Turnaround time for renewing a US passport
 

Our current passports expire in November 2022

The passport web site says that I can expedite the passport renewal process, and get new passports within 12 weeks. But I must submit our old passports to do so. Therefore, we can not travel to Europe during these 12 weeks.

We will (hopefully) travel to Paris for the first 2 weeks of December this year. We will (hopefully) travel to Scotland for the last 3 weeks of May next year. Then we will be in France for 5 weeks in Sept. Since France won't let us in with a passport that expires within 6 months of arrival - we must get new passports by the time we go to France.

So we have a 20 week "window" starting mid-December to get our passports renewed. That "should" be enough time - but Covid and Christmas might get in the way.

Has anybody from the US renewed a passport this year - and how long did it take to do so??

Thanks

Stu Dudley

I renewed our passports in March, non expedited. The new ones arrived in 6 weeks.

My non-expedited renewal was June 3rd and I got it on July 8th.

My husband recently got his passport renewed. He paid for the expedited renewal; we'd heard that even then it might take a long time. We were pleasantly surprised that it took less than a month. Good luck!

I sent mine mid April, return receipt, the check cleared mid May then the return receipt came a bit later and the new passport came mid June. I was expecting the return receipt within a few days of mailing and worried until the check cleared. I now have a picture of a box with a huge pile of renewal requests in my head that rest until a person finally decides to deal with them.
There were threads here where folks were experiencing longer delays. I sent mine to Philadelphia but the longer waits may be from other processing sites which depend on where you live.

Thanks all!! It looks encouraging.

We have already cancelled our Scotland trip twice because of Covid. I don't want to do it a 3rd time because we don't have a passport. It seems to me that we did not have to "surrender" our current passports the last time we renewed. I wonder what people do when they need to go outside the US 3-4 times a month for business or some other reason. Not having any valid passport for 12 weeks would seem to be a big problem for them!!

Stu Dudley

Stu, you need to submit proof of citizenship and for most of us that is our passport, but you can send in a US birth certificate IF it meets all the requirements listed in the department of state web site that gives all the rules. The small birth certificates my folks got when I was born will not work.

You can download the form you need to fill in on the site for free, there are sites that say they will do it for you, for a price, but you need to put in all the information yourself. Look for the. .gov in the address you go to.

Thanks oldemallory. I have a copy of my birth certificate and perhaps my wife does also. My worry is that if I do, they may get back to me 5 weeks later and tell me that one of our birth certificates does not meet their requirements. Odd that my birth certificate is OK to indicate citizenship, but my expired older passports can't be used to do the same.

Stu Dudley

We sent our expedited passport renewals on July 12, and just got it back on August 14. I think we were lucky.

I would send your passports for renewal right after your Paris trip in December. You will have plenty of turn around time. Or send now to avoid the holidays.

""Or send now to avoid the holidays""

Can't do that. Unless we are interpreting something incorrect on the US passport web site, we are required to submit our current passports along with our renewal application in order to get new passports. Paris is in 14 weeks. If our new (and old) passports are delayed being returned to us by a few weeks - we'll miss Paris!!!! We have cancelled 6 trips to Europe (so far) because of Covid (and a my FIL's stroke). Locally, the San Francisco Bay Area, California, and Oregon are wonderful areas to explore (I've lived in Calif all of my 74 years) - but not nearly as rewarding to us as France or Scotland (I'm 1/4 Scottish - 9th generation "Lindsay" in America).

Stuart Lindsay Dudley

Is there a passport processing center near you. I know some people go to the courthouse and do things in person.

I'll check.

Stu Dudley

We sent our daughter's passport expedited and it took five weeks. We just got it back this week.

Thanks.

Some news sources are suggesting you also pay extra for delivery service both ways. That a big part of the delay is US postal service delay. But follow directions carefully when you send in. I think there are only some delivery services they accept and/or a specific address to use if you are sending in other than by US mail. Good luck!