I just had the same experience. Sent the renewal app in Nov 14. Jan 9 got a letter my pictures were unacceptable. FedEx'd new ones that day and called two days later. Was told they had 3 weeks left on the clock to finish processing. When I pointed out they had it since mid-Nov they said it was held up at the bank-processing center backlog and they didn't receive it till Dec 16. That's when the clock starts on their 6-8 week processing estimate. So plan on AT LEAST 3 months to get it back. And this was a RENEWAL, not new issue.