Renewing child's passport - use old passport in meantime?

[circuitrider]

Quick question. My son needs a new passport by the end of this year. I'd like to apply for one now, but am afraid they may take his old one. If they do, then he'd have no passport until his new one comes in. Not a huge deal, but we do have a cruise booked for October, and I'd prefer he have his passport available. Plus, it may look strange that everyone else has their passports except for him. I could wait until after the cruise, but it might be near the end of October before we get back home. Then I'd worry that he wouldn't get his passport in time (4-6 weeks SHOULD be fine, but we have the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays to worry about, that tends to slow things down).

 

Thoughts?

[sail7seas]

You Must send in the old passport when you apply for a renewal. They will return it when the issue a new passport but it will be marked no longer valid. If you will feel better about it, you can pay extra for expedited service and, hopefully, you'll get the new passport faster.

 

 

 

[sail7seas]

Keep in mind that if he travels without the passport and has an emergency during the cruise, he cannot fly internationally without a passport.

[Keith1010]

Quick question. My son needs a new passport by the end of this year. I'd like to apply for one now, but am afraid they may take his old one. If they do, then he'd have no passport until his new one comes in. Not a huge deal, but we do have a cruise booked for October, and I'd prefer he have his passport available. Plus, it may look strange that everyone else has their passports except for him. I could wait until after the cruise, but it might be near the end of October before we get back home. Then I'd worry that he wouldn't get his passport in time (4-6 weeks SHOULD be fine, but we have the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays to worry about, that tends to slow things down).

 

Thoughts?

 

Be sure to check with the cruise line to see how long the passport must be valid for. Some lines require that the passport be good six months after the end of the cruise.

 

If you need a passport turned around quickly then I would federal express it when you send it, and pay the expedite fees and also the added money to have it returned to you express mail. We got ours back within one week doing this.

 

Keith

[Colorado Kat]

Is your son under 16? He can travel with his birth certificate. You do need to mail in old passport to get new one issued. However, this is not a busy time of year - the passports come back fairly quickly.

[njhorseman]

Is your son under 16? He can travel with his birth certificate. You do need to mail in old passport to get new one issued. However, this is not a busy time of year - the passports come back fairly quickly.

 

Assuming they're on a closed loop cruise. Otherwise a passport is required...and a passport is always preferable because without one you can't take an international airline flight.

[tracyanns]

If you are going to renew it anyway I would just have it expedited and you should have it back within a week or so...it will cost a bit more but piece of mind is priceless!

[Alliezona09]

Just an FYI~~I sent my passport in to get my name changed and it took 12 days~Sent it on Sept 1 and had it in my hands Sept 12~ and yes I did have to send in my passport~

[circuitrider]

It's just too bad I didn't book the flight three days sooner. That's how close we are to the expiration. He'll have well over 6 months left for the cruise. It'd be nice if there was some way to keep using the passport during a renewal; i.e. old one is marked somehow (I hear they cut the corners), but it'd still be valid until the original expiration. I dunno, I guess most people don't book multiple trips that close together.

 

So, I guess the best thing to do might be to keep his passport as-is for the cruise. When we get back apply for his renewal. If there's no update after 3-4 weeks, see if it needs to be expedited.

[njhorseman]

It's just too bad I didn't book the flight three days sooner. That's how close we are to the expiration. He'll have well over 6 months left for the cruise. It'd be nice if there was some way to keep using the passport during a renewal; i.e. old one is marked somehow (I hear they cut the corners), but it'd still be valid until the original expiration. I dunno, I guess most people don't book multiple trips that close together.

 

So, I guess the best thing to do might be to keep his passport as-is for the cruise. When we get back apply for his renewal. If there's no update after 3-4 weeks, see if it needs to be expedited.

 

You have to pay for expedited service up front when you mail in the renewal application.

[wrp96]

I had to get a new passport for a trip this summer. I waited until 2.5 weeks before the trip to do the renewal. Using expedited service I had the passport back in 4 days. Worth every penny.

 

At the same time on these boards, people reported getting their passports back non-expedited in less than 2 weeks.

 

For a mid-October trip, I would go ahead and renew the passport using the expedited service, but know that the current timelines mean expedited service might not even be necessary.

 

Remember that if you wait until the spring to renew, he will be renewing at the same time as a majority of passport holders, and it will take a lot longer.

[RYMOMA]

2-3 weeks for expedited

4-6 weeks for routine

 

80 dollars for fee

60 dollars for expediting it

$12.72 to have it expressed mail back to you by the USPS

 

DS-11 for any child under 16, not the renewal form

you still have to go to a passport acceptance agent and pay their fee as well

 

remember for a child under 16 both parents need to be present

 

you can use his old passport as proof of citizenship

copies of both parents license front and back need to be included as well

 

so for 152.72 payable by check or money order to the dept of state and 25 dollars to the acceptance agent....you can have the child's passport in 2-3 weeks.

oh dont forget one new digit photo of the child as well..