Shipped! So the timeline was:
December 28: Applied with routine processing. Quoted 6-9 weeks processing time.
Early January-ish: Booked a trip to Australia for early June.
March 10 (week 11): Status in network traffic listed as “Adjudication”. Frustrated at lack of progress, upgraded to expedited processing.
March 13 (week 11): Status in network traffic changes to “Fulfillment”.
March 26 (week 13): Still in fulfillment. Send mail to my district’s House member to ask for assistance.
March 27 (week 13): Get a call from a staffer, they will look into it.
March 30 (week 14): Hear back from my representative with a generic message that my passport is being processed in DC and that they will ask the office for more info. No other information.
April 3 (week 14): Status online changes to “Printed”
April 4 (week 14): Informed Delivery says passport has shipped, arriving Thursday from Tucson. I get an email from the State Department a few hours later.
Assuming the USPS doesn’t lose it, I should get it after 14 weeks, 1 day of time and after paying the $60 expedited fee to move things along. I’m not particularly happy with all of this, but at least it seems I will get my passport.
3 Likes
Wow! Congrats on getting it and the thorough notes/timeline.
My timeline has a lot fewer entries:
Travel expected in mid-April to late May, depending on Atlantic forecast.
Jan 03: Created online account and applied for renewal with routine processing and expected processing time of 6 - 10 weeks.
~Mar 22: Using @sullim4’s information, discovered my status is “Exception”.
Mar 25: Dug out my Nexus card in case the passport application is shipped to Hades.
Apr 04: State.gov sends email that my passport has shipped.
Apr 05: Received passport in priority mail envelope. Yay!
The approximate processing time was 13 weeks instead of the expected 6 - 10.
This passport feels like a slightly different shape (more rectangular with less rounded corners) than my previous one. It is also much thicker and less flexible than my previous one. Specifically, the identity page is much thicker, somewhere between paperboard and cardboard. It’s the same blue, though. 
2 Likes
Yeah, these are the next gen passports. They changed the identity page to make it polycarbonate plastic instead of the laminated paper they had previously. I kinda like it.
I received mine today as well - a day early which was nice. One thing I had trouble with was finding the location of the NFC chip in the new version of the book. Applying for an Australian ETA (fancy name for an eVisa) required me to read the chip in their app using my phone. The old passport design had the chip embedded in the inside back cover. The new one is embedded in the identity page and is harder to read.
Of course, the real test is using it at one of the electronic immigration gates to see how easy it is to read.
2 Likes
Mine always fail that test. It might have something to do with the two-by-four sitting atop my passport when hit with a 16 lb. sledge. 
1 Like
lol. I feel similarly although I’ve never taken that step with my passport. My Enhanced Driver License? Yup, it’s very familiar with my hammer!
The passport chip is identical to the machine readable zone other than also including a digital copy of your photo. I figure I am better off with the gate rather than taking my chances with an immigration officer’s whims about the stamps in my passport or questions about my trip… only to have the officer enter identical information into the same database that the eGate uses, anyway.
I’m more paranoid about my passport’s chip being read by a random guy on the street. That said I will give them credit in that the damn thing is almost impossible to read even when it’s open. The cover has a metal shield in it, and I figure combined with my passport holder’s shielding, I should be fine.
1 Like
I wish I could be less paranoid. <:-)> Congrats again on getting your passport in time for your travels.
1 Like
That’s nice, but how do you know? I tried to look it up to no avail.
Besides these security mechanisms to protect access to the chip, some countries have added metal shielding to the passport cover. The passport then must be opened to be able to read the chip. The United States passport is an example of a country that has added shielding to its passports.
3 Likes