I heard about the passport price increase coming up next week so I thought I'd renew a few months early so as to avoid paying the higher price. But then it occurred to me that I need my passport next month for a trip to Canada so I'm not going to have enough time to renew now. So I was wondering what people do who travel out of the country frequently and don't have a 4 - 6 week window when they can be passportless? Are they just stuck paying the fee to expedite it?
How do you renew your passport if you need it frequently?
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http://travel.state.gov/passport/processing/processing_1740.html
<<<EXPEDITED SERVICE*
As of ( Wednesday July 7, 2010 ), we are processing requests for expedited service, that include overnight delivery to and from the Passport Agency, about 2-3 weeks door-to-door*.>>
Depending on how much time you have, you can expedite it for the extra fee. Otherwise, the only way I can think of is to set up an appointment and go to your nearest passport agency office. I don't know if there are extra fees involved or not but it could be a long drive for that appointment as they seem to be only in select large cities.
While it is an increase, it's only $35 (I think) and expediting costs an extra $60. That's definitely not worth it to avoid the extra fee. It wouldn't be worth to me to make a (possibly) long drive for an appointment to get it renewed faster. Despite wanting to pay as few fees as possible, I would only suggest expediting a renewal or making an appointment to renew in person if you traveled frequently and didn't have a 4-6 week window prior to your passport coming due.
I wasn't thinking of expediting right now, as you say it wouldn't be worth it. However, we are considering a trip to Europe in October, only 47 days after our return from Canada. Our passports expire in March, 2011 and I understand some countries require 6 months to be left on your passport. So we may need to expedite as soon as we return from Canada.
If you're planning on expediting it anyway, why not do it before you go to Canada and before the fees go up? Do you have enough time to expedite it now? I'd expedite it now (assuming you have 3+ weeks still before Canada) and pay the expediting fee instead of the extra fee AND the expediting fee.
I wouldn't trust 47 days as enough time to send it between your two trips, but I'm possibly over-cautious.
I'm overly cautious too! The October trip is still very tentative and depending on the country, our March expiration date may be okay so we may be able to renew after the October trip without expediting.
regular processing is only taking about 3 weeks as it is. IMO you'd have plenty of time between your two trips. It may depend on which passport office you use - but my next door neighbor got her passport in 16 days door to door in May - and that was a new passport, not a renewal - and not expedited. Renewals take less time.
Are they just stuck paying the fee to expedite it?
Yes. My husband travels Internationally all the time on short notice. When he had a two week window, he did the expedited service. The other option is to hand walk it if you happen to be in or going to a city with a passport office -- DC, Chicago, NY, Seattle, for example.
But they don't have just 2 weeks -- they have 47 days between trips. I honestly don't think they need to expedite, but can of course if it makes them feel better.
We decided that the October trip will be London/Paris and neither of those countries has the six months left on the passport requirement so we can just renew normally once we return.
So glad to live in a country that requires the old passport to be handed in only when picking up the new one...
Americans don't have to hand in passports till they pick up their new one?You can still use it? In Canada once we do the renewal the present passport has a corner snipped and therefore invalid. Now it takes us about 2 weeks to get a passport and I got my renewal in 5 days.
<<<Americans don't have to hand in passports till they pick up their new one?You can still use it?>>>
We do have to turn it in when getting a new one. No you can't still use it while you're in the renewal process.
If you mail it in, it takes a little bit of time (it varies greatly, can be 1-6 weeks). If you pay to expedite it, it goes faster. If you need it very quickly, you make an appointment at a regional office. You drop it off, and pick up the new one a few hours later. However you renew it, you give up your old passport during the renewal process and get the old one back with a small hole punched out and your new passport, shiny and ready for travel.
foggy, either quokka isn't an American or simply meant the renewal process as the only time it has to be handed in when they said "when picking up the new one".