ET

According to a report today in the WSJ, the time frame to receive a passport is far longer than it was pre-pandemic. Total turnaround time for a standard passport application can be 18 weeks, with 12 weeks for processing and six weeks for mailing, according to the State Department. It says an expedited application can take up to 12 weeks.

schmerl

I sent my passport renewal application out on April 6th. I had my new passport within 6 weeks even though they said it would take longer. I did not pay to have it expedited.

Percy

Did you take it for 10 years !!? I hope!

wtm003

I expedited my passport in March and it took about 4 weeks. My son expedited his in mid-May and just received it, so it was about 7 weeks. Still waiting on my husband's which was sent around the same time as son.

hetismij2

There is a long thread on the Europe forum about passport problems.
Help! passport emergency

In the Netherlands they will issue an emergency temporary passport at the airport, valid for the length of the trip. Don't they have that in the US?

schmerl

Of course!

Fra_Diavolo

>>>[color=#323232]In the Netherlands they will issue an emergency temporary passport at the airport, valid for the length of the trip. Don't they have that in the US?

Fra_Diavolo

Sorry, weird stuff happening above. My answer was:

Nope. Prior to 9/11 embassies and consulates could replace or issue passports while-you waited, but that has ended. Consuls were able to arrange passport-less travel back to the US for citizens (by phone!). I did it myself for people at least twice. I think they were charged $25 for entering the US without a passport. But those days are over.
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J62

You can still enter the US without a passport, if you can prove your identity sufficiently when you present yourself at the border.... Not recommending anyone try this....I had a long conversation with a border agent at an AZ border town last year about that - he had commented that we were the only 2 people the whole day who had valid passports. (We'd crossed the border to get an Rx filled at a fraction of the US cost). The agent said most people carried misc pieces of ID - birth cert, DL, etc that could be pieced together to verify identity. Rejection rate was high, but some are proven legit enough and let through, maybe with some fee.

Of course, traveling TO the border is another problem. I doubt any airline will let you on a plane without a valid passport, and the extra checks on US bound flights, name/passport verification ahead of the flight, etc all are hurdles I doubt you could overcome...

suze

Can you get a passport for less than 10 years (USA)?

Why would you??

Fra_Diavolo

Of course, traveling TO the border is another problem. I doubt any airline will let you on a plane without a valid passport, and the extra checks on US bound flights, name/passport verification ahead of the flight, etc all are hurdles I doubt you could overcome..

Yes, that's what I was referring to. We could authorize the airline to carry the passenger with a simple phone call.

oldemalloy

I recently renewed mine and it did take a bit longer than I was expecting. It any be that the volume of people applying and renewing is greater than is usual because many people applied for them ten years ago when they were required for travel to Canada and Mexico and/or people hope covid is subsiding so they can travel again.

sassy27

I will be renewing mine in a few months as it expires Jan 2022. I have no plans to use it but I can feel the anxiety of sending it off and waiting for it coming on. I have a travel credit that must be used by March 2022 so we will see and maybe by then things will be a bit better. I try and use this information to my advantage so will send it earlier than I was going to.

NeoPatrick

OK, I guess I can sort of understand 12 weeks for processing. It actually would take a human about 10 minutes to process one, so in government terms 12 weeks is about right. But can anyone explain why it takes 6 weeks for mailing?

oldemalloy

It is a bit anxiety filling to mail your old passport off. I sent it certified, return receipt in Mid April. In mid May the check I sent with it cleared the bank, but the return receipt did not come until the next week. The new passport came in mid June.

I doubt that it took a month in the mail since I could have driven it there in five hours. I picture a huge pile of them at the bottom of the mail slot waiting for someone to look at them.

schmerl

On the news this AM they were saying 12 to 18 weeks even if you pay to have it expedited.

sassy27

I received a bill from my dentist over a month late. The office is only at the most 10 miles from my house and by looking at the date on the envelope it was mailed many weeks earlier. I put the payment in the mail the same day I got it, the very next day I then received a late notice telling me to pay it. My check was cashed later that week.

I don’t know what happened but know it was the mail system not my dentist. They could be taking this mail delay into consideration. Better to error on the side of caution even if it only happens to not that many.

chepar

My old passport was set to expire this September and I sent it for renewal late last November. I figured that countries were going to slowly start opening up in the coming months and I had better send mine in to avoid it being caught up in the exact circumstances that is happening now.

It probably took only about 4 weeks to return. Reading now about the long turnaround times I'm glad I sent mine in so early for renewal - it would give me so much anxiety to have my passport out of my possession for that long.