Passport renewals - any recent experiences?

Data point- send in for renewal now. The agency has worked through much of the backlog but who knows what this winter will bring. Get in line now.

Data point- over the average travelers “traveling” lifetime renewing your passport 1 year EARLY (1 year before it expires) will result in 0 to 1 extra passport renewals over their entire traveling life. Most will need 0 extra renewals and a few will need 1 extra if they started traveling young and travel into late 70’s -80’s. A max of 1 extra renewal That is approx $200 spread out over an entire lifetime. Say $5 a year for a very few travelers.

You never know what type of “emergency” may arise. Don’t put off today what might become an emergency tomorrow.. You are not saving money by not renewing early.

My wife sent her renewal in late July and got her new passport October 3.

The website says renewals take 10-12 weeks. https://www.usa.gov/passport#item-34907

Waiting until her's expires won't make it any sooner. Its only a few weeks from now.

I can not think of a scenario that waiting is better than submitting the renewal NOW

As many countries now require that you have 3-6 months REMAINING on
your passport expiration date (versus date of return)... you probably
would not be able to travel to many spots, even if you could travel.

I can only think of three that I have visited with that requirement; Russia, Ukraine and South Africa. And they, if memory serves me correctly, only wanted 3 months. But my memory isnt what it once was; does anyone know of others? Especially the ones with 6 months? I would hate to find myself in a fix.

A little self research sure beats asking dumb questions. Apparently because you can stay in many countries for 3 months, they require your passport extends to the maximum departure date.

Also found the answer to my 6 month question:

Austria
Belgium
Belize
Bolivia
Brazil
Burma (Myanmar)
China
Costa Rica
Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast)
Czech Republic
Ecuador (including Galápagos Islands)
Ethiopia
France
French Polynesia
Germany
Greece
Guatemala
Guyana
Honduras
Iceland
India
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Kenya
Madagascar
Mexico
Malaysia
Mauritius
Mozambique
Namibia
Netherlands
Nicaragua
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Philippines
Russia
Singapore
Spain
St. Lucia
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Tanzania
Thailand
Timor-Leste (East Timor)
Trinidad & Tobago
United Arab Emirates
Venezuela
Vietnam

JamesE-- an impressive list amassed in just 5 minutes.

cut paste off a website. i am always (internally) fussing about people not doing their own homework and this time I did the same. Felt bad so did a quick google.

And - If I remember correctly - there is a $ penalty if you wait to renew after the expiration date. So might as well get in line now.

I don't see any additional fees if your passport has already expired, although there is a requirement that your old passport had to have been issued within the last 15 years. If more than 15 years, your application would be treated as a first time application and be subject to the $35 Execution Fee.
https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/passports/forms-fees/Passport%20Fees%20Chart_TSG2020.pdf

hey hey jake
as others have posted, start your renewal now. there are penalties with a cost ($$) if it's expired. there are other no no's to renew an expired one.
renew it online, have all the documents, photos, old passport, marriage license or birth certificate and a check or money order for amount and mail it in. check at travel.state.gov for forms.
you will get new passport with new number and a few days later your old passport with a hole punched thru it.
if you are not traveling soon to expedite with a cost, renew now. it may take 6 to 8 weeks to receive and you should be good to go. good luck
@ JamesE thanks for your list. i'm always impressed with your answers and research you do.
aloha

I renewed in May and got my passport in late August or so. During this time the offices were shut down completely, so overall it didn’t take as much time as I thought. Now that things have opened up a bit, it should be faster.

One of our sons is waiting on his renewal and it says it was received on 9/1/2020 and is still in process. The website has not been updated since the end of September, but then it was still behind 923,000 passports to be issued, getting in about 173,000 that week and issuing 168,000 passports, so do the math. As I said, though, it says it is going to be updated every Thursday, but hasn't been updated since the end of September. Not a good sign, as far as I can see, so you better get started. We are kind of regretting that we didn't pay for expedited service, since our son may have to get back to college in Canada (with 14 day quarantine, of course, and his student visa). Good luck.

Also sent my renewal in at the beginning of September & just got my new passport yesterday (11/11). Old passport is going to be returned in a separate mailing. I have worn glasses all my life but the new rule is passport photo without glasses. The photo in the passport makes me look weirdly....different. Hope this creates no problems down the road.

My passport expired in March. I had a sailing trip to the British Virgin Islands planned in February so waited till I got home to renew. March came, government shut down, and State dept. wasn't doing anything. I thought this was a two-week thing to "flatten the curve" so I held my renewal application, and held it, and held it...

I ended up sending my renewal at the end of summer and received my new passport in about 4 weeks. Not bad at all.

I'd guess, at some point, travel restrictions will be eased and there will be a flood of passport applications. I'd send it in now and have the passport in hand before the door opens and State is jammed with new and renewal applications.

I sent my passport in to be renewed in mid-September, before you could pay to expedite. A week or so later, the option to expedite came up, and I called to take advantage (not that I desperately needed it faster; it's more just that I don't like the feeling of not having that identification available to me!). With the expedite fee, I got it back in four weeks total.

I sent in my kids’ passports for renewal in mid-Aug and got them back mid-Oct. I’m in agreement with everyone else, best to start the process now (especially if there’s a chance they shut down again for awhile).

Here you are jake:

rewal thread

Read the last entry in this thread for a recent data point.

I understand your worries, but the passport situation can be fixed... I know for sure that renewing your passport is much easier than to make a brand-new one. For passport renewal you need some documents first. Current passport, passport photos (2x2), government fee and DS-82 application I don't remember all the details, but this one I know for sure. Also, I recommend you to use a passport info guide, because I am not a pro in these cases. I hope you will resolve your problem in these hard times for everyone. Good luck and take care everyone!

Source:https://passportinfoguide.com/

What's the rewal thread?

"What's the rewal thread?"

It's a mis-typing of "renewal thread," and the link is for another thread in this forum about someone's passport renewal experience.

I have a friend from, a "state sponsor of terrorism", who got his US Citizenship in late November, Passport in early January, Global Entry in late January. Pretty efficient by most standards.