Passport Renewal took only 3 weeks - not expedited!

[Bill Miller]

Good news. Things are popping at the Passport renewal office.  Mailed on March 1, renewal application, fee, photo (CVS pharmacy) and old passport. Received new one today. 

Used standard renewal, did not use expedited service. Used the online form to fill out application which has a QR code dedicated to your individual renewal.  https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/have-passport/renew.html

Mailed 2nd day priority to Irving Texas office.

Received new Passport today March 21 in priority second day envelope.

Summer is coming avoid the rush.

 

[jwlane]

If only Global Entry interviews were as easily obtained.

[NutsAboutGolf]

2 minutes ago, jwlane said:

If only Global Entry interviews were as easily obtained.

 

https://www.cbp.gov/travel/trusted-traveler-programs/global-entry/enrollment-arrival

 

Enrollment or renewal on arrival

[jwlane]

Just now, NutsAboutGolf said:

Enrollment or renewal on arrival

That's what we'll probably have to do---wanted to try and get it pre-trip.

[Jim_Iain]

8 minutes ago, jwlane said:

If only Global Entry interviews were as easily obtained.

We got ours years ago when it first began.   Luckily SFO is only 30 minutes away and the process went quickly.   Originally we had an interview 3 months out but checked daily and due to cancellations were able to get appointments within a week of passing the background check.

 

Keep checking a couple times a day and you may be rewarded.

[Jim_Iain]

Happy to hear of the re-newal speed.     We need to renew ours when we get back from our next trip in Early May.    I hope the processing time continues to be short.    We don't expire until 2025 but only 2 pages left which will probably be used up after the trip.   They no longer add pages.

[NutsAboutGolf]

15 minutes ago, jwlane said:

That's what we'll probably have to do---wanted to try and get it pre-trip.

 

Be sure to check on google or the URL I posted to see the hours.  At my home airport of LAX, they have different hours for different terminals

 

If there are no appts between now and your flight, odds are you won't get one unless someone cancels.  My WAG (Wild A$$ Guess) is that most will just be a no-show who won't bother with canceling the appt

[jwlane]

1 minute ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

most will just be a no-show who won't bother with canceling the appt

Agreed.  We may just drive to DFW one day and try for a walk-in.  After driving there almost daily for 19 years, it's hard to want to do unless we're going somewhere.

[jelayne]

I send my Global Entry renewal in 4 months early after I got letter advising of backlogs and long lead times needed to schedule an interview.  

 

Filled it out renewal paperwork early March got a email in a week that it was approved, without needing an interview.  The new card arrived a week later. 

[wrk2cruise]

Good to hear.  We are sending them in for renewal as soon as we get back from this trip where we leave Saturday.  We have about 2 months before the next trip.  Everything filled out and doing expedited and express mail.  I know it says that expedite shouldn't be necessary but we want to be sure as the price of the next trip is $$$$ and nothing will cover you if you don't have documents to travel. 

[mahdnc]

2 hours ago, Bill Miller said:

Good news. Things are popping at the Passport renewal office.  Mailed on March 1, renewal application, fee, photo (CVS pharmacy) and old passport. Received new one today. 

Used standard renewal, did not use expedited service. Used the online form to fill out application which has a QR code dedicated to your individual renewal.  https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/have-passport/renew.html

Mailed 2nd day priority to Irving Texas office.

Received new Passport today March 21 in priority second day envelope.

Summer is coming avoid the rush.

 

 

Good to hear!

[ohiolovescrusing]

Our recent Global Entry renewals took 48 hours after submission for approval (and no additional interview needed).

[Bill Miller]

Bonus, the expired passports submitted with the renewal process just arrived by mail. Many ports of entry stamps remind of successful travels. Very nice.

[Jim_Iain]

22 hours ago, jelayne said:

I send my Global Entry renewal in 4 months early after I got letter advising of backlogs and long lead times needed to schedule an interview.  

 

Filled it out renewal paperwork early March got a email in a week that it was approved, without needing an interview.  The new card arrived a week later. 

 

I've never required an interview for renewal.    I think we have renewed twice and both time in came back within a week.    I'm wondering if some have to show up for another interview?

[wrk2cruise]

My GE renewal got conditional approval in 3 days but required an interview.  Our nearest point is 3 hrs away in Charlotte but there are never open appointments.  

 

When we first applied when searching for appointments I saw that San Juan had openings almost every day.  We had a cruise planned so just made the appointment and had our interview there.

 

So this time I looked at the whole list of centers and saw Aruba was on the list and there were appointments available in Oct when we were going to be there on a cruise stop.  About 2 months later I got an email with an update which was that I was fully approved.   When I looked it appeared that the Aruba office no longer does interviews so I guess they just approved.

[Texed]

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

I've never required an interview for renewal.    I think we have renewed twice and both time in came back within a week. 

 

Ditto! 

[NutsAboutGolf]

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

I've never required an interview for renewal.    I think we have renewed twice and both time in came back within a week.    I'm wondering if some have to show up for another interview?

 

4 minutes ago, Texed said:

 

Ditto! 

 

[mahdnc]

I also like the new USA passport format.

Edited March 22 by mahdnc

[Arizona Wildcat]

On 3/21/2024 at 2:18 PM, jwlane said:

If only Global Entry interviews were as easily obtained.

Can get same week in Southern Arizona. 

[catspaw1]

Jim, retired Fed here. I was at DHS when we rolled out Global Entry. No you will probably not have to go to another interview again. But sometimes they call you back to redo fingerprints. Happened to me even though I retired from the Fed, have high clearance level & used to work for DHS. CBP used to be my component & they called me for an interview many years ago even though I worked for DHS! They just needed my fingerprints again even though mine are all over the government. Also do NOT trust the State dept website on passport processing times. Pay the extra money to expedite if you need your passport back within 3 months. Add an extra week for passport delivery to any processing time. Remember spring & summer are the most popular times to renew a passport & will increase processing times. I used to work for the Government publishing office- we actually made the passports & shipped them to state dept to fill out. Did you know there are over 300 security features in your passport?

[Giraffes]

On 3/21/2024 at 4:51 PM, Bill Miller said:

Good news. Things are popping at the Passport renewal office.  Mailed on March 1, renewal application, fee, photo (CVS pharmacy) and old passport. Received new one today. 

Used standard renewal, did not use expedited service. Used the online form to fill out application which has a QR code dedicated to your individual renewal.  https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/have-passport/renew.html

Mailed 2nd day priority to Irving Texas office.

Received new Passport today March 21 in priority second day envelope.

Summer is coming avoid the rush.

 

Sent mine in on February 26. The check cleared my bank account on March 4. Status still says "in process".

[catspaw1]

 

Did you send it for expedited processing paying the extra $60 fee?If within 3 months of an international trip, that would be what I would recommend. Spring is the busiest time of year for passport renewals & new passports so always needs more time to process.

 

It could take another week after it's been mailed. I would not expect them to process it that quick. BTW on my renewal, right after the pandemic, it always said "in process" but it never changed & I still got my passport back. Government IT has a lot of issues.

 

 

[Bill Miller]

Come on, this is a government operation. What could possibly go wrong?

[Giraffes]

13 hours ago, catspaw1 said:

 

Did you send it for expedited processing paying the extra $60 fee?If within 3 months of an international trip, that would be what I would recommend. Spring is the busiest time of year for passport renewals & new passports so always needs more time to process.

 

It could take another week after it's been mailed. I would not expect them to process it that quick. BTW on my renewal, right after the pandemic, it always said "in process" but it never changed & I still got my passport back. Government IT has a lot of issues.

 

 

I did not do expedited. Sending it February 26 gave me exactly 8 weeks until my April 20th sailing. I've already called Celebrity and arranged to be able to use my birth certificate and license if need be. Good to know that the status might not change despite a change in the actual status.

[catspaw1]

 I hope you get it back before the cruise - please let us know.