched over to "shipped" or any other such status. I have not yet received the passport card or my original documents.

In regards to the "too much stuff" at our original appointment...I tend to be paranoid and brought everything I though they might need. This included the passport applications already filled out, my original birth certificates, I had an old OLD expired passport (10+ years expired), I had made photocopies of my birth certificate and ID, etc.
My partner had a passport at one point but misplaced it, so I had the forms for all of that filled out to be included.
When all was said and done, they only needed my old passport and nothing else. They didn't need my birth certificate or any of the photo copies of anything. They gave those back to me at the post office.
For my partner, they did need his birth certificate, but didn't need the photocopies of any thing.
The instructions do say that you need these things, but the post office gave them back to us...so i'm not sure if they made their own or if it wasn't truly needed. I would advice taking them with you anyway, just incase. We did get our passports so...?

I will also add, that I did order 2 certified copies each of both of our birth certificates from our various state agencies ahead of our appointment. Those took about a week to arrive.

Quick related update: Our mail arrived today and our passport cards were there!

 

[harleyquinn]

Quick related update: Our mail arrived today and our passport cards were there!

That’s too funny on the timing.

Our applications were accepted on April 22.(8.5 weeks ago) It still says “in process” on the website.

 

[Akck]

That’s too funny on the timing.

Our applications were accepted on April 22.(8.5 weeks ago) It still says “in process” on the website.

If you want to feel better about it, my renewal was lost in the mail. I did get my passport in about 4-5 weeks. USPS still showed the application still being lost.

 

[MomOTwins]

If you want to feel better about it, my renewal was lost in the mail. I did get my passport in about 4-5 weeks. USPS still showed the application still being lost.

Almost the same for us! Somehow our package got delivered to the completely wrong house despite having our correct address. Fortunately they were nice people and drove it over to us!