New York Passport Agency — Local services in New York

After losing my passport 3 weeks before an international trip, I was able to get an appointment for 7:30 am the day of my departure and a new passport was ready for me at ~1:30 pm, with time for me to comfortably make my 5:50 pm flight. The employees at the agency were nothing but helpful across the board and you are allowed to leave the agency and come back while they get your passport ready. Keep your receipt for re-entrance. It was a relatively seamless and straightforward process for a situation that initially felt hopeless—largely in part because I took the time to read up on directions and advice across the board to do everything right within my control. A few takeaways from my understandings:

The usual option to expedite the process was never an option for me with my three week window, so I was lucky in a sense to not have the opportunity for the nightmare stories I’ve heard of the expedited process not being ready in time… The urgent process works and is not an option if you’ve already applied for a passport through the expedited process, Rush My Passport, or something similar.

The directions are available all over the place. Read them and follow them to a tee, and from my experience it can be a gift of a solution I wouldn’t have thought existed prior!! If you are more than 2 weeks out from your departure date for international travel and need a new passport for any reason, get all of the paperwork that applies to your situation ready. Get it all organized to make your life easier, have it prepared to walk into the office, have the proof of identification & citizenship ready, go to CVS for passport photos, etc. It took me ~2.5 hours cumulatively to accomplish all of the above. Be prepared. Call the agency 14 days or fewer from your date of departure. My only unpleasant surprise was that that 14 days includes your date of travel: my departure date was on a Friday afternoon, so they wouldn’t technically set an appointment for me until I called Saturday, but since they’re closed on weekends, I had to call back Monday (12 days out from travel) to get my appointment.

Call at 7:58 am and go through the directory so you’re ready to hit the final button to connect—saying you haven’t applied for a new passport etc, bc until you sign the application at the agency, you haven’t—the moment the clock hits 8 am. I got through immediately and was given the first time slot the day of my flight in NYC, which was ideal all things considered. I was told that this is a same day process and essentially the only variables that can sometimes delay that once I apply are legal binds that don’t apply to me. Maybe ask about these when you call if you’re concerned. I was also offered an appointment at 10:30 am the same day in Connecticut, but 7:30 am in NYC was ideal to me. I asked about a couple of other states on the east coast that aren't so close but I’d be traveling to in the meantime, and they were able to look and even offered one with an appointment three days ahead of my travel instead of the day of. I decided I was best off eliminating additional variables and keeping my same day NYC appt, but I was given options and the employees were patient and helpful setting this up peak season.

Get to your appointment 30 mins ahead of time—no need to go overboard getting there much earlier. They’re intentional with their distribution of time slots and if you’re too early, you’ll just wait on a second line to wait until it’s time for your line.

Good luck!!! THANK YOU...

I visited the passport office for an international trip tomorrow (June 6) and I didn't not get my passport. However, I learned so much information in person with other folks waiting on line that I could not find anywhere else, I thought I would share here.

I sent my renewal application in early April and I have not received it even though it was expedited (7 - 9 weeks). So I called the agency phone number within 2 weeks of travel, for 5 days in a row before I got someone on the line who told me there were no appointments. Each call was different: "due to high volume, we're not accepting calls," or I would get through the menu only to hear this message then, or they would offer a callback service (that is flawed and never worked), until after a 3:40 wait, I got through to someone. Still no appointments.

At the passport office, I was told no one without an appointment could even enter the building. However, there were two lines out front with stanchions, one for appointment holders and so I and others stood in the second line. The security guard repeatedly told us that we would not get in no matter how long we waited, with a chuckle and a smile. (Why have separate stanchions out front then?)

Here's what I learned: call the number over and over until you get through. so if you hear the message "due to high volume..." hang up, and then call again. (I called 26 times) don't select the callback service. when it calls you back the line is dead. I spoke to multiple people who confirmed this experience. the hours to call are 8am - 10pm (at least for EST) one woman in front of me called on line and got an appointment for 9am that day at that office. stroke of pure luck. so it is possible! another person applied expedited in January for renewal and did not receive her passport. 7 - 9 weeks is a gross underestimation the more generous security guard came and told us to chose the menu options 1,2,2,1 on the call (instead of 1,2,2,3 for my case) after hours for an automated system that will scrape up any available appointments. (I will try!) when I got through on the phone and told the rep that I was traveling tomorrow I was told there were no appointments. but I asked if there were any appointments if I changed my flight to fly later this week. she could not refresh her screen once she put in my travel dates. so if you are flexible, chose the furthest date out. (I tried again for later this week, and there are still no appointments.) at one point the appointment-havers line outside was empty and they still would not take even one of us in. one rep on the call told me that there were no appointments at any of the 26 offices around the country. while another rep on another call told me she can only see offices located around my zip code, and not across the country.

I won't go into the details of how the State Department's process can be improved, but I received such varied information from each automated system, rep, and security guard, and individual in line there must be a more simple process for finding the right information. Clearly we all heard from a friend of a friend of a cousin who recently showed up without an appointment and was able to get in. But today was not my day. Still I hope this...

Sharing my experience to better assist others during stressful times.

Initially, I had booked my trip about a month in advance and intended on simply waiting for my passport through expedited service. After calling my local post office, I was told that even expedited passports are taking about 10 weeks to arrive(more than a month). Considering my trip was a month away, this was not an option at all.

I then began further researching options and called the NY Passport Agency. I was told I had to call exactly 14 days before (not including weekend since they’re closed) to be able to qualify for JUST the appointment. I made sure to call two days before I reached my 14 day mark to confirm exactly what day I should call.

The phone lines open at 8AM on the dot. I was on the phone with the operator at 7:59AM so by the time I was transferred it would be 8AM. Make sure you’re doing the same as the appointment are extremely limited and there’s thousands of people calling with just a few hundred appointments available. Even calling at 7:59 AM I was on hold for about 15/20 minutes. After speaking with a representative I was able to secure an appointment time at 8AM 72hrs before my trip.

I arrived 15 minutes early (which didn’t really make much of a difference) and waited till the clock struck 8AM. To get inside the building you must provide the last 4 digits of the appointment confirmation # that is sent to your when you call in. No appointment, no entry. They were very strict about this.

When walking in, you must pass through metal detectors(no pepper spray or any knives of any kind). After this, I was sent directly to an employee which took all my necessary documents and sent me upstairs for payment and review of my application. This took no more than 15 minutes. Once that was done, I was told to come back in three hours. I live pretty far away so I just sat in the Starbucks across the street.

After the three hours were done, I came back, went through security, and went straight upstairs to pick up my passport (less than 5 minutes).

Considering how stressed you may be, this process was super easy and straight forward. The hardest part is landing an appointment. The workers were all courteous and very efficient. They have an organized system set up to make it as easy as possible, as long as you follow all the guidelines pertaining to documents needed, you...