[jefferson31415]

So here is the procedure I followed:

My passport was about to expire, so I took a new
passport photo of myself and sent my old passport
with some forms to the passport office.

They were supposed to mail me back the new passport
within a month in the regular mail.

It never arrived and I went to the post office and complained. After some arguments, the post office revealed that they have an internal tracking code that they use. Their records show that the passport was delivered to my doorstep.

There are so many illegal aliens who would just love a nice,shiny, new passport

[Williams]

All true, but unless your postman is now scanning every addressee's mail before he puts it in their mailbox, they can't know it was delivered "to your doorstep". Such scanning does exist and is used by UPS, etc. but they have a need to record each delivery.

Even if the postman scans each person's mail and each piece of mail as he delivers it, he can still drop the item on the ground after he does that. I've certainly had to retrieve my mail from the street, other people's mailboxes, etc.

[HairOfTheDog]

It never arrived and I went to the post office and complained. After some arguments, the post office revealed that they have an internal tracking code that they use. Their records show that the passport was delivered to my doorstep.

Postal worker 1: "There's a guy out in the lobby arguing with me about lost mail, and he won't leave"

Postal worker 2: "Tell him about the super secret mail tracker program"

Postal worker 1: "And that gets rid of them?"

Postal worker 2: "Every time"