With many people still awaiting their US passports to be either renewed or first-time passports to be issued, the US State Department has received a lot of questions about the status of the passports. They have done a good job of providing a status update each Thursday (check back later today for this) but now they also want to let people know what happens and how US passports are processed and made.
How Are US Passports Processed? This is How It Happens
One of the most common questions I have been receiving is – what happens if the passport renewal went to a passport office that is not open yet? Well, even that question has been answered a bit here.
I have been told that the passports are all being handled on a first in/first out basis. When your passport is sent in, your check gets cashed and this has caused many to wonder why that happens months before the passport is issued.
The good news is that there is a real person that has opened that envelope and set the passport to be processed. That means it is not just sitting in an empty building someplace that has not yet opened. These passports are being sent to agencies/offices that have reopened so you should still be getting it on that basis.
So, your passport is sent, not to the closest facility to where it was submitted, to the center that can process it the quickest.
Passport Offices
- Arkansas Passport Center – Status: Phase One on June 11
- Atlanta Passport Agency – Closed
- Boston Passport Agency – Status: Phase Two on July 6
- Buffalo Passport Agency – Status: Phase Two on July 6
- Chicago Passport Agency – Status: Phase One on June 11
- Colorado Passport Agency – Status: Phase One on June 11
- Connecticut Passport Agency – Status: Phase Two on July 6
- Dallas Passport Agency – Status: Phase One on August 3
- Detroit Passport Agency – Status: Phase One on June 11
- El Paso Passport Agency – Status: Phase One on August 3
- Honolulu Passport Agency – Status: Phase One on June 15
- Houston Passport Agency – Closed
- Los Angeles Passport Agency – Closed
- Miami Passport Agency – Closed
- Minneapolis Passport Agency – Status: Phase One on June 11
- National Passport Center – Status: Phase One on June 11
- New Orleans Passport Center – Status: Phase One on June 11
- New York Passport Agency – Status: Phase Two on July 6
- Philadelphia Passport Agency – Status: Phase One on June 11
- San Diego Passport Agency – Closed
- San Francisco Passport Agency – Closed
- San Juan Passport Agency – Status: Phase One on July 1
- Seattle Passport Agency – Closed
- Vermont Passport Agency – Status: Phase Two on July 13
- Washington Passport Agency – Status: Phase Two on July 27
- Western Passport Center – Closed
As you can see, there are 6 centers in Phase Two and 12 centers in Phase One. Most facilities are currently open in one of the three phases set up by the State Department. No agency has reached Phase Three yet, which will be the normal operations.
