US passport renewal delays.

My passport expires in three years, giving me some room. Check yours before planning overseas trips.

Paywall

Redundant

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Helpful, thank you.

Paywall. But I sent off my passport six months ago with a rush (extra $) on it. 5 1/2 months later I got a notice saying my application was incomplete and that I needed to resubmit it. There was no indication of what I’d left incomplete, nor if I had to take photos or enclose a check again (the website is extremely clear about one thing: checks can’t be returned). There’s no information about your case on the web, just a phone # to call with your case #. The beginning of the phone tree tells you that if wait times are over 60 minutes, you’ll get a busy signal…which you indeed hear after about 5-6 branches descending into voice mail. I never managed to talk to a live person. Anyway, I figured out on my own what I’d done wrong. I hadn’t stapled my photo properly. Which was enough to have my application rejected. I ended up sending them a fresh application, photos and check enclosed, just to be sure. I’ve heard nothing since.

Renewed mine this past winter. Did it by mail 6 months before expiration. Follow the directions on the website carefully and include payment. I used a check. Saw the check was cashed one month later. Got my new passport in the mail after only 3 months without rush.

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Put my renewal in the mail five or six weeks ago. Hopefully it’s not delayed too long, we were thinking of going to Vancouver before the end of the year

Thought I had recently renewed mine but turns out it was 2016. At least I have 5 years.

Not sure which is more gob-smacking … 12 weeks to process, or six weeks for mailing. Are they using stage coaches?

However…. I gather It’s generally in advisable to travel on a passport with less than six months left; so maybe their planning is based around people applying six months ahead.

But six weeks mailing? You have to be kidding.

Sent my renewal in on April 24, non-expedited. They acknowledged receipt on May 22. Still waiting.

Local congressman Brad Schneider - in a recent email said to plan for 18 weeks -

As more and more people get vaccinated, travel is starting to pick back up again. My office has received a major uptick in calls asking to expedite passport renewals lately. If you plan to travel internationally, remember to check the expiration date on your passport before you book your trip. It is taking much longer than normal to renew a passport, so make sure to plan ahead.

Check the passport website to get an idea of processing time – expedited processing is now taking 12 weeks from submission to receipt, regular processing 18 weeks.

At this point, expedited exceptions are only being made in case of emergency travel. In other words, apply now for that passport you will need for the trip you might take over Winter Break. Passports last for 5 or 10 years depending on what age you were issued your first passport.

What do you do if you travel for business?

I’m amazed at how many so called travel savy people on various Facebook pages don’t have a clue about their passports. I can’t tell you how many sob stories I’ve read about someone that’s going on vacation in 3 days, and their passport has expired. This is not isolated.

Same passports are used for both business and leisure travel.

I almost effed-up. Mine was to expire end of this past January. Noticed it earlier in the month. Got it sent in for renewal probably days before it was set to expire. Got my new one back only a few weeks later. Whew!

Also redundant champagne.gif [wink.gif]

This was also our experience, our checks were cashed about two months after sending and we got our passports about a
month later. We don’t have any plans to use them but they were about out of date

There is a way to get an almost immediate renewal if you are traveling within 72 hours. I did it once a long time ago for a business trip to London but not sure still readily available.

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Even that avenue is jammed.

I’m using an expediting service to process my renewal. Formerly same day, the expediter currently says that with expedited service the process takes 6-8 weeks. I couldn’t renew long in advance of our mid-Sept departure to Paris as we were in Mexico until late June. I submitted my application to the expediter on July 1, my passport was acknowledged to be in process on the State Department’s website on July 6, and my payment was processed on July 7. Fingers crossed it gets here by the end of the first week of Sept.