I applied for routine renewal May 12, my application was received on May 15 at the National Passport Center. I requested it to be upgraded to expedited on June 28 as a trip I was taking was going to require an extra visa. On July 27, it had not been upgraded so I contacted my Congressman office to see if they could make an inquiry and speed things up. Once they got involved, it was less than a week and I now have my passport as of August 10. Based on what is going on with the agencies, I have no doubt that had my Congressman not gotten involved, that I could be still waiting a while. I would recommend spending the extra money to apply expedited to begin with.