I just complained to my congressmen . . .

[truecruiser]

Renewals for those of certain age HAVE to do so in person. He is 17 and had last one at 12. It's a renewal but has to be in person. I do think they get processed faster.

 

:confused: :confused: but now your response is going back to sitting in the post office, and we're not talking about that either, LOL.

[woohoo4ue]

On the form the post office gave me it said 10-12 weeks, but by May 24th. LOL. I hate ranges too and I knew from reading on there that I wouldn't have it by May 24th. I don't really care when I get it as long as it is before October! Isn't it ironic that they cashed my check in April? LOL:D They had no problem doing that in a timely manner.

 

I understand where all of you are coming from, but I'm taking the side of the people. We'll have to agree to disagree.

[GoinCruisin]

Just to point out it happened to us at this end, not the State Dept. end. If this end is overwhelmed, the people doing the processing can gage the numbers etc. People who applied the same day (my neighbor) for new passports haven't yet gotten them.

 

Then the problem becomes hiring a bunch of postal employees JUST for processing applications... and then what do you do with them? LOL... everyone knows you can't just let go of postal workers. I would call the offices you have in your area... for instance, you can even do it at the county clerks office in Tampa... I would call and ask for the best times, I know our offices here will let you know, because it helps THEM as well... at peak times, yes, it can take hours... but they aren't hiring new postal employees just to handle a crunch like this... that would create a much different issue.

[Leo Jay]

 

There were 2 people processing applications at the largest office in Tampa. If one person takes 7 minutes when everything is completed beforehand but a family who takes a number has 3 children and 2 adults which was often the case it was no wonder so many people walked out.

 

 

Not that anyone's to blame for it, but the amount of time it takes to submit an application is something I wish I'd been prepared for in advance. When I got to the post office, there were only about 4 people in line, plus a family of 3 already at the window. I never would have thought that it would have been 90 minutes before I got out of there! I'm still not sure what took everyone so long, since I was done in about 2 minutes. As people ahead of me finished, I really wanted to ask them what took up so much time at the window, but I couldn't figure out how ask that without sounding obnoxious. :o :p

 

Glad I didn't try to do it on my lunch hour!

[mrdood]

:confused: :confused: but now your response is going back to sitting in the post office, and we're not talking about that either, LOL.

 

Going "postal" is starting to take on some new meanings.

 

Hopefully they will get the PassCard system implemented soon, that would take care of most of the burden...

[truecruiser]

Going "postal" is starting to take on some new meanings.

 

Hopefully they will get the PassCard system implemented soon, that would take care of most of the burden...

 

i remember reading about this on here. what happened to it? did it die or is it still in the works?

[GoinCruisin]

Just to point out it happened to us at this end, not the State Dept. end. If this end is overwhelmed, the people doing the processing can gage the numbers etc. People who applied the same day (my neighbor) for new passports haven't yet gotten them.

 

 

Your neighbor applied on April 2nd... so they are in the 11th week, no need to complain yet.

[Jenna1983]

Complaining won't do anything, but probably backlog your passport even more. lol

[dms_cruisers04]

i remember reading about this on here. what happened to it? did it die or is it still in the works?

It'll be 10-12 weeks. :cool:

[woohoo4ue]

It'll be 10-12 weeks. :cool:

 

LMAO:D :D

[big_duck]

i remember reading about this on here. what happened to it? did it die or is it still in the works?

 

Form and function of any such cards requires the agreement of several nations.

 

We are currently saying nanner, nanner, boo, boo. :p :p

[dms_cruisers04]

Form and function of any such cards requires the agreement of several nations.

 

We are currently saying nanner, nanner, boo, boo. :p :p

As long as you're saying it with your thumbs at your ears and whilst wiggling your fingers, I suppose that's okay. :D

[cruisecastle]

. . . about the absurd breakdown in the system. If it's taking 14+ weeks to obtain a passport because the office is overwhelmed with >millions of applications, it apparently hasn't occurred to anyone to put more people on the job. Beaurocacy at its finest. I've gotten a canned response from all three ... in the past, I've actually gotten called by a real human being, but it was MONTHS later.

 

The American people are not being served by those sworn to serve and protect ... and yet we all just grumble about it and shake our collective head. Instead, we need to make it clear this is not acceptable!

 

If you want to know how to get in touch with your representatives in Washington, and let them know how you feel, I'll be glad to give you the link!!!

:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

 

Don't blame them blame yourself. If you are in a hurry pay $100 to expedite and you'll have it in two weeks.

[dms_cruisers04]

LMAO:D :D

I thought that might be appropriate.

[Cruising89143]

I disagree with your assessment, this is not a problem created by the government, and creating bigger government by throwing more people at this is also not the solution. The solution was for people to not procrastinate their application submission, this has been pending for about two years with two major delays, everyone has had plenty of time. Don't blame the government, and the I want it now, put more people on it, is an unacceptable cost to the system. Adding more people just adds to the beurocracy that you are renouncing...

 

100% correct Nick. Most and I know that we cannot lump everyone into this group, but again most have known for two years that they needed a passport but kept putting it off for one reason or another and now everyone is paying the price. If you want to point the finger at someone then point to the ones that have posted on here for the last two years that they were going to hold until they HAD to puchase a passport to save money.

[L2J]

[quote name='big_duck']Form and function of any such cards requires the agreement of several nations.

We are currently saying nanner, nanner, boo, boo. :p :p[/quote]


So now we can blame the Canucks.:p Finger pointed, problem solved.

[dms_cruisers04]

I'm sure everyone already knows my take on the whole passport processing issue.
But let's recount it anyway, shall we? Feel free to grab a beverage whilst I ramble on for the next several minutes. :D

I don't believe that all the back logged applications are because people procrastinated. I find it hard to imagine that suddenly in the last six months millions of people started deciding to apply for their passports.

I don't believe that the public should have known that there would be an influx and a backlog and that it would take more time than what they were told, and the State Department wouldn't know that too.

I do believe there are people that have procrastinated, it's human nature for some people. I think a large part of the backlog is because of some procrastinators are now calling their government representatives and requesting their passport expedited or waiting til the last minute and getting an expedited passport (which is their right I suppose), which is causing those that applied within the specified range to now have to wait longer as their application gets pushed back.

I do believe that is also a large number of people that don't need their passports right away yet are calling and requesting expedited passports, specifically cruisers that aren't from outside the US, that are further delaying processing.

I do believe that State Department dropped the ball in providing enough staff to continue to process applications in a timely manner.

I guess my biggest question of recent is how many times does the expected range have to be extended and how many weeks does a person have to actually wait before they aren't called a procrastinator and our government gets to take a little owness for the delay?

[dms_cruisers04]

[quote name='livtojump']So now we can blame the Canucks.:p Finger pointed, problem solved.[/quote]
I thought we always did that anyway, eh.

[Mikel1733]

I feel real secure with Homeland Security in charge. The big concern is making sure all US citizens have passports to travel. Meanwhile everyone else just walks across the border. Lovely.

[L2J]

[quote name='dms_cruisers04']I do believe that State Department dropped the ball in providing enough staff to continue to process applications in a timely manner.

[/quote]

Mike - One also has to understand that the Government can't just hire on a whim. An agency only has so many billets and once those are filled that's it. One also has to understand that the people who work at the passport processing agencies (processing the PPs) are probably NOT government employees...they are most likely contractors which makes a big difference in what kind of response/information folks get.

I can tell you for a fact contractors out # Govt employees by at least 5 to 1 in the sandbox I play in.

[bguppies]

[quote name='truecruiser']they extended the deadline a million and one times to specifically avoid this problem. sorry, but anyone stuck now has no right to complain IMO.[/quote]

Perfectly put.......
I don't feel sorry for any of the people complaining in threads on a daily basis in here.

Personally, I am getting tired of the governement bending over backwards with all the delays to accomodate all of these shortsighted people.

I think I'll write my representatives and complain about that.:rolleyes:

Bill

[GoinCruisin]

[quote name='dms_cruisers04'] I guess my biggest question of recent is how many times does the expected range have to be extended and how many weeks does a person have to actually wait before they aren't called a procrastinator and our government gets to take a little owness for the delay?[/quote]


The expected range has only changed once :confused: Officially... now they are just saying "apply early"... but the 10-12 week range is still there...

The State dept has said that the number of applications has steadily increased, and that after January the demand was very high.... double what it was last year, and last year demand was high due to the people applying before the deadlines... so yes, they are extremely backed up... They are expected to process 18 MILLION passports this year alone.... double what they did last year.

[VolzCruiser]

I guess I don't understand what the big issue is here. On the same day I registered for the Selective Service, I applied for my passport. My father made me do that and encouraged me to keep it current. He said I never knew when I would need it. To this day I have never let my passport expire. I also never have to worry or fret about if I have my passport of if its going to get to me in time. That in itself is worth every bit I have paid over the years. I have been on these boards long enough to see countless times that people like Cotton, Mr Dood and GoinCruisin have advised people to go ahead and get their passports. Also I have seen numerous responses that they don't feel like spending the money right now. I really can't say I feel sorry for any of you that waited to the last minute to get your passport. Don't put off today what you can get done today cause you never know what tomorrow might bring. [COLOR=#000099][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=2]
[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR]

[dms_cruisers04]

[quote name='livtojump']Mike - One also has to understand that the Government can't just hire on a whim. An agency only has so many billets and once those are filled that's it. One also has to understand that the people who work at the passport processing agencies (processing the PPs) are probably NOT government employees...they are most likely contractors which makes a big difference in what kind of response/information folks get.

I can tell you for a fact contractors out # Govt employees by at least 5 to 1 in the sandbox I play in.[/quote]
I understand Liv. I guess the point I was trying to make was I don't think that just because they don't have enough staff, be it govt employ or contractors, that the delay can't be all the publics fault.

[quote name='GoinCruisin']The expected range has only changed once :confused: Officially... now they are just saying "apply early"... but the 10-12 week range is still there...

The State dept has said that the number of applications has steadily increased, and that after January the demand was very high.... double what it was last year, and last year demand was high due to the people applying before the deadlines... so yes, they are extremely backed up... They are expected to process 18 MILLION passports this year alone.... double what they did last year.[/quote]
That's true Chris. On "paper" it's only been modified once, but people are saying it's taking longer than that now. How patient are people suppose to be before we quit calling them procrastinators?

[nrdsb4]

[quote name='dms_cruisers04']
I don't believe that all the back logged applications are because people procrastinated. [COLOR=red]I find it hard to imagine that suddenly in the last six months millions of people started deciding to apply for their passports. [/COLOR]

[/quote]


Sorry, I think you are wrong about that.

From an AP article I read just today:

"Last year, the agency processed [B][I]12.1 million passports[/I][/B]. This year, officials expect to process about [B][I][U]18 million[/U][/I][/B], she said. The department received [B][I]1 million[/I][/B] applications in December, [B][I]1.8 million[/I][/B] January and [B][I]1.7 million in February. " [/I][/B]
[B][/B]
dms cruisers, if you add to this number those applying in March, April, and May, you do in fact come up with millions of people applying for passports in the last six months.
[B][/B]
As to whether or not the government has hired new people to help with the backlog:



"Harty said the department had hired 145 people last month to work on the backlog and [B][I]would hire 400 more this quarter[/I][/B]. Target turnaround times for passports were bumped up from six to 10-12 weeks after the surge, but 500,000 applications have already taken longer, she said."

I'm with Mr. Dood. As relates to hiring MORE government employees, be careful what you wish for.