Passport renewals

Thanks for the notice. We're in the waiting pool. Not leaving within 5 days but we are getting antsy regarding receiving our passports before a May 1 departure. Renewed online at the end of January. Received an email notice it was received Jan 27, and in process Feb 6 . At the time we renewed wait time was 6-8 weeks and we thought that was plenty of time. We have no idea when to expect our passports. Just curious what is the process ? What is checked to renew? What takes so much time to approve it?

My "expedited" passport renewal doesn't seem expedited, either! I applied on-line on January 9, paid the extra $ for expedited. At the time, the website said 3-5 weeks for expedited. It's now been over 7 weeks. However, I just yesterday received an email saying that it has shipped! We will now see what the USPS has to say about it. Thankfully, my trip isn't for a few more weeks....

Anyone know what the cause of this repeated backlog?

Is it lack manpower, incompetence or poor management?

Yes, I would like to know what causes the delays.
With computers now it should be easy to process. I keep repeating, "I have every confidence in the process that my passport will be received soon. " Keeps me from going the other hand wringing way.
Perhaps it was the forgotten orange in my bag that cute beagle discovered a few years ago that has marked me as poor risk ;-)

I’ve had passports for almost 50 years and right wrong or otherwise it’s gotten slower and slower. I try not to worry about it or rail about incompetence, workload or the excuse de jour. Just apply way in advance and move on.

Is the general rule still that you need to replace it if you will be using it during the last 6 months it is valid?
I still have a couple years but just want to be sure i understand when I need to renew it.

My understanding is the passport must be valid for 6 months after your trip

They received my request for an expedited passport on Jan 18 and immediately showed "in process". It said 3-5 weeks. We're coming up on six weeks and I just checked. It now says 5-7 weeks and still in process.

I have a trip the second week in April. If I dont receive the passport by the end of seven weeks, I'm going to call and ask them what to do. They have all my materials so I can't make an in person appointment.

BTW, I applied via mail and they cashed my check on Jan. 18.

I spoke to someone last week who applied for regular service the beginning of December. She's still waiting.

My daughter's family applied for new passports the week of Christmas. Their new passports arrived 2/18th. Non-expedited.

https://www.booker.senate.gov/news/press/booker-urges-new-jerseyans-to-proactively-renew-passports

A deluge of applications seems to be the primary culprit

Looks like Sept 2021 was a 'goldilocks' period. Mailed my renewal application on 9-11 and 10-14 had new passport in hand. No special processing or mailing. Passport card arrived 10-15 At the time 4.5 months was considered 'average'

Good luck to all!

@Frank II "They have all my materials so I can't make an in person appointment." < --- this is incorrect; if you need to get an inperson appt because you're in that 5 day window (that used to be 14), they would be able to see your documents at the facility you get the appt at.

Thanks, but I got my new passport.

I applied for a renewal online on Jan 4. 2023. My passport was due for renewal in August. I have travel plans for Greece and Italy in April.
This week when I went online to check the status, I saw that this site was closed and I could no longer see the progress of my renewal application.
I emailed my concerns--the automatic reply said, essentially, that they were busy, so don't reply.
I filled out a renewal form and mailed it expedited. There is a phone number to call ( 1-877-487-2778). This number is busy or goes to an automated reply that says they are busy and then disconnects.
Whether I am able to make my trips is unknown. I have insurance so maybe I can change my plans for later in the year.
Renew with the aspect that it is going to take a very long time!

Is anyone having especially long wait times for Global Entry renewals? There does not seem to be a number to call and check on those either or am I missing something?

My family is on tenterhooks right now waiting for my nieces's passports to show up. We leave TWO WEEKS from today and the last my brother heard was almost 4 weeks ago when they got a letter to go back to the post office - the complete moron that worked there didn't sign their applications. They had to submit new ones and are still waiting. They initially applied sometime in January and paid expidited - my SIL applied the same day and got hers Valentine's Day. He's contacted his congressman and they're supposedly working on it. He was able to get through to a human being this morning but they told him to call back tomorrow, because it's not 'within' two weeks until then. I stopped buying tickets to things a couple weeks ago because we really have no idea if they're going to be able to make it at all.

So as a takeaway lesson, always watch to make sure the post office person actually signs your application like they're supposed to, so you don't end up with this hassle!

Recently renewed family's passports by mail for our anticipated 2024 trip, and had all three replacements back fairly quick. Combined 3 separate envelopes (each containing one person's application, completed online and printed/signed with photo attached; current passport; and a check for $130 [pp] ) into one USPS Letter parcel with tracking number. Sent on Jan 17, confirmation of its' receipt on the 19th; and got back the new passport books last Monday (Mar 6), just shy of seven weeks total for 'Routine Service' renewal. The varying turnaround times referenced in some responses may be due to different regional centers and volumes they're having to process. For CA (our instance), FL, IL, MN, NY and TX residents, the processing facility is Irving TX. All other 44 states have renewals directed to, and processed by, the same center in Philadelphia.

For CA (our instance), FL, IL, MN, NY and TX residents, the processing facility is Irving TX. All other 44 states have renewals directed to, and processed by, the same center in Philadelphia.

It may be sent to Philadelphia, but my passport was processed in Los Angeles. My new passport and my old passport and passport card were all sent from the Los Angeles office and I'm currently in NC.

My new passport and my old passport and passport card were
all sent from the Los Angeles office and I'm currently in NC.

Interesting. The Irving and Philadelphia locations are what's posted (directed) on Travel.State.Gov site for Routine Service by-mail renewals. Perhaps your Expedited service - referenced earlier in thread - involves a different locale? Dunno.

All expedited requests from everywhere in the U.S. and Canada are to be sent to Philadephia (different box number from regular requests.) From there, they are probably meted out of other offices as needed.

Reading about the "where it was mailed from" comments caused me to look at my envelope (from late 2021)

New Hampshire return address. ( submission was to Philly)

Apologies to OP for straying.

Had the online renewal process ever gotten past the 'testing' stage?

I still do not get why folks wait for so long to renew (I mean folks with travel experience). Renew (obviously with no trip in the near future) 12-15 months out from expiration. Why push it until 6-9 months out with from expiration with a trip planned earlier? Passport renewal delays are not a new thing but have been going on for years.

When the new passport arrives, it’s dated the day it’s processed, so renewing 12-15 months ahead of time means you’ve lost 12-15 months that were already paid.

I mailed my renewal paperwork in January - non-expedited, and I received it late February. Initially I tried to renew it on-line, but that option was closed.

Happy Update. Passports were received this morning.
Submitted online Jan 27, upgraded to expedited Feb. 16, received March 23.
It took about 8 weeks.
We were concerned because my husband's status stayed at received until yesterday when it changed to in process. Then appeared in the mailbox the next day.
Not sure our experience helps anyone, perhaps some encouragement the system works.
Unless you have no travel plans, I suggest paying for the expedited processing.

If memory serves, I got notification that my passport had shipped after I had it in hand - in 2019! The whole notification process and online updating has been a mess for years...

We're still waiting. Travel on Wednesday. My brother has an in-person appointment on Tuesday, in a location 5 hours away from where he lives. He was also told to bring all the documents as though he was applying for the first time, because they didn't know if the documents would be there (the passports were assigned to the New Hampshire office, which is about 12 hours away). So he's had to get new photos, new birth certificates, and has to get a new notarized form from his ex-wife. It's a huge hassle and none of his congressmen have been able to help other than to say they've put in an inquiry and to keep the appointment on Tuesday.

He's also getting nervous about the protests in Paris and has said multiple times he's never looked forward to a trip less. :/

all the passport facilities are connected electronically; as long as his docs were received and checked in by the other facility, they have access to them at his appt.

@ skunklet1771 I would think so too, but he was specifically told to bring all the documents as though they had never received anything.

Here is today's update, courtesy of CNN

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday the State
Department is facing an “unprecedented demand” for passports, and has
increased staffing and resources to deal with it.

Blinken said the current wait time for a regular passport is “about
ten to thirteen weeks, and for an expedited passport about seven to
nine weeks.”

The State Department is “getting 500,000 applications a week for
passports,” which is 30 to 40% more applicants this year than last
year, Blinken told a House Appropriations subcommittee budget hearing.

“Historically, the demand’s been cyclical, the busy season is kind of
March to late summer. Basically it’s full time now,” he said.

So he's had to get new photos, new birth certificates, and has to get a new notarized form from his ex-wife

Probably none of my business, but I am puzzled at why would one need a form from an ex-spouse to renew a passport.

@Joe. I am assuming there are also passports for minor children in the mix.

Carol now retired is correct! I'm a notary and that's it. If the parents don't apply together, then one parent has to get a notarized permission for the application.

Wanted to share my recent experience.
I submitted for renewal on 3/3 and paid for expedited service as well as the priority mail. On the date I submitted the estimated time was 5-7 weeks. On 3/30 I received an email from the State Department indicating I needed to submit a new photo, which I was able to do via priority mail the next day. I received my new passport via priority mail on 4/17. So they were able to complete the process even with my photo hiccup in the estimated time frame.

@Joe - I hadn't seen your query, but the others were correct, the notarized form was for my nieces's passports. Thankfully he did not have to go to the appointment, the same night I posted we received notification that they had shipped and they arrived Monday morning - about 46 hours to spare before they left! Whew!!!

The bad thing about it is we were so unsure of the passports coming in time that we stopped purchasing nonrefundable tickets to anything, so we weren't able to get tickets to some of the sights we wanted to see. We all had a great time though and it just means we'll have to see those things next time!!!

Back in the day, we examined the birth certificate and issued a passport by gluing and ironing a photo into a blank booklet and stamping it with a raised seal. With the rise of fake documentation, lots of different laws and regulations regarding eligibility, and yes, staffing shortages (and you can thank your Congressman for that), it’s a different world. Google 8 FAM 100 - 500 to see what I mean.