Maybe ... or maybe not

[hrj]

Well, I have no idea whether the UK (and Puerto Rico -- musn't forget Puerto Rico) trip is going to happen for me. I'm sort-of firm-ish-ly confirmed on the audit team, but having spent the last day and a half trying to squeeze useful information out of the US passport web site and information number, I haven't the vaguest idea whether my passport renewal can be processed in time, much less that it will be. The web site and the recorded information messages both recommend that if you're traveling within the next two weeks, you should make an in-person appointment at a regional passport center (which, fortunately, means San Francisco in my case) or speak in person to a service representative. Problem is, the soonest you can get an in-person appointment is the day after I'm supposed to fly. And I haven't yet managed to get through to speak to anyone in person. (They don't put you on hold, they just have a recording that says, "Sorry, we're all busy. Try again later. Goodbye." and hangs up on you. And you have to wade through about 10 minutes of recordings and navigation to get to that point.)

So I went ahead and express-mailed the renewal in this afternoon with the extra "expedite me" fee, but the web site says that even expedited processing can take 4 weeks at the moment.

Now, I'll be the first to admit that the US government is not responsible for my employer's precipitousness in planning auditing trips. And I've had those renewal forms on my desk for several months now because, "After all, it's a good idea to have an up-to-date passport just in case." But the big passport office crunch is because Our Beloved Government once again implemented a policy change (the new passport requirements) without sufficient advance planning for the infrastructure to carry it out. And, of course, I'm frustrated because you don't get offered a free trip to Europe every day and it would be very annoying not to be able to take advantage of it.

The ironic thing is that one of my standard "anxiety dreams" is that I'm about to go on an overseas trip and I don't have a current passport. It's supposed to be a metaphor, dammit!

Comments

[hrj.livejournal.com]

I suspect the crunch is from the new requirement for a passport to go to Canada and Mexico (or rather, the requirement to have one if you want to come back again).