My husband and I are traveling with another couple in late October. It's our second trip to Europe together and we're very excited! I suggested to my daughters that they make sure their passports are up to date, just in case something goes awry and our friends would have to cancel last minute. With accommodations for four all booked, we might be looking to take our daughters along instead of going by ourselves. One determined that her passport expires in February. So she sent it in for renewal. This was done on July 12.
Since she was reading that regular service was taking up to 18 weeks, she paid the $60 extra to use expedited service, said to take up to 12 weeks. She sent it in to the Philadelphia Passport Agency, using certified mail so that she could track it. The new passport arrived today! Just 4.5 weeks after the application was sent in!
Posted by
Portland, OR (PDX)
321 posts
I just shared similar: wife mailed expedited application July 14 and passport arrived today August 13.
Posted by
Lynnwood, Washington
8880 posts
Expedited is the only way to go right now. I wish I knew in April what I know now.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area
5697 posts
Congrats! Last year I sent my passport in for renewal right before the Covid shutdowns hit -- took 4 months (but I wasn't planning to travel for about 7 months -- and ended up not going further than the grocery store all year.)
Posted by
North Georgia, USA
1155 posts
My daughter's expedited application also took just about 5 weeks. She mailed in late June.
Posted by
Last Frontier aka Alaska 🏔️
3561 posts
Oh this is good news for my ears! We only have 3 months between all our trips next year and my husband’s passport expires next November. We have to wait to send off till we are back from Egypt, but it sounds like things are much improved. Thank you Vicki for this post.