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  • What to do if Your Passport is Delayed and You Have an Upcoming Trip

    Your dream vacation that you’ve been planning for months is right around the corner. Your bags are packed, airline tickets booked, and you have the perfect vacation home just waiting for your arrival. The only thing that’s getting in the way of you being fully excited for your trip? Your passport still hasn’t arrived. You applied for your passport weeks ago, and it’s nowhere to be found. You start to panic and wonder if it will even come at all… what are you to do now?!

    What to Do if Your Passport is Delayed

    If your passport is delayed and hasn’t come when it was supposed to, your first instinct may be to panic. But, this is precisely what you shouldn’t do. Take a deep breath, and try one of the following options to try and obtain your passport as soon as possible:

    Option 1: Call 1-877-487-2778 to try and make an in-person appointment with a Passport Agency near you. It’s important to note that most of the appointments available are only for people who need to travel internationally for a life-or-death emergency or for those who need to travel for an urgent manner.

    You may qualify for a life-or-death emergency appointment if you need to travel internationally within 72 hours for an immediate family member who is dying, has a life-threatening illness or injury, or has died.

    You may qualify for an appointment for urgent travel if you have urgent travel plans within 2 weeks and you can provide proof of travel.

    Option 2: Call the National Passport Information Center (1-877-487-2778). When you call, explain your situation and ask if paying an expedite fee would guarantee your passport being issued and shipped to you right away. You can then track the progress of your passport here.

    Option 3: If you become notified that there is a problem with your passport application, follow the instructions listed on the government-issued letter. If timing is a concern for you, you should work directly with the government to get your situation resolved in a timely matter or call 1-877-487-2778 for more information.

    What to Avoid if Your Passport is Delayed

    If your passport is delayed and hasn’t arrived within the estimated processing time, the one thing you should never do is to start a new passport application with Swift or any other third-party agency. If you submit a new application, you’ll have two passport applications being processed, which will raise a huge red flag to the Passport Agency. Having two passport applications being processed at the same time could potentially delay your passport even longer. Please, do not do this!

    Expedite Your Passport With Swift

    To avoid potentially missing your trip due to not receiving your passport in time, you should expedite your passport with Swift. We can help you get your new passport or passport renewal in a timely manner so that you can enjoy the anticipation of waiting for your trip without worrying if your passport will get to you in time. 

    If you are looking to obtain a new passport or passport renewal, Swift has a 7-10 business days processing option. Please note that you must call ahead (312-929-2105) if you want to use our 7-10 business days option, as it’s being offered on a first-come-first-serve basis. Using our expedited service will help to give you peace of mind that your passport will arrive in time for your trip.

    If you have any questions about obtaining a new passport or passport renewal, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We’d be happy to help answer any questions you may have and work with you to get the process started. As always, no matter where you plan on traveling, we’ll get you there!

    4 thoughts on “What to do if Your Passport is Delayed and You Have an Upcoming Trip”

    1. My passport renew has not come in time because I didn’t pay to expedite and they are running much later than usual – 12 weeks. I’m scheduled to leave next week on 7/14. I’ve spent a lot of time on hold and talking to people this week with no luck. Ever hear of anyone having luck walking up to a passport office without an appointment? Due to Covid, appointments are limited and seem to be unattainable. Wondering if I should even bother just showing up since everything I read says you must have an appointment. Any advice is appreciated.

      1. Under current policy, the Passport Agency offices will not allow walk ins. Your best option is to make an appointment and if unsuccessful, keep trying at it. passportappointment.travel.state.gov

    2. We ordered our passport 8 months early – paid the expedition fees and it was promptly sent to us in about 7 weeks WITH THE NAME MISPELLED. This was a passport print error – it was not our error. We sent it back, along with all information requested and birth certificate. It took 6 weeks for it to be received. Now we are told it will take 12-18 more weeks to get it corrected. App

      Trip is bought and paid for and less than 6 weeks away. We called 4 times and were on hold over 4 hours – never able to talk to anyone. Finally today after 3 hour hold we are told there is nothing they can do. They cant even look it up and see any information. Told us to call back two weeks before the trip – but don’t expect to be able to get the passport and dont expect to be able to get an appointment and no there is no refund for fees paid for services that we not honored. We asked to speak to a supervisor and got put on hold then hung up on.

      We did everything right. Applied early, paid all the rush fees and they made the mistake – and we are going to be out $9000 for a trip. Such a disservice to taxpayers.

      To add to it, I had to send my birth certificate back with the correction (again, their error) and have a job offer but cant complete informatiom because passport department has my vital documents.

    3. Vincent A Cleary

      Mailed my US passport renewal on april 9th. Did not opt for the $60 expedited fee. Intended to travel august 2021 so based on 8 to 10 weeks I thought I had loads of time. Did not realise it takes 4 weeks for them to acknowledge they received it after you mail it in. So my passport renewal is in process since May 7th. Today is July 18th, its been 10 weeks since they offically received it and 14 weeks since I mailed (paid extra to overnight it). I started reading the fine print on the US renewal site, they state it can take them 6 weeks to mail it back once they are done. Seriously. I have tried calling the 1 877 487 2778 number several times, never get to speak to a real person in order to inquire about paying the extra $60 fee. I just get bounced around a menu only to be eventually hung up on. Tax payers deserve better service.

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