Emergency passport renewal while waiting regular applicaton

[sevimli 12]

Hi all,

 

I have an unusual question. My daughter's passport was about to expire in May'20. Since we were planning not to travel this year due to Covid-19 related reasons,  we did not rush on applying for renewal at all. That's why we applied at our local post office in April. It is currently "in processing" since last week, nothing more.

 

Unfortunately, we now have a family emergency, I need to fly out as soon as possible (Monday, if not Sunday), but we do not have my daugther's passport in hand, and her birth certificate as well (was submitted during the application, and have not received it back). My mom's doctor agreed to provide a doctor's report. Today, while trying to make an appointment with the emergency passport service centers, we were told that these offices are only open on Mondays & Thursdays... We were also told that we should make an appointment early Monday morning, and evaluate the situation with an officer on site; they want us to purchase the ticket without confirming whether they recognize our emergency situation before coming to the office... 

 

We asked about my daughter's birth certificate being held by Department of State, but did not get a clear answer...  

Do we need to bring our photos or they could provide photo service on site? I couldn't get an answer to this as well. 

 

Is this the regular process now or Covid also changed this process?

 

thanks all!

 

 

 

 

[milimelo 4,167]

Always come fully prepared - that includes bringing photos for the passport and with completed forms. 

[sevimli 12]

On 7/3/2020 at 7:40 PM, milimelo said:

Always come fully prepared - that includes bringing photos for the passport and with completed forms. 

 

Thanks, the whole thing was a disaster.

 

We called in the passport processing call center, at 7AM CST time, after 13min and 49min of two lengthy waits (and plus 10min and 25min of talks) we got a appointment confirmation number and a PIN for our scheduled appointment. The lady on the phone was super helpful, she explained all necessary documents and steps to us.

 

Basically they required whole new application;

• New filled application form DS-11
• Photo (no photo service inside)
• Flight ticket (confirmed ticket, not a reservation)
• Doctor Report (must be in English or notarized translation)
• Both parent's ID (original & 1 copy)
• Original birth certificate and copy of it (or any other proof of citizenship)
• Check for emergency service fee
• Proof of previous payment(s)

Our appointment was at 9:30, we arrived to the center ~30min early.  While waiting outside for our appointment time, my husband decided to check with the security personal if we could go in 5-10min earlier. Long story short; my daughter's name was not on the list(!). Thus, security denied our entry to the building, they also denied us to talk to anyone from passport office. We were told to call the number (call center) and see if we could schedule another appointment same day. After, 66 minutes on-hold, finally we talked to with an passport officer, they could not find a spot for today, and next available date was Thursday...

They did confirm that our appointment time and date was indeed CORRECT, someone from the local office forgot to include my daughter's name in the list that was sent to the security personal!!!! But they are not accepting any responsibility for this wrongdoing. 

Our flights tickets were for Wednesday, my husband was on the phone with the airline whole afternoon trying to reschedule it. Cancellation fee is $375 per person! New flights have higher base fees already. Either way we are loosing >$1000 in fees and another 3 DAYS!! Worst part is that we did nothing wrong. :(

 

I do not understand how this service could be an emergency service, and why they have an afterhours phone#, it goes to a voicemail which no body return your call...