Passport Renewal
 

I did a TOTV search and most recent posts were 2020.
Our passports expire April 2025 and looking for experiences/recommendations.

In 2020 there was not much positive being said about the "new" (then) online processing. Mail in times 3-6 months(!).

Recommendations appreciated.

We just applied at the Sumter County Clerk last week.

Renew or Replace a Passport Homepage

How to Apply for Passports | Sumter County Clerk of Courts

State Dept is saying 4-6 weeks upon receipt..

Processing Times for U.S. Passports

I renewed mine 6 months ago and the new passport came back in 3 weeks.

Applying for a new passport different than renewing. State Dept website the place to go.

We did ours online and it came within 2 weeks. Very easy.

Online at The State Dept website. Renewed in 10 days.

Renew my Passport Online

In my experience, paying extra for the expedited service is a waste of money.

It his annoying that your passport is only good for 9.5 years - see below. It is even more annoying that when you renew your passport, they don’t renew it from the date that your current passport expires. Instead, it is only good for 10 years from the date that the new passport is issued. So it is really good for about 9 to 9.25 years.

And during this current 10 year period, there was about 1.5 years that you couldn’t travel because of covid. I always thought the government should have issued an order extending everyone’s passport for the period that we couldn’t travel.

Some countries require that your passport have at least six months of validity beyond the dates of your trip. Some airlines will not allow you to board if this requirement is not met.

A few months early for sure for an April due. Like 2.
Spring is their busiest time; all the college students heading out-of-country for the first time at the end of the academic year (usually May) clogs the system.

9-3/4 years is fair enough to keep from stressing out. But if you have no specific dates for travel, you can be late. Nobody cares.

Yeah, I flew to Japan with only 4 months left on my passport (3 month limit on visit). Immigration agent was wide-eyed and cautioned me #$%^&*! ie ie ie.
"Don't worry dude."

Just renewed Mrs. EDJ's passport. Be very careful when you google up "passport renewal" hoping to get a quick link to the State Department's passport renewal page. Lots of third parties with official sounding names offer to do it for you with increased add-on ($200 more!!) fees.

Nope, make certain you are on the State Dept's website to renew. Not govplus or usapassportonline. Nope, go here, official site ending in .gov:

Renew my Passport Online

Easy to renew, even took her new passport photo with my phone - no more schlepping down to CVS for $25 passport photos. Came to the house in about 3 weeks. Easy as can be. As long as you have a method to pay online and you are not in a huge hurry.

Hope this helps.

thats exactly what I meant

Just renewed ours online
last month, wife's came back in a week and mine in two weeks.

If you take your own picture they really are picky about the background, our wall is textured and the website would not accept it so we had to go to Walgreens and have it done anyway.

How is the new photo requirement handled when processing on line?

I found the instruction for photo in the online site.

This is just a FYI for travel. Often you must have 6 months prior to the expiration of your passport to travel internationally. Effective January 8, 2025 all US citizens must have an Electronic Travel Authorization to travel to the UK. That includes if you are changing planes in the UK. Starting sometime in 2025 a US citizen will also need ETIAS to travel to Europe.

Renewed two passports about four months ago. Received new ones in less than four weeks. Sorry but I can’t guarantee similar results for you. Good luck.

Getting a credit for non usage of a passport during COVID is like trying to get a credit for non usage of golf courses for people in the Villages with the enhanced membership when courses were closed after the hurricanes

Passport Renewal
 

I renewed my passport about 6 months ago online. I tried to take the photo myself and found it difficult to satisfy the requirements, so I went to Walgreens and had a passport photo taken. Once I uploaded the photo and submitted the application online, I received the new passport within a couple of weeks. I have heard from others that their experience has been very similar.

Renewed my passport online in September. I took my own photo and uploaded it to Walgreens and Walgreens worked some digital magic on it so it would meet the standards required by the State Department.

Submitted the entire application online and got my passport back in two weeks.

Passport renewal
 

I renewed my passport by filing online in October. Start to finish (receipt of new passport) took ten days. You can have your new picture + digital for online application taken at Walgreens. The process was so much quicker and easier than the old mail-in process.

I applied online to renew my passport. It was not expired and I got it in less than one week. This was about 2 weeks ago.

I just renewed mine at the Lake County Clerk of Courts which I had to do in person because mine was lost. I believe it was a small annex building. Easy peasy, they took my picture and submitted for me after I had filled out the application. Received it back in about 6 weeks with no special processing.

We just renewed ours last Aug and got them back in 4 weeks. We went to the Sumter Annex to get the photo and complete the paper work.

Online renewal
 

I re-newed online and believe it or not I did it on November 3 (a Sunday) and it was in mailbox on Tuesday the 12th. Monday was a Holiday so I am to assume it would have been in mailbox then. Online it said 4-6 weeks.... I got mine within 9 days. SHOCKING!!!
And, I paid regular fee.... I don't think you can "expedite" the online renewal.

As a note: the second you submit online application your passport becomes invalid...
you do not mail it in. Just an FYI~

Renewed mine online last month. Got it very quickly, like 2-3 weeks. Hardest part was getting a suitable pic to upload.

My wife and I renewed on line with no problem.

Passport renewal
 

I renewed my passport online and was told it would take 4 to 6 weeks. My application was December 4th. Lo and behold I received it only 10 days later on the 14th.

We use the expedited passport renewal service and got our passport back within ten days

BTK, I think you have heard enough good to give it a go. Remember, back in 2020 everything was fouled up due to Covid, plus the online process was newer.

We just renewed our Global Entry online with no problems and got our cards a week later. We plan to do the same with our passports, which expire halfway through 2027.
Like someone said, the hardest part was taking an acceptable picture with your phone. But Walgreens will make you a digital one to use. That's what we plan to do.

Quick return time!
 

I applied for a renewed passport online on November 25, 2024. I received it in the mail on December 6, 2024. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy and quick it was.

Renewed earlier this year. Got free photos at AAA, did it on-line, and got the passports back in about two months. Easy-Peasy.

I had the same "background" issue and also had pics taken @ Walgreens.

Like you, I received a replacement in a few weeks...