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Passport renewal story

Posted by (Ajijic, Jalisco, Mexico) on

There is no category that fits this post, so I'm posting under Technology Tips just because...

I had to renew my US passport, although it didn't expire until 2028, because I was running out of blank pages. Living in Mexico means things take longer to get where they're going, so I allowed plenty of time before my next trip, which isn't until mid-March. Because my passport didn't expire within a year, online renewal wasn't an option.

So on Monday, January 5, I sent my application and all essential documentation to the consulate in Guadalajara. I used DHL, and I enclosed a prepaid DHL envelope for the return.

Here's how the timing went down:

  • Friday, January 9: I received an email from the consulate saying they received my passport application and would be sending it to a passport agency in the US for processing.
  • Tuesday, January 13: I received an email from the State Department saying that they received my application, and it would take 4-6 weeks for processing starting from that date.
  • Wednesday, January 14: I received an email from the State Department saying that they have mailed my new passport. They said my old passport would be sent back separately.
  • Tuesday, January 27: I received an email from the consulate in Guadalajara saying they have sent my passport back to my via DHL.
  • Wednesday, January 28: My new passport arrived, along with my old one. I suspect they waited to receive the old one before sending it back to me.

I guess they say 4-6 weeks to lower expectations. I knew it might not take that long, but I certainly didn't expect them to complete processing in 24 hours! A friend who used to be a travel agent said this is low season for passport renewals. So you shouldn't necessarily expect such speedy service.

Posted by
3487 posts

Thanks for the good report Lane. A friend of mine in Oregon renewed her passport by mail and it only took nine days! Time for me to renew mine too !

Posted by
740 posts

I thought they weren’t going to stamp pages anymore? Why would you be running out of pages if that is the case. Maybe I’m misunderstanding what I thought I read.

Posted by
2255 posts

L2T, I travel to a lot of countries where they still stamp passports. And everytime I depart from and arrive back in Mexico, that's 2 stamps. I will have at least three trips out of and back into Mexico this year, possibly more.

This year I'm arriving in the Schengen zone once before the EES is in effect, so I will probably get a stamp on arrival. Also this year I'm going to Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Mauritius, Réunion (part of France but not part of Schengen), Madagascar, Mongolia, Japan, Korea, China, and back to Japan. I believe each of these countries will stamp my passport on arrival and on departure. And the China visa will be a sticker in my passport.

So yes, running out of pages is still a thing.

Posted by
601 posts

I had that problem also and had to renew a year or so early. It wasn’t that there was no room for stamps, there was plenty, but rather the picky rules some countries have about the number of consecutive blank visa pages you’re supposed to have, which are sometimes enforced, and South Africa where I planned to travel is notorious for this. You can request at no additional charge a passport with 52 rather than 26 pages so that’s what I did for the renewal. It’s a bit thicker but not annoyingly so, and now I have more than enough room for any conceivable travel through 2034 — just when, as noted, many countries are doing away with stamps altogether.

Posted by
2255 posts

Slate, my old passport and my new passport both have the extra pages. I guess I just travel too much!

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