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.