Passport Turnaround time

[mnocket]

21 hours ago, new_cruiser said:

I have been getting the extra pages book because of business travel to countries that required a visa - single entry visa to China took a whole page so by the time they stamped entry and exit plus the US stamp on return, one trip took 2 pages. 

 

Now that most countries do electronic visas and with less stamping, I don't expect to need the bigger book ever again and I'm glad to have something thinner.

Good point about thinner passports being easier to deal with.  My thought on the larger passport has to do with some countries requiring 2-4 blank pages.  It seems somewhat common these days for agents to put each stamp on a new page instead of multiple stamps on the same page, therefore using up blank pages fairly quickly.   However you may be right, with electronic visas this may not be much of an issue in the future.

[ldubs]

On 6/15/2024 at 7:23 PM, dockman said:

....so u got yours non expedited in ONE week? seems i wasted $60 on expeditied version which took two weeks...interesting

 

We felt the same way.  We got our expedited back in two weeks.  A friend got their unexpected back in 3 weeks.  

[dockman]

54 minutes ago, ldubs said:

 

We felt the same way.  We got our expedited back in two weeks.  A friend got their unexpected back in 3 weeks.  

Well i guess the "good news" is 10 more years on this passport and I hope to be around to renew it again ....i just did not want to be a semi nervous wreck with a cruise all booked and paid along with flights etc and then be sitting and hoping passport would arrive in time....so overall i guess the $60 was worth it to avoid all that...also renewed my global entry pass online...they said 3 to 4 months...i got it in 3 weeks...no extra fees, in fact credit card paid the $100 renewal completely with zero hassles.

[ldubs]

3 minutes ago, dockman said:

Well i guess the "good news" is 10 more years on this passport and I hope to be around to renew it again ....i just did not want to be a semi nervous wreck with a cruise all booked and paid along with flights etc and then be sitting and hoping passport would arrive in time....so overall i guess the $60 was worth it to avoid all that...also renewed my global entry pass online...they said 3 to 4 months...i got it in 3 weeks...no extra fees, in fact credit card paid the $100 renewal completely with zero hassles.

 

Small price if needed for peace of mind.  Good news on the GE renewal.  We have a few years on ours.   

[Plunkebe]

I mailed my renewal in. I mailed it on 6/17 and received my new passport in the mail today, 7/11. Pretty quick turnaround now for mail in renewal for anyone interested. 

[pengu1n]

My husband used the online renewal. This is a new 'experimental' program, where it is only available for a few hours a day, and a limited number of renewals. He used a cell phone picture (because the digital photo from Walgreens was rejected). His old passport was expired. Received the new one in 2 weeks.

[S&LMom]

Applied at my local USPS on July 6. Received in passport office July 9. In process July 9. Approved July 17. Email states should receive by July 22. I did not expedite. 

 

[jsiegel]

I renewed online on July 15.  They started processing it on July 18th.  I just checked https://informeddelivery.usps.com/ and my new passport is on its way.  It's coming from Puerto Rico.  I didn't ask for expedited.  I'm impressed with the turn-around time.  I'll update when I have the new passport in hand.

 

Jackie

[jsiegel]

My husband just received his new passport today, July 25.  We both applied online on July 15.  Mine is still in the mail, due to arrive this Saturday on the 27th.  I'm impressed with how quickly we received them.

 

Jackie

[catspaw1]

FYI if anyone needs their passport renewed. We mailed tge passport in for renewal July 25 priority mail & got the new passport back today Wednesday August 7. State dept website said processing times were 6- 8 weeks but we got it back in less than 2 weeks! Great service. We were hesitating about booking another trip until we actually got it back so now we can move forward! BTW you don't get your old passport back anymore.

[cinnamon]

I was very happy in the U.K. too. New passport arrived in 9 days when we are told to allow a couple of months. 

[catspaw1]

I should have clarified that this was for a US passport. Glad to hear the UK is processing them fast also

[PelicanLvr]

We received our old passports back in a separate mailing a few days after our new ones arrived.  That was a few months ago.....so be on the lookout!

[catspaw1]

Thanks for the heads up that you got the old passports back. They can be used for ID purposes even though they are expired. I thought it might be a policy of not returning the old ones anymore but we won't sweat it if we don't get it back. I was aware that the new passports have over 300 security features in them as I used to work for GPO who actually prints the US passports. They had been working on a new passports for years. 

[wrk2cruise]

We had good luck as well in April.   Expedited everything as we only has 2 months before our next trip.  Got them back in about 8 days.  We also received our old passports in a separate mailing.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

I think the old passport comes back in a separate mailing.  I have a whole file full of them!

 

[catspaw1]

I've had a passport for over 50 years so have a bunch of old ones also.

[cruisetonowhere10]

3 hours ago, catspaw1 said:

FYI if anyone needs their passport renewed. We mailed tge passport in for renewal July 25 priority mail & got the new passport back today Wednesday August 7. State dept website said processing times were 6- 8 weeks but we got it back in less than 2 weeks! Great service. We were hesitating about booking another trip until we actually got it back so now we can move forward! BTW you don't get your old passport back anymore.

Yes friend just got there’s in a little over a week.

[Jim_Iain]

We also renewed but back in June -   They both were approved and received in less than 2 weeks.   Iain also renewed his UK passport and took a bit longer.    They rejected his picture 4 times... even though their app said Good Photo.      The one they finally accepted said Fair. 

[GTO-Girl]

We expedited and received our new passports today via next day UPS and our old passports were in the same envelope with our new passports…

[#1TravelMom]

My daughter just renewed hers and her boyfriend got his first passport.   We didn't pay to expedite since we have lots of time until our next cruise.   They only took 17 days.  

[catspaw1]

Happy to hear State dept has finally caught up with passports! COVID closing really hit them hard as they could not work from home. I know many staff got other jobs & they also use a lot of contractors so they went to other jobs also. 

[sprint180]

Just an FYI, my passport just took 24 days mailed from Nebraska.  Not expedited.  If anyone was wondering how it was going now.

[StollyBolly]

I’d rather wait for my luggage than wind my way through the passport control line.