Passport Renewal

[BND]

I mailed my passport renewal application on Tuesday and it was received at the Philadelphia P.O. Box yesterday (Thursday, May 17) so my clock starts now.  The news just did a story on how passports are taking 10-13 weeks and even expedited ones are taking up to 9 weeks.  Last time I renewed, it took 2 weeks.  They're currently receiving about 500,000 applications a week which is causing the bottleneck. Our next cruise isn't until Oct 20, so I have time.  Anyone mail theirs recently?  Even in person appointments are difficult to get.  People are being told there are openings but they are all over the country and travel is required, plus they are scattered times.  So, anyone who needs their passport renewed this year, might want to go ahead.  Mine is good til Aug 2024, but our travel starting this fall makes it hard to have enough time to get it renewed before it needs to be.

[Mum2Mercury]

You can't guess.  My husband and I sent ours out at the same time (different envelopes, obviously).  His zipped back in about two weeks (?), while mine took the slow train and was over two months.  

[vettegal99]

Just renewed passport.  Received it exactly 5 weeks after I mailed it.  Expedited 

[Kellie in Texas]

My mother is still waiting on her passport renewal. Mailed it in February. In the mean time, they've already been on their cruise; fortunately, she was able to use her birth certificate. 

[SC LTC]

3 hours ago, Mum2Mercury said:

You can't guess.  My husband and I sent ours out at the same time (different envelopes, obviously).  His zipped back in about two weeks (?), while mine took the slow train and was over two months.  

Any Particular envelope?

[jean87510]

My oldest applied for his passport expedited March 5.  Still no sign of it nor has it been processed.  Of course checks were cashed.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

6 hours ago, BND said:

Mine is good til Aug 2024,

surely, you could renew it between April 2024 and November 2024. Renewing it a year in advance seems a bit of an overkill.

Our travel is this November, my parents' passports expire in August, they are applying now.

[Cigar King]

We have several family members who sent theirs off in February and they still have nothing.

[SC LTC]

Mine expires next month June, my cruise is in September of this year 4 day cruise 

[cruisers423]

mine did not expire til next March but with 3 trips thru January requiring passports, bit the bullet and renewed. Sent mine and my brother's together in a priority mail envelope which they received on March 30th. We paid extra for the expediting and we both received the new ones last Wednesday May 10th.

[Cruising89143]

Mailed mine in three weeks ago. It arrived in two days. Expedited. Check was cashed the day after they received it. Hoping to have it back within the next few months. You can check the status online….https://passportstatus.state.gov

[Ret MP]

Mailed mine out on ~May 2.  Both my wife's and my application, photos, and one check for both applications were in the same Manila Envelope.  The passport office in Philidelphia received the envelope on May 4th, the check was posted in my bank account on May 9th.  My current status on the Department of State's site is:  

Application Status: In Process

"The U.S. Department of State has received your application for your passport book on 05/09/2023. We're now reviewing your application and supporting documents.

 

You requested routine service when you applied. Routine service can take 10-13 weeks. Our processing times begin the day we receive your application at a passport agency or center, not the day you mail your application or apply at a local acceptance facility".

 

And so the "Hurry-up and Wait" game is in gear.  

[vswan]

Have a cruise late July and my current passport would have been just short of being valid for 6 months after travel. Sent in the first Monday in April. Just checked the website and it says it was approved, are printing and should be sending May 23, 2023. So that's just over 6 weeks for regular, not expedited delivery. I'm very surprised.

[Ret MP]

3 minutes ago, vswan said:

Have a cruise late July and my current passport would have been just short of being valid for 6 months after travel. Sent in the first Monday in April. Just checked the website and it says it was approved, are printing and should be sending May 23, 2023. So that's just over 6 weeks for regular, not expedited delivery. I'm very surprised.

Sounds very reasonable to me.  Good luck and have a great cruise.

[sunlover12]

My husband and I mailed ours in the same envelope early February and got them in late March.  7 weeks. Not expedited.

The online application status kept saying "In Process" and hadn't been updated so we were surprised when they showed up in the mail. 

[BND]

3 hours ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

surely, you could renew it between April 2024 and November 2024. Renewing it a year in advance seems a bit of an overkill.

Our travel is this November, my parents' passports expire in August, they are applying now.

As I said, we don't have enough time with the trips we have planned.  My choice.  I really don't care about the time that some will think I'm "losing".  I'm not sure why it's an issue for you if it's not for me 😉

 

[BND]

14 minutes ago, sunlover12 said:

My husband and I mailed ours in the same envelope early February and got them in late March.  7 weeks. Not expedited.

The online application status kept saying "In Process" and hadn't been updated so we were surprised when they showed up in the mail. 

That happens a lot.

[BND]

3 hours ago, Cigar King said:

We have several family members who sent theirs off in February and they still have nothing.

It seems pretty random with times.  Some of the people they interviewed for the news story have Europe trips planned for this summer and are all waiting.  

[Tinknock50]

This topic is both interesting and scary. I hope I get mine soon!

[BND]

I just checked my status and it's in process.  

[beta84]

Same here guys my husband sent his out march 2 for renewal they said received on march 9 and still no change, just says it is in process we are leaving June 22 🙏🏻

Hubby said he will start calling to see if we can at least expedite the shipping 🥺

[taba]

 We have a cruise scheduled for late June.  We sent in our renewals forms via priority express mail in mid-March and paid for 1-2 day shipping. We also paid for expedited processing. I received my passport 4 weeks later.a few days after that we received an email that said said my wifes passport photo was rejected due to her glasses. We sent in a new photo and received her passport 3 weeks later. Total time for her passport including our error was 7 weeks.

 

It was worth it to us to pay for botb the expedited processing and 1-2 day priority mail. 

[beta84]

21 minutes ago, taba said:

 We have a cruise scheduled for late June.  We sent in our renewals forms via priority express mail in mid-March and paid for 1-2 day shipping. We also paid for expedited processing. I received my passport 4 weeks later.a few days after that we received an email that said said my wifes passport photo was rejected due to her glasses. We sent in a new photo and received her passport 3 weeks later. Total time for her passport including our error was 7 weeks.

 

It was worth it to us to pay for botb the expedited processing and 1-2 day priority mail. 

We most definitely would have paid for expedited however we thought that it was plenty of time to have it back already….

[Tinknock50]

51 minutes ago, taba said:

 We have a cruise scheduled for late June.  We sent in our renewals forms via priority express mail in mid-March and paid for 1-2 day shipping. We also paid for expedited processing. I received my passport 4 weeks later.a few days after that we received an email that said said my wifes passport photo was rejected due to her glasses. We sent in a new photo and received her passport 3 weeks later. Total time for her passport including our error was 7 weeks.

 

It was worth it to us to pay for botb the expedited processing and 1-2 day priority mail. 

I did both. I hope it works as designed for me.

Edited May 22, 2023 by Tinknock50

[taba]

31 minutes ago, Tinknock50 said:

I did both. I hope it works as designed for me.

The other thing that was helpful to me was I am signed up for USPS Informed Delivery. I receive an email every day with information about USPS  mail that will be delivered. I found out through that service  that my passport had been shipped and when to expect it. The information on the passport site was a few days out of date.