When Should I Begin to Renew my Passport Expiring in May 2009
 

With all the talk of backlog in passport processing, I thought I should begin to plan when I need to send my old one in for renewal. I imagine there might be an even bigger surge of applications once passports will be needed for land crossings as well.

My current passport expires in May 2009, but I've read that you often need at least six months of validity on a passport to enter certain countries.

Times that I would likely travel include:
Fall 2007, Spring 2008, and Fall 2008, and Spring 2009. I'm thinking maybe November of 2008 might be the best time to send in for renewal?

What do others think?

My guess is submit the application in late fall 2008. Perhaps everyone else will have been scared into applying by then and it will still be plenty of time to get it back by spring 2009.

Just to be safe, I'm going to renew mine a full year early.

I would send it in after your Spring 2008 trip, allowing yourself at least 4 or more months for processing. If it doesn't take that long, then you're ahead of the game.

I would second that late fall (either 07 or 08) should be pretty good. The current problem is a due to a combination of the change in rules implemented this past January plus the busy summer travel season. Since more rules are to take place next January, catching a post-summer vacation lull might be the way to go!

Given that you've paid for your current passport and the new one will just incur more fees, IMO I would not go so far as to renew an entire year in advance. (If it comes down to it and you need to depart the country quickly, there is an established method for handling rush requests - believe me, I just paid all the fees to do it(!) and got my passport the same day.)

Of course, all this has to be said with the caveat that I can't predict the future and who knows what mess lies ahead... One can only hope that there's a lesson learned somewhere here on the part of the State Department and Congress! ;)

Assume a US PP, so renew a year early as the entire process is in absolute chaos.
M

Hi U,

Your new passport will be good for 10 years. A few months either way is not going to make a monetary difference.

I'd renew following the Spring '08 trip.

((I))

I would not wait until November of 2008 to renew a passport you are going to use in the Spring of 2009.

Are any of these trips that seem "likely" any more than that at this point?

I'd do it the minute I got back from that Spring 2008 trip.

Just curious: when one renews a passport, is the old one kept an a new one issued? Also, is there anywhere one can walk in and have this process done or does it have to go through the mail?

Thanks

I read on these forums a few weeks ago about some people renewing their passports at an American Embassy in a foreign country.... for instance, you're in, say, Buenos Aires for a week... your passport is scheduled to expire the following year..... if I understand what they're saying correctly, you just go to the American Embassy while you're in BA and have them renew it there.....

Embassies are set up to "replace" lost passports immediately, so is it true that you can RENEW one at the Embassies?

Of course, if this requires sitting at the Embassy all day long, then it probably isn't worth losing a full day of your vacation.

h2otstr, your old one is punched to make it unusable and then returned to you with your new passport.

There are specific rules for walk-in passport renewals. Check out www.travel.state.gov/passport for all passport info; look for the page on Passport Agencies for the walk-in information.

okay, added to the chaos, the government website has gone a bit haywire! I went to the site for renewing passports and whenever I clicked on the link for "renew in person" and "expedited service," the words would just vanish from the screen!

<<< Embassies are set up to "replace" lost passports immediately >>>

I seriously hope not otherwise someone could just show up, say they've lost everything, produce a police report and get a passport.

Be prepared for a long wait as they prove your identity - in fact I would say it's easier to renew a passport as you've already got that proof of ID

ggreen, thanks for the info.

I just went through the renewal process so I will share my experience. Our passports were due to expire March 2008 and we will be in Europe in early October 2007 so I wanted to renew before we left. Being a worrier by nature I paid the extra $ for expedited service and sent in the passports in mid April. We received the new ones 10 days later. I probably could have done without the expediting but I couldn't stand the thought of my paperwork sitting on a desk somewhere for weeks or maybe months. It was worth it for the peace of mind. So for the OP, I would apply for expedited renewal right after your return in Fall 2008 to be safe for Spring 2009.

You renew your passport when it has about a year left to run and you don't have a trip planned. Then it doesn't matter if you have to wait 3 months.

Mine expires on April 30, 2010. I have a trip to Australia planned for 2008. If I have nothing else planned at that point, I will probably put it in for renewal soon after I return.

Again, the best time to renew a passport is when you are not going to need it right away.

What happens if you lose a passport overseas is that you get interviewed by the Embassy or consulate. They can tell if you are a legitimate American by asking questions. I am not going to post what sort of questions they ask for obvious reasons. I did this over the telephone once when I was the victim of a pickpocket in Marseilles, France. I actually flew back to the US with a piece of paper in lieu of a passport. This was before the terrorist attacks and not an experience I would wish on anyone.

Generally, you must go to the Embassy to have the passport replaced, but I was pickpocketed on Saturday and flying home the following day, so alternative arrangements had to be made because the Consulate was closed on Saturday.

Watch your passport overseas and avoid this sort of hassle. It did pretty much ruin the last day of that trip. Instead of seeing Chateau d'If, I saw the police station in Marseilles and spent a lot of time on the phone with a young woman from the Marseilles consulate (I wrote a letter to her supervisor when I returned because things got very complicated when Air France would not let me on a plane)--and canceling credit cards (I only had 3 with me but one got used before I could lower the boom).

I now use a photographer's vest for valuables and have not had further problems. I have also used an underarm pouch that goes under my clothes and loop my camera through a loop on the vest. If they they try to steal anything with that get up, they will have to take me with it.

I have not had further problems with pickpockets since then--and that includes Russia, Rome, Sicily and Chile.

I am waiting for renewals and may miss my trip because we didn't pay the extra fees to rush it. I would send it as early as possible and I would pay extra to expedite it. I would never go through this again. The only people receiving theirs are those who paid the extra amount to rush it. The rest of us are in limbo even when we sent it in plenty of time.

We are traveling late June this year and then are planning a trip to Europe early summer 08. Our passports expire in Aug and Sept 08. I am thinking of sending in our passports to be renewed after our trip in two weeks. This way we should get them in the next 6 months! Crazy.

I applied for a renewal passport on March 8th, 2007. It took 12 weeks.