State Dept removing passport processing from USPS post offices?

[Anonymous]

We live in DC and have been trying to get a passport for our toddler.

We had an interview lined up for the USPS on Pennsylvania Ave last Wednesday. On Tuesday the post office calls me and said my appointment is canceled. They will not be conducting passport processing, as they lost the person who handles it. I asked if they will be getting a replacement and they had no idea when that would happen.

My spouse was at the Wisconsin Ave post office this weekend, which also does passport interviews. People kept coming in for interviews and the processing office is closed. Again, post office staff told my spouse that the processing person was pulled last week and no notice was provided. And in the case of Wisconsin Ave, they are not even calling people to let them know the interviews are canceled! USPS website also keeps allowing people to make interview reservations - so people take their kids out of school, come to do their interview, and then the Post Office staff at the mail desk have to let them know its indefinitely closed and to try to make a reservation at another facility. People are obviously pissed off and yelling at the Postal desk staff!

Is this happening only in DC or elsewhere across the country? Feels like a systemic change that was not announced anywhere.

[Anonymous]

Well that's terrifying. I submitted my passport for renewal last week (expedited) and it is saying "UNAVAILABLE" when I tried to check status :/

[Anonymous]

Omg

[Anonymous]

Someone needs to get the press on this stat.

[Anonymous]

Just go to the passport center in DC. I was there and this lady needed a passport and didn't even have her child's birth certificate. They treated her like royalty with four people trying to help her despite her doing nothing to prepare and for all we know stealing a child.

[Anonymous]

Since COVID shutdowns when it suddenly was hard to get your passport renewed, I have been type-A about making sure that all paperwork is up to date. Thankfully, all our passports got renewed in Nov.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Someone needs to get the press on this stat.

I wanted to add that adults have not been able to use the post office for a while. When I tried to renew mine late last year, the office said I had to do it online. If I was getting a passport for a child, they were still allowed to use the post office or a library.

Last month, I did my renewal online. This won't help the person with the toddle, I don't think, and not having ANY staff at USPTO or a library is new and scary.

I'd get people to make a big fuss about this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Since COVID shutdowns when it suddenly was hard to get your passport renewed, I have been type-A about making sure that all paperwork is up to date. Thankfully, all our passports got renewed in Nov.

It actually hasn't been hard at all, we had no problem renewing new passports over the summer. We were able to find an appointment the same week we were looking and got the passports back quickly. What we haven't received back is the children's old passports.

[Anonymous]

I haven’t seen anything about discontinuing processing at USPS locations - who knows? If you are looking for an alternate you might try the MLK library location downtown.

https://www.dclibrary.org/using-the-library/passport-acceptance-office

[Anonymous]

So you actually need people to work to make the government function well? Who knew.

[Anonymous]

I would try another type of office that issues them . We had to go in person and went to our county Clerk-Recorder's office. Much better service than I've ever had at the post office for passports in the past. Some public libraries do, or find the federal office.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just go to the passport center in DC. I was there and this lady needed a passport and didn't even have her child's birth certificate. They treated her like royalty with four people trying to help her despite her doing nothing to prepare and for all we know stealing a child.

The passport office in DC has only been for last minute travelers for a very long time.

[Anonymous]

Honestly, when tromp won the election we all knew govt systems would disappear or slow down significantly. I rushed the renewals on our passports to make sure they got done. I think it’s just one of those things Muskrat wants to shut down. Administration already announced all trans people would have passports revoked and denied, so I’m sure the system is shut down while they go thru and confirm that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Someone needs to get the press on this stat.

I wanted to add that adults have not been able to use the post office for a while. When I tried to renew mine late last year, the office said I had to do it online. If I was getting a passport for a child, they were still allowed to use the post office or a library.

Last month, I did my renewal online. This won't help the person with the toddle, I don't think, and not having ANY staff at USPTO or a library is new and scary.

I'd get people to make a big fuss about this.

This has been the case for 10+ years. Adult renewals have been mail only for a long time. The addition of the online option is new, but you can still mail it in if you want. First time adult passports still have to be done in person.

This is because it's a different and simpler form for adult renewals, they don't want to slow things down for people who need the more intense document review in person (kids and first time adult passports, along with lost/stolen passports).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Since COVID shutdowns when it suddenly was hard to get your passport renewed, I have been type-A about making sure that all paperwork is up to date. Thankfully, all our passports got renewed in Nov.

It actually hasn't been hard at all, we had no problem renewing new passports over the summer. We were able to find an appointment the same week we were looking and got the passports back quickly. What we haven't received back is the children's old passports.

Yes it's been much better since fall 2023. There was about a year before that when the waits were really long because they were getting many more applications than normal- many people had let theirs lapse in 2020 and 2021 and then came rushing back in in late 2022 and the first half of 2023.