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Dan at Dan’s Deals reports on his experience renewing his passport online and it’s worth a look. If you’ve ever renewed a passport, you know that it can be an odyssey of several weeks or even months depending on processing times and whether or not you pony up for express processing, but Dan reports that he renewed online and got his new passport in just over one week. This is a great tip to keep in mind for renewal time. Note that this program isn’t yet available to the general public, but there is an interest form you can fill out to be part of the beta test (I don’t know whether they are still accepting submissionsf they k for that).
Dan’s post caught my eye because child passports are only good for five years and my older son is 4 years old, so I thought that this may become relevant for me in the not-so-distant future until I got to the sentence where Dan said he wished that kid’s passports could also be renewed online. So much for the time savings there.
Only passports expiring within a year can be renewed online, but one cool thing is that you don’t need to send in your old passport. No holes and no being without a passport during the renewal period (though it isn’t clear whether the old one loses validity at some point during the renewal process). You can read more about the details in this previous Dan’s Deals post.
I have personally run down to the wire on this once or twice before. At my last renewal, I had to drive 3hrs to New York City to renew in-person (same-day service is possible if you have a near-term international trip and I did). When I renewed, I needed to be at the office by noon to get service the same day and I got to the window with minutes to spare. Now that happens on an appointment basis.
If you are interested in online renewal, it is worth reading both Dan’s Deals posts linked above and getting your name on the interest list (note that the interest list sign-up page indicates that it may be several weeks before you become eligible to renew online; the one-week turnaround time was between when Dan submitted for his renewal and when he received his new passport, but he had gotten on the interest list late last year).
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I had a good experience renewing online back in October/November. Hardest part was meeting the photo requirements. They wanted no background (white), no shadow, etc. etc.
We ended up taking the photo in a hotel room with a blank white wall.
pro Tip: Renew your passport while abroad. Stop at the embassy or better yet a consulate, you keep your current passport, and the new one is back in 2 weeks. Done it twice and the service is great.
As long the passport isn’t reported lost or punched, its valid til expiry even if you have a new one.
Thanks. Just signed up. Anything to make the process a little easier.
(I don’t know whether they are still accepting submissionsf they k for that)
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What is the last part? Curious.
I don’t know whether they are accepting submissions (f*ck that).
Hahahhaha.
Timely topic as we just had a kids renewal appointment at our post office cancelled today due to lack of staffing (Some staff at sick). Understandable issue but….Their solution was “hey sorry but you need to go online and reschedule another appointment 4-5 weeks out”. What a frustrating experience. I hope we can do online for kids soon since this process is horrible.
i don’t think they will be able to streamline the kids renewal process like this because they prefer in person renewal with both parents present to reduce instances of international abduction by one of the parents.
Actually my 5yo son’s passport (renewal) was just delivered today. We dropped it off at USPS on 2/22, application was received on 2/25, passport was delivered today 3/9. 11-biz day turnaround.
FYI – we paid $60 extra for expedited service. We also paid $18.32 extra for express 1-2 day delivery. $60 expedited service is 5-7 weeks. Whereas, normal processing is 8-11 weeks. 11-biz day turnaround (from initial USPS drop off) is pretty amazing IMHO!
I had a similar experience for my passport renewal. Paid $60 for expedited service, did NOT pay extra for delivery. Sent to them via Priority Mail on 2/11, had the passport in hand on 2/24. The start date listed on the passport was 2/22. That’s fast! I was expecting weeks and weeks.
Still available just now.