Passports

[Lord Manhammer]

US Citizens: if you’re renewing your passport and choose expedited (2-3 week) shipping, I can say with confidence that the State Dept is hitting that mark. I mailed mine on 22 Dec and should have it by Tuesday.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

US Citizens: if you’re renewing your passport and choose expedited (2-3 week) shipping, I can say with confidence that the State Dept is hitting that mark. I mailed mine on 22 Dec and should have it by Tuesday.

Yeah, the announced several weeks ago that they've caught up with the "regular" 4-6 weeks that it used to take to get one (without expediting).

 

[CynBeth]

My DH, DM, and I renewed our passports in November did not do expedited. They got theirs in 3 weeks and mine came in 4. We also got our old passports back around then as well which comes separately from another area.

 

[Meriweather]

Good to hear they caught up.
I renewed expedited during last summer and it took 6 weeks.

DH is due to renew when we get back from a cruise in Feb.....hope it is fast

 

[GAN]

Foolish me forgot to renew mine, so I'll be starting fresh... also need it for my KTN which slipped past

 

[RangerPooh]

I mailed my daughters the last week of October and had it back by Thanksgiving. I'm still waiting on her birth certificate to com be back. Mailed my boys old passports the week before Christmas with expedited processing (not shipping). Haven't checked the status, but hopeful theirs will be here in two weeks.

 

[AlohaNow]

In late November I renewed without expedited and had my new passport in my hands in 2.5 weeks. I would say they are caught up now!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Foolish me forgot to renew mine, so I'll be starting fresh... also need it for my KTN which slipped past

US citizen? When did it expire? If it's within 15 years, you can still treat it like a renewal.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

I've heard that processing times have been really good of late. My friend did her renewal on 12/20/23 and it arrived 1/3/24. They did not pay to expedite it either.

 

[RedAngie]

I renewed in early November and received mine in early December.

 

[RedAngie]

I renewed in early November and received mine in early December.

 

[DisneyHardin]

I had to have a mistake fixed on my passport recently - It only took about 2 weeks to get the corrected one.

 

[GAN]

US citizen? When did it expire? If it's within 15 years, you can still treat it like a renewal.

Oh yeah ...I hadn't checked that so that's great news. Better take care of that this weekend. Thank you for the tip!

 

[bcla]

US citizen? When did it expire? If it's within 15 years, you can still treat it like a renewal.

Within 15 years of issuance though, and not expiration. And then only for an adult passport. However, any expired passport is proof of citizenship so that a birth certificate, Certificate of Citizenship, Certificate of Naturalization, or Consular Report of Birth Abroad isn’t required to be submitted.

 

[bcla]

Oh yeah ...I hadn't checked that so that's great news. Better take care of that this weekend. Thank you for the tip!

It’s 15 years from issuance of a standard adult passport. It’s different for an emergency passport, which I believe is only valid for a year. Not sure exactly what the rules are other than those can be renewed fee-free for a standard 10 year passport before they expire, but only by mail.

Another recommendation is to get the double sized passport, which doesn’t cost extra. The State Dept doesn’t have extra pages any more. If you run out of pages, the only way to handle that is a passport renewal.

 

[bcla]

I've heard that processing times have been really good of late. My friend did her renewal on 12/20/23 and it arrived 1/3/24. They did not pay to expedite it either.

There are way too many variables, especially which passport office is handling it. Mail-in renewals basically come out of a single facility (I think in New Hampshire). US passports used to come from an assigned regional passport office - the same ones that do short notice passports. My first had San Francisco listed as the place of issue. I remember getting my kid’s first passport at a university rec gym, and I saw their big preaddressed envelope to the San Francisco Passport Agency that they would use to send their collected applications.

Each office can have a different backlog, but I think it’s different now since they will redistribute the applications and I suppose are trying to even out the delay. That’s easy enough to do when the applications and photos are just scanned and can be sent anywhere. I recall someone here mentioned getting a passport in an envelope with a New Orleans return address even though it was thousands of miles away from where the application was submitted.

 

[focusondisney]

It’s been back to normal for months. We renewed our expired passports this fall. We’re in Western NY & had to mail them to Texas. I anticipated it taking longer because they were expired. The paperwork was received in Texas on September 28. Our passports are dates October 16th, basically 12 business days after they were received. We received them on October 25th. We used the expedited shipping, mostly for the tracking ability. Plus mail from Texas does seem to take longer to get to Western NY. Who knows how long it would have taken without priority mail.

Mail-in renewals basically come out of a single facility (I think in New Hampshire).

The facility you mail it to depends on your state of residence. NY & several other states have to mail to Texas. The instructions on which facility you have to use is on the website.

 

[focusondisney]

Oh yeah ...I hadn't checked that so that's great news. Better take care of that this weekend. Thank you for the tip!

I never knew you could renew an expired passport either til I checked last September. The process was exactly like a regular renewal, as long as it was issued within 15 years. I figured we’d have to start all over again so I was thrilled. We had no issues with our renewals at all. Good luck!

 

[bcla]

The facility you mail it to depends on your state of residence. NY & several other states have to mail to Texas. The instructions on which facility you have to use is on the website.

Sure, the mailing address and where the application is processed is split into a couple of addresses in TX and PA. However, where the printing occurs for mail in renewals seems to be a single facility in New Hampshire. That’s easy enough to do when the photo gets scanned.

My first was where the photo I submitted was used directly and laminated on the info page. I think before that the photo would be glued and then embossed together on the info page.

 

[NYCgrrl]

I never knew you could renew an expired passport either til I checked last September. The process was exactly like a regular renewal, as long as it was issued within 15 years. I figured we’d have to start all over again so I was thrilled. We had no issues with our renewals at all. Good luck!

Yes you can. Been renewing the same passport since the ‘70s. It’s my main form of ID and I love that it’s now good for a longer period of time.