Here's a DP for a mail in.
We're traveling February 5th and around 3 weeks before we realized DW passport is expired. We called some of the expediters but they all want anywhere form $400 to $600 on top of the $130+$60 passport and expedite fees. Didn't make sense to me since our trip was to Cancun, and cancelable.
TL;DR version: mailed in expedited and overnight passport service on 1/17/23 and it was in our hands 2/2/23. We did note the travel dates on the application. Total cost $130+$60+$18 for passport expedited and overnight return.
Here's the timeline:
1/17 - drop at post office, overnight service, which is really two days.
1/19 or 1/20 - passport shows as received and says that if travel is in 14 days, to call to get an appointment.
1/20 - I called but they said they can't issue an appointment because the14 days is a hard deadline. They said to call back Monday 1/23.
1/23 - we called and got an appointment for 2/2 to go down to passport center in Manhattan where they will (most likely) print passport on the spot at no additional cost. Need to bring proof of travel like a flight reservation.
1/31 - tracking online says approved and should be received on or about 2/1. We called and got an actual USPS tracking which said delivery by 2/1.
2/1- package did not show up.
2/2 in the am - tracking said out for delivery, so we skipped the appointment and it actually came.
We were told that the processing via mail is independent of the in person processing.
Overall I feel really good about nit having paid $500 for some guy to get me an appointment which I got on my own. Of course of it were a shorter time frame or a real life and death situation, the story would've been different.
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