Well, my big day finally arrived. I received both my Passport and Passport Card today just moments ago. A close to a long chapter of waiting! I originally applied for my FBR/Citizenship in November of 2020. Below are my timelines for the
passport application process along with some of my own tips that might help others. My FBR timeline is posted
here
03-08-2023: Passport Application/Documents sent (USPS)
03-27-2023: Passport Application Delivered (AnPost)
03-28-2023: Documents Received/Acknowledged and being verified, Est. issue day 04/27/2023
04-13-2023: Status changed to: Your application is being processed
05-06-2023: Passport Book is being Printed
05-07-2023: Passport Card is being Printed
05-07-2023: Passport book being dispatched
05-09-2023: Arrived at USPS Customs in NY (no tracking updates for the following 8-days)
05-18-2023: Both Card & Passport were delivered (US West Coast)
(
note: I never got an update saying my passport card was dispatched, nor any tracking information. I had to call to get the tracking numbers but both Book and Card were dispatched on the same day according to tracking)
Some of my tips:
Just be patient. I checked my application status
every single morning. They dates they give are just estimates. You can always try webchat or phone if something is way out of the norm, but things being 1-2 weeks beyond the estimated date is *normal*
Personally I would not use USPS to ship. Use a carrier like UPS or FedEx who actually has service delivery guarantees. My application sat in USPS/AnPost limbo for 10-days, as well as my FBR application. USPS/AnPost do not care if there are delays. You can use webchat to get the physical address of the Passport Application location (maybe someone can post it here).
Use
https://pirateship.com for your shipping labels! They are WAY cheaper than any retail store. Even for USPS I saved over $40 from what I was quoted for Express International. I have no affiliation to this site.
Finally
I hope my timelines are useful for you folks out there. Stay patient and eventually your day will come. Super grateful for this forum and the others who have made a long and confusing processes a bit easier. And most of all, thanks Grandma for my new citizenship. I can't wait to spend time in Ireland getting to know my history even more.
