I would like to take this opportunity to complain about the passport application process in the United States.

My husband and I are planning a trip to the UK (for which I prefer not to simply say England when I don’t mean only England). We were planning on going in May or June, but when a literature class that I was actually excited about taking was offered, we decided that we could go after the class ended, and travel in July instead. Even though I am on the Creative Writing track of the Ph.D. program, my literary side is a total Victorianist at heart. And this particular class has been the first Victorian class offered in the last two years. Although, I suppose this a minor exaggeration. There was one class was offered this past term, but it was taught by a professor who treated me poorly when I first came to USC. The strange thing is: I have heard really good things about this person, but I have never taken a class with this professor, so she didn't even know me enough to treat me like trash, but she did it anyway. I got the distinct impression that she didn't like the creative writing people, and I didn't feel like enduring the harshness for another semester. I've had enough personality conflicts dealing with professors in the English department.

And so that is why I am taking a Victorian literature class in the summer, because I have heard great things about this professor, too, and I actually love the subject--two things that rarely get paired up for me outside of fiction or poetry workshops.

So we were going to go to the UK in July, but then Comic-Con is at the end of July and I've been wanting to go for three years (well, more than that, but it wasn't really feasible when we lived in Maryland). And now, we have friends visiting both at the beginning and end of July. Now, we have decided to postpone our trip until December--when airline prices and hotel prices are somewhat cheaper, and we can save a little bit more.

It's a good thing we decided to go in December, and not June. Because we applied for our passports March 15, 2007. And we still don't have them.

At the beginning of the year, the website said 4-6 weeks for processing. Then on March 1, 2007, they updated the website to say 6-8 weeks. Two weeks ago, the website was updated again to say 10 weeks for processing. Today, I checked again: 10-12 weeks for processing. By their current time line, we should be receiving our passports on Thursday, because that will have been 12 weeks.

The biggest sham of all, though, is that you can "check the status of your application" online. But you have to wait four weeks before submitting your information: "Currently, it is taking up to 1 week for Expedited Applications and up to 4 weeks for Routine Applications to be tracked online. Please allow at least that time before checking the status of your application." I have attempted to check the status three times: April 15th, May 3rd, May 17th, and I kept getting told that my information wasn't even available to check on yet. Today, I input my information and this is what it says:

Thank you for submitting your passport application! It is currently being processed.

Your passport application locator number is --------.

Note: We have been experiencing a problem with the online status check system affecting only the application locator number. This does not affect the processing of your application. If the number above is 10 digits long and starts with 10000, please do not worry. If you need to contact the National Passport Information Center, you will have to provide at least your name and date of birth instead of the application locator number. Otherwise, please provide the locator number above.

When you applied, you requested Routine Service and Routine Delivery of your passport. Passport Agencies use Priority Mail.

You should receive your passport within 10 weeks from the date you applied. However, if you are traveling within 2 weeks and have not received your passport, please contact the National Passport Information Center.

There is no real update on the status. In fact, there is a big fat red herring: "You should receive your passport within 10 weeks from the date you applied." I suppose the word should is their Get Out of Updating Free Card. Because we should have received our passports, but we haven't.

All I have to say is thank goodness the Victorian class was offered and postponed our plan, because I would be really angry. But right now, I'm just mildly annoyed.

Labels: government, grad school, passport, politics, travel

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