Passport to Planet Wait, Part I
The clock started today at 10:30 a.m.
At the Cleveland Park Post Office, where it took me a week to get an appointment to even apply for my passport, the woman who calls me "Baby" and "Honey" alternately wants to know if I need the pricey expedited option. I'm inclined to say no. Our trip to Ireland is more than three months off. The official wait time is 10 to 12 weeks. I knew I'd be cutting it close...but, c'mon. "Well, Honey, it can take four months now," she says, and I ask her if that is really true, or more like a scare tactic.
"Baby," she says, "I know it's true." Well, seeing that I don't want to be sitting in D.C. when my new husband is off drinking Guinness without me, I hand her my two checks: $127 to the State Department and $30 to the U.S. Postmaster. That's an extra $60 on top of the nonexpedited fee and, despite the State Department officially apologizing to Congress for the backlog and calling in more than 300 young diplomats to start stamping, the whole process is fraught with waiting. That leaves just about everyone plunking down that extra $60.
So do yourself a favor: Get in line now. For first-timers, here's what you need:
- a completed application. You can fill one out here.
- proof of citizenship. It took a letter, a check for $10, and about a week for an official copy of my birth certificate to come in the mail, but if you were born somewhere other than Cowtown, N.Y., it could take longer.
- two photos. Some places, like the Cleveland Park Post Office, will take them when you apply, but you can save a few dollars by going to mom-and-pop shops, like the one called "Photo Service" at 1664 Columbia Road ($11 instead of $15).
- valid photo ID
Got a passport story? Still waiting for yours to come in the mail? We've got nothing to do but wait, so go ahead and share.
1:43 pm
Don't believe a word that a postal employee says. I had the misfortune of having to buy a money order lately, so while I was at the counter, I asked if they would REALLY return mail with a 39 cent stamp (versus the 41 cents it now costs), since I had just mailed a couple the day before, not having any two-cent stamps. The earnest lady ASSURED me that it would be returned. I said, really? You'd go to all that trouble for two cents? She said really, it's the way the system works.
Well, the two letters I mailed after talking to her were delivered, as usual. I am not sure if this is a dark secret that they are afraid might cost them at least $2,000 over several months if it were to get out, or they just don't want to seem stupid, but I'm glad that what makes sense (the mail would just get delivered anyway) is not the same as what the postal employees insist is true.
3:21 pm
Expedited service is taking 4 to 5 weeks and regular service is taking up to 15 weeks....the ladies at the Ben Franklin Station (where you don't need to make an appointment and can just waltz right on in with very little waiting) are telling people who are traveling within six weeks to just wait till 72 hours before your trip and go down to the passport office.