us passport
 

Communicating with the National Passport Processing Center
 
 
By far the biggest problem and concern we have heard about has to do with communicating with the National Passport Processing Center. Once your application has been sent to the Natonal Passport Processing Center you are at the mercy of the system. Should you have a need to contact the National Passport Processing Center to speed up the processing of your application or even to check the status of your application you must call, using a credit card, the 900 number for the National Passport Information Center (NPIC).

The problem is this is only a call center where some general questions can be answered but it is not the location where your passport is being processed! The NPIC can only review the information that has been entered into the National Passport Processing Center's database. The NPIC can only update and makes notes concerning your application into the computer. It then takes time for your request to be processed and most importantly there is no guarantee that your request can be met. If you have urgent travel you may just be out of luck....
 
 

Application Processing Times of the National Passport Processing Center
 
The second biggest problem is the stated processing times for passport applications. The Department of State, the Federal Agency that oversees the US Passport Agency, has a "Passport Information" website that declares regular passport applications are processed in 25 days and expedited orders are turned around in less than a week. If you have applied for a US passport you are more than aware that the process takes 6 to 8 weeks for standard service and up to 30 days for expedited service. A major difference in processing time that could have a big impact on your travel plans!

From 1974 to 1992 the US Government had been issuing roughly 3 million passports per year. In 1995 the number jumped to approximately 5 million passports and has been steadily increasing every year since. There have been more than 7 million passports issued during each of the past three years. This is more than double the amount issued in years prior! The US Passport Agency has simply not been able to keep up with the demand.