Please help with passport renewal question!

Routine: Save $60. Door-to-door service in 18 weeks (includes up to 12 weeks processing and 6 weeks mailing on front and back end)

Expedited: Costs an extra $60. Door-to-door service in 12 weeks (includes up to 6 weeks processing and 6 weeks mailing on front and back end)

Agency or Center: extremely limited number of appointments: must have international travel in the next 72 hours (3 business days)

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports.html

Umm, there seems to be no easy solution

Look at using the passport expedited service. Website this costs an extra $60 and can still take up to 12 weeks from the time you send it to the time you receive it.
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports.html

Leave him at home? 🤣🤣 (Probably not what you are looking for….)

Seriously, you don’t have a lot of choice. I think I would have it ready to send as soon as you walk in the door from Egypt and expedite. It might be possible to get an in-person slot once you get within a few days of San Juan if you haven’t received it back yet. But I doubt you can go in person before that.

Perhaps if you prepare the renewal documents before your trip to Egypt you can send it for renewal as soon as you return using the expedite service. Hopefully in the fall the (summer) demand for passports may fall off and reduce the turnaround time. But there's really no way to know for sure.

I wonder if there's a way to avoid the 6 weeks mailing time? Paying for overnighting both ways? Flying to wherever these things get processed? (I know, not practical, but I'm just musing here.)

Have you actually called the passport folks and explained your dilemma? Obviously, a 3-day turnaround is possible (if rare), so perhaps a friendly clerk could help.

Tammy, there have been a variety of reports on people's actual experiences on renewing their passports here on the forum. Some have gone relatively quickly and they wonder what the fuss is all about. Others (like myself) have seen the passport agency wait over a month to even open my application and we are at 7 weeks of "in process" after that as we speak.

I have noticed that those who appear to get things through more quickly have done the following:
They pay for the expedited service . (I wish I had!)
They pay for express delivery and have a signed receipt that the agency received the application.

I think that your best bet is to send it off immediately upon return and be prepared that if it doesn't get back to him in time to hope for a last minute (under 72 hours prior to travel) time appointment at a US passport office.

In another forum, this question came up. They recommended reaching out to your US House Representative. In this case the US Rep was my Rep, Chris Smith R-NJ (central NJ). The person in question responded that his office was indeed able to help her get the passport renewal pushed through. I think she was in dire straits at the time, which you are not yet, but it could be worth a shot.

Does the cruise visit other "international" ports- as a US citizen, if you fly directly from a US airport to PR you wouldn't need a passport, anyway- providing ample time for the renewal. (Sorry if this isn't helpful but you weren't specific about the cruise.) My passport renewal, not expedited, and the worst photo of my life with mask under chin and turning red from holding my breath, took almost 4 months. I used tracking and signed delivery, it got to the office quickly but then nothing further for those months.

Not sure if this will work in your situation. The last time I renewed my passport, which was in 2017, I was able to renew it without relinquishing my existing passport.
My situation: I was traveling every two weeks to Calgary for work and had an upcoming extended trip to Africa and hence couldn’t be without my passport for more than two weeks. Lucky for me, my hotel in Calgary was 2 blocks from the US consulate. When I called the consulate and explained the situation, they said no problem. They asked me to make an appointment and had me submit the paperwork, verified the existing passport and let me leave with it so I could keep traveling. A week later when i was in the US I got an email saying my new passport was ready and to make an appointment and come pick it up.

When I returned to the consulate I only had to sign the new passport and they punched 2 holes in the old And gave it back to me. It was just a 5 minute process other than the waiting time. All in all I entered Canada on one passport and exited with another. One final thing I had to do was to check in with Canadian immigration on my next trip to transfer my work permit to the new passport

I know your situation is different but wanted to let you know that there are situations where you can apply for a passport while continuing to travel on the existing one

For what it’s worth, I mailed my renewal application June 5, regular mail with tracking. Arrived at post office in Texas June 9. In process June 29. Passport received July 26 - mailed from Tucson. I did not request expedited service or express return mail. I was lucky. The only thing I can think of that might have made a difference was that I inserted my upcoming travel dates in the renewal application. Friends who mailed in applications about the same time that I did requested expedited service and got their passports back about a week before I did. They also indicated the dates of their upcoming travel.

We bought plane tickets to Italy before he discovered his passport had expired. He filled out everything and wrote checks for expedited service and mail. I took to PO next day and paid for overnight delivery.

It was back in 4.5 weeks well in advance of our trip.

Cost extra for expediting everything but worth it.

The delays that are happening now are because the Passport Agency files were hacked thus they closed everything down.
Last year after COVID was a factor, I mailed our passports in for renewal and they were returned in two weeks. I did our Global Entry renewals at the same time and it took four months..

Tammy, why aren't you worried about the Egypt trip? You are under six months of passport expiration for that first trip. Am I missing something here?

I have read articles where lines at passport offices went around the block. People were actually flying to certain passport office locations where they thought the lines would be shorter.

I was attempting to read our travel insurance policy last night, all 46+pages. There was a section on passport issues and what was covered. It may have only dealt with theft, but it's worth looking into, if you have travel insurance.

Wishing you much good luck!

Suki, can you cite your source for "they were hacked" and shut down? I have not been able to find any news reports that support your statements. Spammers did attack the computer appointment process so they switched to telephone appointments only.

Pat- The passport expires Nov 2022 and their trip to Egypt is in October 2021

OOPS! Thx for the correction!

My renewed passport was delivered to me in 42 days -- nothing expedited, nothing rushed, no Congressional intervention. Plenty of time for most travel any of us are contemplating now.

It seems that those wanting the expedited service may have clogged up the system by overloading that part while the regular route is relatively unused. A companion of mine sent his renewal through the expedited route the same day as I did and he is still waiting for any response. Not helpful if you actually need the expedited route, but something to consider. Of course my experience may just be the unusual one, YMMW.

And yes, you can schedule an in person appointment to get your passport renewed. You have to be traveling within 72 hours and with some other conditions to be met to qualify. The passport home page can provide the information you are looking for.

Thank you everyone! We are going to expedite and overnight delivery both going and returning, and frankly, that is about all I can do. I have to leave it up to the passport gods. We will have 12 weeks from the time we return from Egypt until our cruise at the end of January. I just hope they don't take too much time off during that time! EEks, it's going to be a nail biter! And good grief, over $200 to get a passport renewal! I know, first world problems!