Online passport renewal on hold

I attempted to just do the on-line renewal in early January since I was eligible per their requirements. But it was on hold, so I just mailed in my form, etc. I received my new passport before the end of February- sooner than some people who submitted their renewal on-line in December. Hopefully their backlog are being processed more timely now!

I received that email as well yesterday. I was surprised as I thought they have paused online renewal a couple of weeks ago.

Yeah, I was too, Frank. Hopefully the mail-in renewals will go quickly now and they can concentrate on working out the kinks in the online process.

Mail in renewals are often based on luck. Your application goes to one of the centers for processing. Depending on their workload, your application might be processed faster or slower. One application might be returned surprisingly quickly while another submitted at roughly the same time takes longer.

I've usually had pretty good luck with my passport.

Global Entry is another story, my application has been languishing for want of an interview. Last year, I couldn't book my appointment (or pick up a cancellation) before leaving on my trip 6 months later. Since then, I haven't lived close to a place that does interviews. I'm hoping at some point, my reentry interview will count because I'm not sure I'll get there otherwise.