Passport Renewal Pt. 2

When you chide yourself for not being on the ball regarding applying for a new passport with your updated name and gender.

The reason being that after you initially applied for a renewal, you receive a letter in July stating that because of the gender change, you need to apply for a new one with a different form signed by a Passport Acceptance Agent, and they’ll keep the documents you already sent and wait for the new form (see Passport Renewal).

Great, so you think you’ll need to make an appointment with the Passport Agency, however they weren’t taking appointments at the time due to COVID (unless you had an emergency). So you wait, keep an eye on their availability, and put the task on your backburner.

Finally you decide “screw it, they’re still not available, but I’m gonna call them anyway” only to reread your letter and see that they needed the new form within 90 days. That deadline was last week. So you call explaining the situation and wanting to confirm if they’ve cancelled your application and are returning your documents.

“We’re unable to verify if those documents are being returned to you, but I see that you’re application is still pending. With how backed up we are due to COVID, we might still accept your application if you send it to us ASAP.”

Excellent point, so you ask to speak with scheduling to book an appointment with the agency.

“Uh…you know you can go to the post office for that. Just go to the USPS website to book an appointment and they’ll sign your application for you.”

So now you know you’ve wasted three months on this when you could’ve finished this step back in July, and you feel like a complete numbskull.