Homeland security is easing the passport rules because of the backlog:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/08/us...ssport.html?hp
I used the service El Diablo recommended and it worked great. Sent it out by FedEx on May 29 and will be receiving the passport today. (Trip is on June 13).
I don't get the last couple mentioned in the article mentioned above:
[ QUOTE ]
Some people said they had seen scant flexibility. Tonya Elliott, of Orlando, Fla., said when she and her twin, Seana Mincy, tried to apply for a passport in April for Ms. Mincy’s 3-year-old, Brendan, for a trip to Canada on June 19, a federal court clerk told them that they would not have it in time and to wait until June 5 to call for an appointment.
They could not get through on the phone, Ms. Elliott said, and drove four hours on Thursday to the Miami agency, where, after a day in line, they were offered an appointment after their scheduled departure. When they protested, she said, they were threatened with arrest, adding, “We were treated horribly.”
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While I obviously don't think that being threatened with arrest is proper--why drive 4 hours when you can just use an expediting service? There's a passport office in San Francisco, but appointments there were too far off. But American Passport does all that stuff for you. Just apply for the passport at the post office, then FedEx everything to American Passport. They'll FedEx your passport back in the time that you paid for.