Dave Naffziger's Blog

After exceeding 150 comments on post detailing my original experience getting a same day passport, I decided to go through the comments and separate the experiences and helpful tips by passport office.

These comments and tips were related to people’s experiences at the Tucson Passport Office.

From Oumarz:

Here’s an update to my post of not getting one for 12 weeks. We made an appt. at the Tucson agency at 9:30am on Thursday (before shutdown may occur with gov’t.) We arrived and my husband went to the check in window where he proceeded to explain how he already had an application in the system. They looked it up and saw that it was in Houston and in review. We would have to wait for someone to speak with us as they were in a meeting. 10 min. later a woman called us to the window and asked my hubby some questions, being arrested and he explained about an arrest. She said she would have to get in touch with Houston which would be about an hour. We left and headed to Starbucks. We got a call about 5 min out and she asked him what occurred on a certain date. He had been arrested a few years back for drug paraphenlia but it was set aside and dismissed. He never thought to tell them and it was not on the application. He explained everything to her and she said okay that’s what we needed to know. Houston was looking for any records of my husband to make sure he wasn’t on parol or wanted for anything. Since it was dismissed there was no record. The lady said to come back in an hour as they have to get okayed by Houston. We went back to the office an hour later and waited some more. Finally about an hour later we got called to the window and they said Houston has transferred everything over to their office and they were reviewing everything. They agreed to give us the passport but we had to come back at 2pm to pick it up as they needed clearance.

We finally arrived at 2:25 as one of the guys said they ran late and to be back by 2:30 as they close the office at 3pm. They agreed to transfer the application money from Houston and instead of charging us a $70 expediate fee they agreed to waive it as we waited 12 weeks.

This office was great. FYI: We also put in a call to our senator almost 2 weeks prior and our congressman a week earlier to try to help us. Tucson was able to see that both offices had called every day trying to find out what was going on. Then a few days before we came to Tucson the senator’s office got a hold of someone in Houston and Houston advised us to cancel our trip as they were still investigating. According to the congressman since he hadn’t heard anything he advised us to go to Tucson, thank goodness we did. Congressman was trying to get a hold of someone in Washington DC to help on this as well since Houston was being uncooperative.

Since we got the passport on Thursday, congressman called on Friday to follow up with us and he said he was disappointed with Houston and was going to tell DC about this.

There should be on an application asking if you have ever been arrested and when a person calls in the agency should tell you if they need more information and for what reason not that they are still working on it.

From jennydee:

Thank you SO much for this blog! I can’t begin to describe how much it’s helped with both logistics and just to relieve my anxiety. At first, I was very weary about following advice from an unofficial website, but after reading through dozens of people’s stories, I gained more confidence. I’d like to share my story, since it’s looks like you need more experience from Tucson.

This Thursday (tomorrow!), I’m going to Tokyo and Seoul, flying out of San Diego. On Tuesday night (last night, yikes), I finally decided to pack and get my travel stuff in order. I couldn’t find my passport anywhere. Turns out, I had left it in a scanner at Kinkos over two months ago. I called them, and they said they returned it to the government agency, also two months ago. How I didn’t notice, I have no idea!

I started to Google “how to get a passport in one day,” and thankfully this site came up! How lucky (and random) was I to have a passport office right here in Tucson, AZ! Well, the office, called the “Western Passport Center” was on the far east side of town. I called the automated appointment line that night and was able to get an appointment for 9:30 am the next morning.

That night, I went to Kinkos to get my passport pic taken for $15 around 10 pm. I called Walgreens, and they also said their photo facilities were open 24 hours. I filled out the DS-11 form online and printed it out beforehand (highly recommended — it saved a lot of time!). I also printed my travel confirmation email from the airline.

Unfortunately, I had neither my birth certificate nor my previous passports. I wasn’t too comfortable paying $60 for them to do “research” on me, so I went to the Pima Health Department on Kino and Ajo at 8:00 am and got my birth certificate (I’m AZ born, but not Pima County) for $15. The process took a matter of minutes.

Today (Wednesday), I got there at 9:20 (it’s tucked away behind a Wal-Mart … so random, but the facility is legitimate). Security guards checked my confirmation number and waved me through. They sounded pretty strict about no cell phones or food in there. But no matter, because there were only a few people in there. I was out by 9:50 am. They offered it to be completed by noon, but I had to go back to work, so they bumped my pickup until 2 pm.

I arrived at 1:45 and they promptly called my name, passport in hand! The office was wonderful and helpful and not crowded at all. It cost $195 total. And now, I’m driving to San Diego and off to Asia tomorrow morning.

Thanks again for all the information and confidence that this blog provided me. This is a great and credible resource! Don’t doubt it for one second!

From Pattiboba :

I followed your advise and made an appt at the western passport center in tucson. I had all my paperwork and traveled from Phoenix. My flight to Japan ws in 48 hours and my passport had expired 3 weeks prior. What a great office. Good to see our tax dollars going to good use! They were quick and efficient, I had my passport by noon on the same day. (normal time is 2 pm, but since I had a 9am appt and wwas from out of town, they rushed it). You saved me alot of worry and stress nd just wanted to pass on that it worked perfectly!

If you have had an experience at the Tuscon passport office, please share it below. This tremendously helps future readers!