On Saturday, July 25, my husband and I submitted applications online to have our passports renewed — passport books only. We asked for routine service and did not pay extra for faster delivery. The process was pretty easy, although my first picture was rejected because the background was not white enough (although it was the same background as my husband’s).
My husband received an email on July 28 saying his passport had shipped, and he received it on July 30. That was 5 DAYS!
I was concerned that my application got lost, since I hadn’t been notified that my passport had shipped yet and we applied only 15 minutes apart. So I called the phone number on the website. It was 8:20 pm on Thursday night and someone answered right away. She told me my passport had been approved but had not been picked up by the post office yet. She gave me a tracking number - 34 digits! - and the url for USPS tracking. I just checked, and it says my passport will be delivered on Wednesday, which is 10 days from application - still speedy.
Apparently our applications were sent to two different offices, which explains the time difference.
I am impressed and amazed at how fast and easy this process was.