Same as the embassy websites. Even if they do manage to roll out whatever changes by the first of the month, 3 weeks should be enough to process and get it back to me, even if they start early. God, I hate sending my passport out in a freaking envelope. I paid for Express Mail return, as well- even though the Chicago site doesn’t list it as a requirement. That Chicago site is bare bones. They don’t even tell you to duplicate your app.