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Has anyone renewed a passport recently?

lemonlime

By lemonlime
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lemonlime

lemonlime 5503

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Not sure WTF is up with this.  I know they're behind, but it's been months.  About 2 weeks ago I finally got back my passport that's set to expire, with holes punched in it, and a note saying that the renewed passport will arrive in a separate mailing.  Meanwhile, the State Department website says that my passport is being printed and should arrive by September 1.  I have a trip planned for December.  Anyone have recent experience with passport renewal, and how long should it take right now?

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Viking

Viking 301

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We renewed in person at the Tarrant County Courthouse in Arlington. One really nice covid change is that the passport office is now on a scheduling system. Previously you'd show up, take a number, and wait hours to be called. Now you show up at your scheduled time and you're the only person there and get help immediately. We chatted up the lady working and she loved it. No longer does she have to deal with customers that are bitchy because they had to wait hours.

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Brisketexan

Brisketexan 105316

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Did mine by mail a few months ago.  They came in two separate envelopes (old and new) maybe a few days apart.  It was actually smooth.  I was uncomfortable -- I had an expired passport, and then NO passport, for a few weeks.  Made me antsy.  But once I sent it in, it was pretty quick.

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lemonlime

lemonlime 5503

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Did mine by mail a few months ago.  They came in two separate envelopes (old and new) maybe a few days apart.  It was actually smooth.  I was uncomfortable -- I had an expired passport, and then NO passport, for a few weeks.  Made me antsy.  But once I sent it in, it was pretty quick.

Yeah. It’s making me really antsy. Especially because my passport was actually valid for a while, but they mailed my old valid one back with holes punched in it. I only renewed this early because of a vacation in December that to get a visa my passport has to be valid 8 months after entry—it would have been valid 7 months. Ugh.
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  • 4 weeks later...
Sam Lin

Sam Lin 3561

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Just a data point that's useless to most: international renewals (via local US embassy in foreign countries) are still very quick. Multiple recent experiences with Bangkok have all returned within 3 weeks, some in 2 weeks. My guess is international renewals are prioritized as those people are more likely to need their passport urgently.

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justhookit

justhookit 4191

Posted
Posted
27 minutes ago, C-Man said:

It’s a fucking shit show. Almost impossible to get an appointment and shit takes twice as long as normal. It’s ridiculous.

Impossible to get an appointment where? It’s 10 times better than it was earlier this year. And you can finally get appointments again for same day turnaround.

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C-Man

C-Man 27260

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2 hours ago, justhookit said:

Impossible to get an appointment where? It’s 10 times better than it was earlier this year. And you can finally get appointments again for same day turnaround.

Going off the issues renewing both of my kids' passports earlier this year. Maybe it's gotten better. But you could only book appointments like two weeks out so it was a mad dash to get those appointments before they filled up. Can't see me for six weeks? Perfect -- but let me book the appointment. Getting a driver's license is/was just as bad.

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EE2B

EE2B 1565

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I renewed mine and got it back in about 8-10 weeks. The new one came in prior to the old one showing up. The process was pretty simple since you can print the form out, get a new picture and take all that shit to the post office and let them ship it off. She tried to tell me I needed an appointment, but once she finally understood I was renewing and had all my shit it was easy.

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Gil Bang

Gil Bang 26007

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2 hours ago, Landomatic said:

I sent off to renew mine on 10/18. After hearing all the horror stories about how long it's taking, I hired this company to expedite things (after some pretty extensive research). I think it was around $200. Have trip on 12/7 so I'm either fucked or money well spent...we'll see. I'll report back.

Please try to remember to update the thread once you get it. 

 

Meanwhile, mine expires next October.  I'm leaving for the DR next week, and upon my return I have no further trips planned.  How soon can a passport be renewed? 

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956 Worldwide

956 Worldwide 34756

Posted
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If you’re in a city with a passport agency that will always be the fastest way to renew, go down there and submit and pay the expediting fees.

That is all a courier or expediter does. They take your passport by mail, your application,  and get a drop-off time and hand it over. If you can’t get to a center to do it yourself it could be worth the money if you absolutely have to fly. 

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bigcigar

bigcigar 1165

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Posted (edited)
23 hours ago, Landomatic said:

I sent off to renew mine on 10/18. After hearing all the horror stories about how long it's taking, I hired this company to expedite things (after some pretty extensive research). I think it was around $200. Have trip on 12/7 so I'm either fucked or money well spent...we'll see. I'll report back.

Sent mine off 10/18 as well (expedited). My trip isn’t until mid January so I’ll be your control group.

I’m starting to regret trusting the up to 10 weeks without checking. 

Edited by bigcigar
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gmr548

gmr548 16612

Posted
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Thanks for reminder. Traveling next April so going ahead and renewing without expediting. Between the times given here and the State Department reducing the turnaround windows a little bit it seems like the backlog is being cleared a bit. Fuck the State Department for not taking credit card payment though. Have to make a run to the bank to go get checks before I send this thing in.

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  • 3 weeks later...
Landomatic

Landomatic 3813

Posted
Posted
On 10/29/2021 at 7:39 AM, Tailgate said:

Had to travel international earlier this year. I used rushmypassport.com and had it in three-four weeks.

 

On 11/14/2021 at 10:50 AM, Sandman said:

Submitted my application on 10-7, got my passport on friday. Damn, that was fast!

So, just over 5 weeks? Is my math right on that? Did you use a service or anything?

On 11/14/2021 at 6:02 PM, Tailgate said:

I forget the exact dates. My wife, originally from Nam, got hers with the same service a week before I did. I’ve used them before and highly recommend.

Yesterday was 4 weeks for mine (using rushmypassport.com) and I still don't have it. Shitty thing is, even though my trip isn't until 12/7 (which is right at 7 weeks from when I submitted it), I only have until 11/22 (5 weeks) to cancel hotel or I lose half the total. Cutting it close.

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Austinvines

Austinvines 318

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You can ask your congressman to do an inquiry for you. The passport place should be able to give you the locator number (or whatever it is actually called) that you give the congressional office that number along with a release/authorization to have them speak with the State Department. Do it today.

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Sandman

Sandman 3412

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Landomatic said:

 

So, just over 5 weeks? Is my math right on that? Did you use a service or anything?

Yesterday was 4 weeks for mine (using rushmypassport.com) and I still don't have it. Shitty thing is, even though my trip isn't until 12/7 (which is right at 7 weeks from when I submitted it), I only have until 11/22 (5 weeks) to cancel hotel or I lose half the total. Cutting it close.

Yes, 5 weeks. This was for 3 new passports and 1 renewal. I didn't use a service or pay for the expedite fee. We filled out the forms at home and dropped them at the post office. I was told it would take 16 weeks so this is quite the surprise. I don't know if we just got some motivated employees to process our stuff or if there's just fewer applications being submitted. 

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phdhorn

phdhorn 6224

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Posted

I've had to inquire about this, because future DIL is getting married in May, returning from honeymoon in early June, and needs to have name-changed (to our last name) passport for Aug. 31 for a family trip.

The scuttlebutt is that the passport renewal system has almost caught up from covid-delays, and things are back to normal more or less... in reality, non-expidited pp's are about 5-6 weeks and expedited 3-4.  Sounds like it's about that way from the most recent posts here.

In worse-comes-to-worst, get your congressman's ofc to help with it... I know a friend in Virginia who got it done in like 8 hours (he sent away but wasn't there for day of departure).  I've had about 4 renewals and in the slowest case (all non-expedited) it was like 4 weeks; a few times it was 2 and yes you always get back your old one with holes in it separately and a week or two before the new one.

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Landomatic

Landomatic 3813

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11 hours ago, Landomatic said:

 

So, just over 5 weeks? Is my math right on that? Did you use a service or anything?

Yesterday was 4 weeks for mine (using rushmypassport.com) and I still don't have it. Shitty thing is, even though my trip isn't until 12/7 (which is right at 7 weeks from when I submitted it), I only have until 11/22 (5 weeks) to cancel hotel or I lose half the total. Cutting it close.

Aaaaand…I just got confirmation that my passport has been shipped and is on its way back to me. I think (fingers crossed) that means I’ll have it on Thursday 11/18. So just over 4 weeks.

  • Hook 'Em 1
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bigcigar

bigcigar 1165

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Posted
4 hours ago, Landomatic said:

Aaaaand…I just got confirmation that my passport has been shipped and is on its way back to me. I think (fingers crossed) that means I’ll have it on Thursday 11/18. So just over 4 weeks.

I didn’t get a confirmation email (even though I signed up), but checked status site and it’s approved / to be delivered 11/19. So control group shows the service saved you a day?

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Landomatic

Landomatic 3813

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20 hours ago, 956 Worldwide said:

Coming back in here— if you are in a city with a passport agency, or even if you are within a window to just direct expedite your renewal through mail— using an expediter is basically flushing money down a toilet. 

 

7 hours ago, bigcigar said:

I didn’t get a confirmation email (even though I signed up), but checked status site and it’s approved / to be delivered 11/19. So control group shows the service saved you a day?

Yeah, so far, from what I can tell, the $200ish I spent for the expediting service was probably a waste of money from an actual time standpoint. Not sure what the exact process would have been without it. When I went to do check into doing it, all I was hearing/reading is A) what a beating the process is, and B) how long everything was taking. So, in a nutshell, I used them mostly just to eliminate some of the beating factor and to be sure I'd dotted every i and crossed every t, which they did a pretty good job of helping ensure.

I'd been hearing that getting an appointment at the local county courthouse/government agency/whatever was a nightmare...can never get through to make the appointment, once you do get someone on the phone, appointments are weeks out, etc jut for the application. Had also heard that you can just go down to the courthouse (or whatever) and wait in line if you don't have an appointment, but that you have to get there at like 6:00AM to stand in line outside before they open and put your name in, which leads to a full day of waiting at said government building, to then hopefully get you in sometime late afternoon to start the application process. Fuck that.

I was feeling panicked and that money was probably for peace of mind if nothing else. With so many unknowns surrounding it all due to covid and what looked to be a constantly moving goalpost, I just wanted to be sure I'd covered my ass as much as possible. And the process was pretty easy, so no regerts I guess.

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bigcigar

bigcigar 1165

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3 hours ago, Landomatic said:

 

Yeah, so far, from what I can tell, the $200ish I spent for the expediting service was probably a waste of money from an actual time standpoint. Not sure what the exact process would have been without it. When I went to do check into doing it, all I was hearing/reading is A) what a beating the process is, and B) how long everything was taking. So, in a nutshell, I used them mostly just to eliminate some of the beating factor and to be sure I'd dotted every i and crossed every t, which they did a pretty good job of helping ensure.

I'd been hearing that getting an appointment at the local county courthouse/government agency/whatever was a nightmare...can never get through to make the appointment, once you do get someone on the phone, appointments are weeks out, etc jut for the application. Had also heard that you can just go down to the courthouse (or whatever) and wait in line if you don't have an appointment, but that you have to get there at like 6:00AM to stand in line outside before they open and put your name in, which leads to a full day of waiting at said government building, to then hopefully get you in sometime late afternoon to start the application process. Fuck that.

I was feeling panicked and that money was probably for peace of mind if nothing else. With so many unknowns surrounding it all due to covid and what looked to be a constantly moving goalpost, I just wanted to be sure I'd covered my ass as much as possible. And the process was pretty easy, so no regerts I guess.

I would have done the same with a 12/7 trip. They were quoting 10 weeks for expedited back in October. I’d bet the random, unexpected catch-up contributed to the delivery being similar vs the service not making a difference.

I was nervous at 10 week lead time with a MLK weekend trip.

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