Passport renewal

They even appear to be picking up speed. My husband and I renewed in September, about 10 days apart, and received our new passports in 26 and 23 days from submission.

I posted an update on a different thread and had a similar turn around time in the same time frame as you. I used expedited service.

We just used the regular service since we had no further international trips planned for this year. That’s why I was amazed at the turnaround, and am glad to hear it’s continuing.

I sent mine for standard processing in mid-October as well. My check was cashed on October 19, the day after yours. Status still shows "processing". Two weeks before that I renewed my Global Entry and that only took 48 hours for approval though! Maybe they are confused by my renewal application as I was still working when I renewed GE, but had retired by the time I renewed my passport two weeks later and indicated Retired as my employment status. on that, but not GE.

Hopefully it will come by the end of the year, as I would like to start booking for next year, which I won't do until I have my passport in hand -- just in case.

Joann, Just a reminder. When you get your new passport, it will have a new number. You should update the information on your Global Entry page so the numbers sync. I renewed my Global Entry last year, and my passport this year (Mailed July 30, received Sept. 27, no expediting). I couldn't find my list of back up codes for a while, but finally did, and updated my GE records today. It was a snap, and now I can relax knowing my info is the same for both items. I will need a driver's license renewal in the next two months, so I will have to update that data as well, with the new expiration date.
I am sure you will get your passport within an 8 week window.
Best of luck!

Your passport application locator number allows you to know which of the processing centers are working on your passport. Curious, anyone ever look up where it's being processed? The first two digits of your application locator number (9-digit number) indicates where it's getting processed --

Arkansas Passport Center 65
Atlanta Passport Agency 74
Boston Passport Agency 10
Buffalo Passport Agency 77
Charleston Passport Center 34-39
Chicago Passport Agency 18
Colorado Passport Agency 17
Connecticut Passport Agency 14
Dallas Passport Agency 55
Detroit Passport Agency 56
El Paso Passport Agency 78
Honolulu Passport Agency 12
Houston Passport Agency 79
Los Angeles Passport Agency 50
Miami Passport Agency 51
Minneapolis Passport Agency 54
National Passport Center 15, 20-29, 45, 68, 69, 71
New Orleans Passport Center 40-42
New York Passport Agency 11
Philadelphia Passport Agency 58
San Diego Passport Agency 76
San Francisco Passport Agency 05, 57
San Juan Passport Agency 67
Seattle Passport Agency 53
Vermont Passport Agency 75
Washington Passport Agency 19
Western Passport Center 61-64
Special Issuance Agency 80 Issues diplomatic, official, service, and no-fee regular passports, and facilitates visa processing for those traveling on behalf of the U.S. government.
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/get-fast/passport-agencies.html

That's a huge number of processing points. No wonder people's experiences vary so wildly.

@ Judy - Yes, I have set myself a reminder for the end of December.
@ VAP - Who knew there were so many processing centers?! Looks like mine is being processed out of Buffalo.

I received my renewal in exactly 14 days after it was received in the processing center. I did a tracking when I mailed it. I was shocked. On the form DS82 you complete for renewal, is a section that tells you where to mail your paperwork. If you pick some other location on your own and mail it there, perhaps that may add to the length of the process. Can't be sure. Maybe I was just lucky. However, I would stick to the address on the DS82 form for Passport Renewal. This is what is currently on the form. Good luck.

FOR ROUTINE SERVICE (If you live
in CA, FL, IL, MN, NY, or TX):
National Passport Processing Center
PO Box 640155
Irving, TX 75064-0155

FOR ROUTINE SERVICE (If you live
in any other state or Canada):
National Passport Processing Center
PO Box 90155
Philadelphia, PA 19190-0155

No one suggested that anyone should send their renewal application to any address other than that listed on form DS-82

When one sends in their form DS-82 the passport is going to be farmed out to and processed at one of the 28 processing centers. For those that apply in person with form DS-11 your passport is going to be sent to and processed at one of those centers. And your application locator number allows you to know which one of those centers processed your passport.

Our passport agencies and centers have two roles:

1.Process routine and expedited applications received from acceptance facilities and by mail

2.Serve customers by appointment only who have urgent international travel within 14 calendar days or need a foreign visa within 28 calendar days

And hopefully anyone looking at that list of processing centers would have noticed that the mailing address for every single one of them was the same exact address in Sterling, Virginia, no matter their physical address.  Back in 2015 my passport was processed in Charleston, South Carolina. 

Thanks VAP. Even more impressive that it went from Texas to Los Angeles and back to FL in 14 days.

Alright I know I'm going to feel foolish for asking this, but when each of you have mailed your form DS82 for passport renewal, how did you assemble your packet? Did you send all six pages, the 4 pages of instructions and 2 pages of application? Or did you send only the 2 pages of the application? To send just the 2 pages of application is too logical, but this is government bureaucracy and the State Department site isn't clear at all.

VAP you only send the two pages of the application with your passport photo stapled to it in the location noted on the form. I paperclipped my check to the application form so it wouldn't go missing, and folded the application around my passport. It all fit in a regular legal sized envelope. I mailed by priority mail (my post office put my regular envelope in in a priority envelope) with tracking.

So I mailed my packet on the January 11th.

The mailed packet was received in Philadelphia on the 18th, and they sure don't fool around, cause the check was submitted and cleared that very day on the 18th as well. It's being processed at the National Passport Center in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

Add us to the shocked list. Our passports were expired but we are planning a trip this year. We still had our old passports and did the application at our local post office. I can't find our application locator numbers, but, I still have the envelopes from where our old passports were sent back to us and the return address was "U.S. Department of State, New Orleans Passport Center."

Anyway, our appointment was Dec. 7th and we had them in hand by Dec. 20th. We were shocked too because the post office employee said 7 to 8 weeks.

As I said previously, dropped the renewal application in the mail January 11. Check cashed and process begins January 18. New passport made February 7, shipped February 8, and delivered Saturday February 10.

Processed at the Portsmouth, NH center, the passport was made in & shipped from Tucson, AZ. Processing was 3 weeks once entered in the system and only 4 weeks total.

To add a recent experience - dropped my passport in the mail on Monday, January 27th. It showed up in their system on Tuesday, February 6th, and I received my new passport on Valentine’s Day. I did pay for expedited passport and expedited shipping (since I have a trip planned in March) but was happy with how quickly I received it.

I also had really fast turn around. Sent the renewal application via priority mail as well as paying for expedited service and priority mail return. Sent it in Saturday January 27 and received my new passport Saturday February 3rd. Amazing!