Received new passports, waiting for return of old ones (Update: got old ones back - 2 months)

We never got ours back, but we didn't care. Curious as to what others have experienced.

Yes, our most recent old passports took at least 2-3 mos to get back to us, maybe longer. I don’t think it’s a high priority for them since you can’t actually use them again. We love keeping all of ours, fun souvenir. I got my 1st passport when i was 4 yrs old and still have it, and all the others since.

We have always received the old ones. But since it was not terribly important to have the old ones, don't know how long it took for the return. Maybe a couple months after receiving the new ones. One day they just showed up in the mail. We renewed late last year. Renewal was quick but don't remember for the return of the old ones.

I renewed my passport in September last year and received the old one 2or3 weeks later.

Thank you all for your responses.

Susan, since yours came after 2-3 months, you’ve given me hope that ours might still show up. We like keeping the old ones as souvenirs too - fun to look at all the places we’ve been.

I like them as souvenirs as well. I have one from my first trip as a teenager a LONG time ago!

One reason that it is sometimes important to get the old passport back: I have a Chinese visa, issued in 2019, inside my old passport. It is good for 10 years and can still be used even though it is inside the old passport ( I would need to take both old and new passports with me.) Chinese visas are expensive with a fairly complicated application process, so I definitely don’t want to start over!

My experience seems to be 'unusual'. Our old ones arrived 3-4 days after the new ones. That was Sept last year when things were just starting to move again. Odd that it now taking so much longer.

After reading Joe’s post, I thought I’d follow up a bit. My sister renewed her passport at the same time we did and received hers in 3 weeks (same as we did – mid May 2022). But her old passport arrived 4 days later (same as Joe above), and we’re still waiting. My sister received the “old style” passport and we received the “new style” – not sure if that makes a difference… maybe a difference in processing procedures?

No -- ours have always come back with the big hole a few weeks after the renewal. What is the hole going to do to your visa?

Frank - My old passport came back with two fairly small holes on just the first two pages. So the Chinese visa, pasted on a page much further back, is intact.

Of course, it’s unlikely that I will ever get to use this visa again with all the shut-downs that China has imposed. I am very fond of China and have been there six times. But I am not fond enough to want to risk being stuck there in lock-down for several weeks or months!

I posted this so that others on the forum who might have “active” visas in an expired passport would be aware that the visa might still be good.

Good information. I'll be renewing mine after my October trip.

I'll take photos of all the pages in case I never get my souvenir passport back. I hang one of my old ones on a ribbon on my Christmas tree, near my travel souvenir Christmas ornaments.

The last time I needed to renew the passport was in the spring of 2015, turned in everything required at the post office in SF, received the new passport three weeks later, which was a pleasant surprise, the fastest time ever. Normally, I allow for at least a month. The perforated old expired one arrived soon afterwards. I've always received the old one whenever renewing, either at the same time or shortly afterwards.

Following up - I’m happy to report that we just received our old passports in the mail today! Exactly two months after we received the new ones.

(I edited title to show we got them back).

Thank you all for taking the time to respond.

That's great news, and thank you for the update!