Has anyone renewed a passport recently?

[Napoleon 8660]

Does your passport have to expire before you apply for a new one? Or can you apply with less than a month still on the old one?

My USA passport expires about 3 weeks before my Argentine one does, so I will have a window with only one valid passport if you have to wait until it expires. Fortunately it is before a new administration could possibly take control of the Executive Branch, so sanity should be the norm when I have to go in for a new one. If not, perhaps I'll get mine while overseas.

[Sam Lin 3550]

On 10/28/2021 at 5:16 PM, Sam Lin said:

Any time. I tell people to renew anytime within 2yr of expiration when they have a time block where they know they won't need the passport.

See my reply earlier in thread.

Always renew ahead of time, preferably well ahead of time, since many countries will not consider you for visa if you are within 6mo of expiration. The only "downside" to early renewal is "giving up" the last year or two of validity - not really a downside for being always prepared.

Edited November 18, 2021 by Sam Lin

[Tailgate 3021]

1 hour ago, Napoleon said:

Does your passport have to expire before you apply for a new one? Or can you apply with less than a month still on the old one?

My USA passport expires about 3 weeks before my Argentine one does, so I will have a window with only one valid passport if you have to wait until it expires. Fortunately it is before a new administration could possibly take control of the Executive Branch, so sanity should be the norm when I have to go in for a new one. If not, perhaps I'll get mine while overseas.

You can apply before it expires.

[bigcigar 1164]

5 hours ago, Landomatic said:

Oh right...so, my math was jacked. You actually gained a couple days. So, if anything, you actually saved time on yours. What all did you have to do to get it?

I filled out the renewal form on the travel.state.gov site, got pictures at cvs, paid for expedited processing ($60)+ 1-2 day return shipping ($18), then mailed at the post office (also used some type of priority delivery). 

[Landomatic 3813]

1 hour ago, bigcigar said:

I filled out the renewal form on the travel.state.gov site, got pictures at cvs, paid for expedited processing ($60)+ 1-2 day return shipping ($18), then mailed at the post office (also used some type of priority delivery). 

No shit? That's pretty much the exact same process I went through. I was under the impression for some reason that the government themselves didn't have a mail in option (no CR). I was also under the impression that they were a lot slower. So, in a nutshell, I paid around $200 in expedited fees total, some of which covered the government's expedited processing and shipping fees. And you paid somewhere around $100 total for the exact same thing and got yours a few days faster. About the only thing I can see that rushmypassport.com did for me for the extra $100 was possibly check my application before it went to the government for anything I missed or did wrong. I think they literally just had me do exactly what you did, and the extra couple days was probably the 2 days express shipping to get it to the expediting service, which then turned around and sent it to the government.

tl:dr - For those of you following at home, use travel.state.gov and not rushmypassport.com. Exact same process, but save yourself the extra $100 and get your passport a little quicker by cutting out the expediting service which appears to do very little, if anything. And turn-around times look to be right around 4 weeks for expedited service right now.

Edited November 18, 2021 by Landomatic

[bigcigar 1164]

31 minutes ago, Landomatic said:

No shit? That's pretty much the exact same process I went through. I was under the impression for some reason that the government themselves didn't have a mail in option (no CR). I was also under the impression that they were a lot slower. So, in a nutshell, I paid around $200 in expedited fees total, some of which covered the government's expedited processing and shipping fees. And you paid somewhere around $100 total for the exact same thing and got yours a few days faster. About the only thing I can see that rushmypassport.com did for me for the extra $100 was possibly check my application before it went to the government for anything I missed or did wrong. I think they literally just had me do exactly what you did, and the extra couple days was probably the 2 days express shipping to get it to the expediting service, which then turned around and sent it to the government.

tl:dr - For those of you following at home, use travel.state.gov and not rushmypassport.com. Exact same process, but save yourself the extra $100 and get your passport a little quicker by cutting out the expediting service which appears to do very little, if anything. And turn-around times look to be right around 4 weeks for expedited service right now.

Maybe they add value when shit goes bad. Like if processing times continued to be 10 weeks regular process vs magically catching up.

[lemonlime 5503]

5 hours ago, Napoleon said:

Does your passport have to expire before you apply for a new one? Or can you apply with less than a month still on the old one?

My USA passport expires about 3 weeks before my Argentine one does, so I will have a window with only one valid passport if you have to wait until it expires. Fortunately it is before a new administration could possibly take control of the Executive Branch, so sanity should be the norm when I have to go in for a new one. If not, perhaps I'll get mine while overseas.

You should renew before it expires.  Most countries won't let you in unless you have at least 6 months remaining on the passport.

[Landomatic 3813]

14 minutes ago, bigcigar said:

Maybe they add value when shit goes bad. Like if processing times continued to be 10 weeks regular process vs magically catching up.

Yeah, I don't know about that because from the looks of things, once it's in the government's hands, it's really completely up to them and there's not a damn thing the expediting company can do. Like I mentioned earlier, maybe they check your shit before it goes to the government to be sure you did everything right. I'm guessing if you did something wrong or forgot something and sent it straight to the government, the government would probably take about 4 weeks to let you know your application was declined, at which point you'd have to start completely over. Whereas, rushmypassport.com would have caught it up front, let you know right away, and you would only lose a couple days instead of losing 4 weeks? That's about all I can come up with to justify the $100.

[bigcigar 1164]

So who wants to create a rush passport business with me?

[Landomatic 3813]

21 hours ago, bigcigar said:

So who wants to create a rush passport business with me?

Haha I was thinking the same thing.

[C-Man 27184]

On 11/18/2021 at 11:32 AM, bigcigar said:

So who wants to create a rush passport business with me?

 

2 hours ago, Landomatic said:

Haha I was thinking the same thing.

I think the delays are State Department related. The government employees in the field are lazy AF. You're still reliant on those clowns to handle processing.

[Landomatic 3813]

1 hour ago, C-Man said:

I think the delays are State Department related. The government employees in the field are lazy AF. You're still reliant on those clowns to handle processing.

Yeah, exactly. The business concept is charging suckers like me $100 just to check their application over and send it on to the government and spinning that as some kind of "expediting service" while having zero role in or accountability for the actual processing or speed at which it's done. Easy money.

[956 Worldwide 34697]

On 11/18/2021 at 2:26 PM, Landomatic said:

No shit? That's pretty much the exact same process I went through. I was under the impression for some reason that the government themselves didn't have a mail in option (no CR). I was also under the impression that they were a lot slower. So, in a nutshell, I paid around $200 in expedited fees total, some of which covered the government's expedited processing and shipping fees. And you paid somewhere around $100 total for the exact same thing and got yours a few days faster. About the only thing I can see that rushmypassport.com did for me for the extra $100 was possibly check my application before it went to the government for anything I missed or did wrong. I think they literally just had me do exactly what you did, and the extra couple days was probably the 2 days express shipping to get it to the expediting service, which then turned around and sent it to the government.

tl:dr - For those of you following at home, use travel.state.gov and not rushmypassport.com. Exact same process, but save yourself the extra $100 and get your passport a little quicker by cutting out the expediting service which appears to do very little, if anything. And turn-around times look to be right around 4 weeks for expedited service right now.

Yes, this was exactly my post a few steps up. The expediter does one important step— takes your 100 dollars. 

[956 Worldwide 34697]

On 11/18/2021 at 3:11 PM, bigcigar said:

Maybe they add value when shit goes bad. Like if processing times continued to be 10 weeks regular process vs magically catching up.

There is no value if shit goes bad. If there’s an issue with your passport the State Department will talk to you and you alone. 
 

 

[956 Worldwide 34697]

On 11/18/2021 at 9:54 AM, Napoleon said:

Does your passport have to expire before you apply for a new one? Or can you apply with less than a month still on the old one?

My USA passport expires about 3 weeks before my Argentine one does, so I will have a window with only one valid passport if you have to wait until it expires. Fortunately it is before a new administration could possibly take control of the Executive Branch, so sanity should be the norm when I have to go in for a new one. If not, perhaps I'll get mine while overseas.

If you can do it, applying overseas at an Embassy or Consulate gets it done quicker in most cases. The caseloads and lines are longer and the adjudicators are going to be more nimble. 

[Napoleon 8660]

29 minutes ago, 956 Worldwide said:

If you can do it, applying overseas at an Embassy or Consulate gets it done quicker in most cases. The caseloads and lines are longer and the adjudicators are going to be more nimble. 

The best thing about getting my last USA passport while in Argentina was that accepted US Dollars or ARG Pesos... pesos at the official exchange rate.

Well, you could change US$100 bills for about 1.5x the official rate, so instead of my passport costing about US$110, I remember the exchange came out to about $73 the day I paid at the consulate.

Right now the street rate is about 1.9x the official rate... but I still have a couple of years to go.

[RollLeft 5040]

Brother drove to Houston and got them renewed, for his kids, in one day.  He had tickets for a trip though.

[elfenix 34223]

old one shipped out october 29, new one shipped on december 10.  old one shipped back a few days after that, oddly. 

[Telegraph_it 3357]

I got my renewed passport last week. It took 6 weeks total. My new photo looks terrible though. 

[RollLeft 5040]

3 hours ago, Telegraph_it said:

I got my renewed passport last week. It took 6 weeks total. My new photo looks terrible though. 

The old man didn't like his either so he sent in his renewal with a new one.  It delayed his renewal, but not because he sent a new photo.  He sent a new photo and forgot to take his glasses off.  He called me upset at the walgreens clerk who "forgot to remind him." I gave him a long pause on the phone and waited.  He then said, "I know, I know!. It was my own fault."  My old man always made us own our stupid.  ALWAYS!  One of his mantras was, "Don't be stupid." I didn't say it but damn it was sure nice to chuckle at the old man. 

[Landomatic 3813]

On 12/20/2021 at 2:08 PM, Telegraph_it said:

My new photo looks terrible though. 

Yeah, mine too. I easily look at least 10 years older than I did in my last one. Shitty lighting or something I guess.

[Telegraph_it 3357]

8 minutes ago, Landomatic said:

Yeah, mine too. I easily look at least 10 years older than I did in my last one. Shitty lighting or something I guess.

The physical photo taken at FedEx was fine. Whenever they processed the photo it became super overexposed. I’m actually kind of surprised it passed QC if they even have QC. 

[Chopper 17230]

FYI. Passport news. 6 to 12 months to implement this for all Americans, per official word.
 

Quote

 

Military.com.

The government has announced that Americans soon will be able to renew their passports online.

Beginning Dec. 23, 2021, Americans will be able to renew their tourist passports using a new online pilot program that the government plans to roll out fully during 2022.

 

According to a press release from the Department of Defense posted on Dec. 21, federal government employees, military members and their family members will be able to use the online renewal system before it is released to the general public.

The move comes in response to an executive order issued by President Joe Biden on Dec. 13, 2021, directing the State Department to "design and deliver a new online passport renewal experience that does not require any physical documents to be mailed."

Previously, renewing one's passport required a trip to a government office, surrendering the old passport and submitting payment via check or money order. Travelers also had to find a place to have a passport photo taken as well.

Requirements for Renewing Passports Online

Currently, only citizens in the following groups may renew their passports online:

• Those 16 years and older

• Citizens living in the U.S. only, no foreign addresses

• Those with no changes to their name, gender or other personal information

Those using the online renewal system can have an expired passport, but it must not be more than 15 years old.

 

 

[Txzen 498]

Had to renew the passport for my minor child, so it was basically almost like a new passport application. 

Needed birth certificate, and both parents to be there, etc. Did the whole thing at the post office branch (which even offered on-site pictures). 

Appointment was on Dec 20th, and we paid for expedited service and express mail since we were nervous as we have a trip in February. Just received it today (January 6th). 17 days!

[Sandman 3403]

17 hours ago, Txzen said:

Needed birth certificate, and both parents to be there

What if you're divorced and the ex lives far away? Or the ex is like mine and just can't be bothered to do anything but smoke weed and not work?

[NeverMarryAStripper 21872]

They have a Statement of Consent form that the absent parent can sign and have notarized.  That form and a copy of their ID will suffice.

[justhookit 4191]

After a clusterfuck in the middle of Covid things have calmed down. Just got an appointment in the Houston office for same day service on the 19th. Apparently there would have been more appointments available but they are installing new machines next week to print the actual passports so they aren’t taking anything next week. There were a bunch of appointments available in Dallas.

Im quite sure something will go wrong with the new machines and it will mess up our trip. Again.

Edited January 8, 2022 by justhookit

[NotActuallyALonghorn 4974]

On 1/6/2022 at 8:56 PM, Txzen said:

Had to renew the passport for my minor child, so it was basically almost like a new passport application. 

Needed birth certificate, and both parents to be there, etc. Did the whole thing at the post office branch (which even offered on-site pictures). 

Appointment was on Dec 20th, and we paid for expedited service and express mail since we were nervous as we have a trip in February. Just received it today (January 6th). 17 days!

We applied to get first passports for our youngest two at the beginning of November, one came back about the middle of December and the other came back Christmas Eve. Sounds like either the expedited option made a pretty big difference, or that renewals aren't as big of a deal.

[TornACL 7698]

I mailed my expedited passport renewal before Xmas. Arrived at the passport office Dec 22. Just got my new passport today. 

Not bad. 

[conVINCEd 21469]

2 months.  October-something to December-something and I didn’t pay for any expediting because I have nothing planned that is imminent.

[ocugolf 1214]

I’m going go to Ireland in mid may. Should i do the expedited or should I be ok?

[elfenix 34223]

4 minutes ago, ocugolf said:

I’m going go to Ireland in mid may. Should i do the expedited or should I be ok?

if it's a renewal it seems to be running 6-8 weeks so you should be ok.  new i dunno.

[ocugolf 1214]

7 minutes ago, elfenix said:

if it's a renewal it seems to be running 6-8 weeks so you should be ok.  new i dunno.

Thanks. It’s a renewal. I think I’ll just roll the dice and do regular. 

[conVINCEd 21469]

My renewal took 2 months last summer.

[Guest]

35 minutes ago, ocugolf said:

I’m going go to Ireland in mid may. Should i do the expedited or should I be ok?

Yeah, you should be good. Had a new one that took about six to eight weeks.

[6th Street 6390]

57 minutes ago, ocugolf said:

I’m going go to Ireland in mid may. Should i do the expedited or should I be ok?

Its only $60 for expedite. Why get cute?

[ocugolf 1214]

And pray Covid doesn’t cancel the trip

[4th&Five 41506]

We got passports for both our kids. Our meeting was 2/18 and we got them today, so a day short of 4 weeks. Pretty damn quick. 

[Sweetnsourpoke 166]

Just renewed the passport. Did NOT pay for expedited service. Just regular service. 

Mailed paperwork March 8. 
They started processing March 22. 
Received new passport April 2. 

Pretty dang fast. 

[Mach 1 1677]

Wife and I took our eyes off the ball and let our kids passport expire before a trip to Greece next month.

Ho-lee-shit, $1200 a piece for ultra expideted service. I started to leave to Google my ass off, or check this thread, but my wife is neurotic about things like this.

Me: So this seems a little high.

Him: Things are a mess since Covid, we're talking 3-6 months, maybe longer.

Me:  Hmm, I think we need to do a little research.

Him:  The issue is the Post Office.  Minor renewals have to go to the PO to confirm the parent/relationship in person. (Pause) And we've been in business for over 20 years and have a good relationship with some local Post Offices.  (He didn't wink, but he might as well have.)

Me: (flips him the Amex for processing, cursing under my breath)

Just another log on the fire for ridiculously expensive summer trips.  Our fault, but gotdamn.

 

[Sam Lin 3550]

Friend just flew with his kid (same, minor renewal so parent had to go too) to a neighboring state a few weeks ago because it was the only passport office with an emergency appointment slot the next day, before their scheduled international trip in 2 days.

 

Guys, I'll repeat. There is no reason NOT to renew early, stop letting it get to the last year! If you know you have a few months not needing it, and it is within 2-3yr of expiration, send it in and renew ahead of time!

[Tailgate 3021]

4 hours ago, Mach 1 said:

Wife and I took our eyes off the ball and let our kids passport expire before a trip to Greece next month.

Ho-lee-shit, $1200 a piece for ultra expideted service. I started to leave to Google my ass off, or check this thread, but my wife is neurotic about things like this.

Me: So this seems a little high.

Him: Things are a mess since Covid, we're talking 3-6 months, maybe longer.

Me:  Hmm, I think we need to do a little research.

Him:  The issue is the Post Office.  Minor renewals have to go to the PO to confirm the parent/relationship in person. (Pause) And we've been in business for over 20 years and have a good relationship with some local Post Offices.  (He didn't wink, but he might as well have.)

Me: (flips him the Amex for processing, cursing under my breath)

Just another log on the fire for ridiculously expensive summer trips.  Our fault, but gotdamn.

 

Bummer on the cost. However, should be a great trip with the family and a cool experience for the kids. Still have not checked off Greece on my list.

[RollLeft 5040]

8 hours ago, Mach 1 said:

Wife and I took our eyes off the ball and let our kids passport expire before a trip to Greece next month.

Ho-lee-shit, $1200 a piece for ultra expideted service. I started to leave to Google my ass off, or check this thread, but my wife is neurotic about things like this.

Me: So this seems a little high.

Him: Things are a mess since Covid, we're talking 3-6 months, maybe longer.

Me:  Hmm, I think we need to do a little research.

Him:  The issue is the Post Office.  Minor renewals have to go to the PO to confirm the parent/relationship in person. (Pause) And we've been in business for over 20 years and have a good relationship with some local Post Offices.  (He didn't wink, but he might as well have.)

Me: (flips him the Amex for processing, cursing under my breath)

Just another log on the fire for ridiculously expensive summer trips.  Our fault, but gotdamn.

 

$1200 a piece to expedite? 

[Mach 1 1677]

1 hour ago, RollLeft said:

$1200 a piece to expedite? 

That’s the agency fee NET of the government fees.

Or that’s the agency fee including the grease the wheels of a poorly paid government worker fee.

[Moby Ric 2058]

I sent off mine and my kids off in May of this year.  They got theirs back about 3 weeks ago.  Mine is still processing.  Did not think it would still be processing 8 fucking weeks later.  I kinda need it back.

[PilotsError 2286]

I'm heading to the middle east in four months, and tried buying my ticket last night.  It needed my passport so I got it and discovered it expires in two months.  Honestly thought it was next year.  

I did the Fed Ex Passport Renewal thing they do with the Rush My Passport.  The website is very misleading though.  It says you can walk into any Fed Ex Mailbox store (I went to the one on Whitestone) with your passport and get it done, but that's not true.  You have to have a check or money order to send the government, they live in 1975.   You go to a computer at the Fed Ex place and fill out and application online which they print out.  So I left and got a money order, which took an hour because I couldn't find a place who did them.  So I went back only to find out they couldn't do my photo because I was wearing a white shirt.  JFC.  So I walked to Target and bought one real quick.  

Total cost:

220 or so for the Rush fees.

208 to the government.

18 to FedEx for shipping.

So close to $500 for everything, including the shirt.  It was a fairly quick process, but even though in the FAQs they talk about a separate fee, their folksy "just come on in with your passport" is not exactly true.  But if have your checkbook on you, the whole thing takes about ten minutes.  You can do photos there as well.  

I'll give an update when the new one arrives. 

[Redneck Mutha 7954]

Mailed renewal June 24th.  Paid for expedite.  Received July 25th.

[Frank Erwin 203]

On 3/17/2022 at 4:21 PM, 4th&Five said:

We got passports for both our kids. Our meeting was 2/18 and we got them today, so a day short of 4 weeks. Pretty damn quick. 

We basically did the same thing Feb renewal for kids.  Tarrant Co let's you do it in their govmt offices and bureaucrats were nice.  They warned us to expect a 3 month wait but got them in less than a month.  Who knew the govt could underpromise and overdeliver?  

[956 Worldwide 34697]

I should follow this more closely. Y’all who are paying any expediting fees to private companies are getting pretty fucked. There is no greasing the wheels of anyone at the State Department for your passport. A U.S. passport is one of the most secure documents on earth and the keys to the kingdom. Anyone getting their palms greased on passport questions is talking prison time trouble and any hint that external actors are influencing what happens will cause a huge shit storm and blow up at the agency. Pre-COVID, passport agencies regularly got the highest marks of any government service agency from external auditors and they are mostly back to that level with open offices and backlogs cleared.  Here’s the link on how to get a passport fast. 
 

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/get-fast.html 

 

Please stop doing this to yourselves and keeping these services afloat. Speaking of “winks,” this is the State Department’s language about services, they get as close as they can to saying “don’t use them” without inviting a lawsuit.

[Redneck Mutha 7954]

The expedite fee I paid was the $60 to Dept of State, not a 3rd party private company.  Not sure it really sped things up, but at least made me feel better about maybe getting it back sooner.