Received Passports in Two Weeks

[Margy23]

I don't believe there's an open thread about the current length of time for getting passports, so I thought I'd share our recent excellent experience.

 

We mailed our renewal forms, etc., for regular handling on July 26th and received our passports on August 9th. We have seven cruises this year and our old passports expire next April, so we were concerned about the length of time we would be without any passport during the renewal process. If anyone else is in a similar situation, this would seem to be a good time to do the renewal.

 

Happy Cruising!

 

Margy

[diane.in.ny]

Thanks for posting this. That is really fast!

[navybankerteacher]

Late summer is probably the best time to apply for/renew a passport- there is likely less demand than in late winter and early spring when early planners are thinking about summer travel - and much less than in late spring when late planners get their acts together; or in the fall when people planning winter getaways start moving.

[dogs4fun]

Very fast turnaround time. I received my renewed passport in April of this year - think it took about 3 weeks.

[champagne123]

So ironic that you posted this. I have to renew our passports also for our November cruise. I looked at the website and forms. Did you do your own photo and download it to the website? A little confused about "renewing"

[Krazy Kruizers]

When we had to renew our passports about 3 years ago, we sent in everything on the same day.

I got my new one in 1 week -- DH got his in 3 weeks.

Glad you are already for your cruises.

[Margy23]

So ironic that you posted this. I have to renew our passports also for our November cruise. I looked at the website and forms. Did you do your own photo and download it to the website? A little confused about "renewing"

 

 

I'm not very computer savvy, so there may be a better way to do this. I filled out the Forms DS-82 on line and then printed them. We had our photos taken at AAA, and they stapled them to our applications. We enclosed our expiring passports and checks and mailed them, making sure we had a tracking number in case of a problem.

 

I recommend using the site "travel.state.gov" and clicking on "Get a U. S. Passport" to get the form (this only works if your passport was issued within the last 15 years). Googling is fine, but a lot of "we'll do it for you for money" sites will pop up, so it's important that you use a site that ends in ".gov".

 

Sorry if I sound like I'm explaining this to kindergarteners - it's not something within my comfort zone and I would want everything spelled out.....and I did teach kindergarten, so that's how I talk.

 

Happy Travels!

 

Margy

[champagne123]

I'm not very computer savvy, so there may be a better way to do this. I filled out the Forms DS-82 on line and then printed them. We had our photos taken at AAA, and they stapled them to our applications. We enclosed our expiring passports and checks and mailed them, making sure we had a tracking number in case of a problem.

 

I recommend using the site "travel.state.gov" and clicking on "Get a U. S. Passport" to get the form (this only works if your passport was issued within the last 15 years). Googling is fine, but a lot of "we'll do it for you for money" sites will pop up, so it's important that you use a site that ends in ".gov".

 

Sorry if I sound like I'm explaining this to kindergarteners - it's not something within my comfort zone and I would want everything spelled out.....and I did teach kindergarten, so that's how I talk.

 

Happy Travels!

 

Margy

THANK YOU SOOOO much for the great info. Yes, I did go to that website and started to fill out the forms. That was the easy part. I just was concerned about the pics and not doing it to their specifications. I don't know how to measure what they want. I know how to take and upload photos to a website, but they seem very strict. Taking your advice and going to have them done at the post office and staple them to the application like you did. THANK YOU again!

[Margy23]

THANK YOU SOOOO much for the great info. Yes, I did go to that website and started to fill out the forms. That was the easy part. I just was concerned about the pics and not doing it to their specifications. I don't know how to measure what they want. I know how to take and upload photos to a website, but they seem very strict. Taking your advice and going to have them done at the post office and staple them to the application like you did. THANK YOU again!

 

 

If you intend to have pictures taken at the post office, I don't think they do that - at least not everywhere. We had ours taken at AAA - the auto club, but have had them taken at Walgreen's in the past.

 

Good luck!

 

Margy

[montekat]

THANK YOU SOOOO much for the great info. Yes, I did go to that website and started to fill out the forms. That was the easy part. I just was concerned about the pics and not doing it to their specifications. I don't know how to measure what they want. I know how to take and upload photos to a website, but they seem very strict. Taking your advice and going to have them done at the post office and staple them to the application like you did. THANK YOU again!

You can go to Walgreen's, RiteAid, Sam's Club, etc. to get passport pic done. Only one is needed to send in, even if they give you two. I could have done it myself, but this way I was sure and it was done!

[Z'Loth]

Happy travels.

[jimdalva]

Sept 25 we dropped it off at the post office and

Oct 5 it was in our mail box. Wow that was fast.

[navybankerteacher]

We just sent in our renewals (with photos from CVS). Ours expire in late Spring 2019 - yes, we are “wasting” some of the passports’ useful life, but we are certain we will not need them the next two months, and do not know about later - and we often travel on short notice. I have heard that late winter/early spring is busiest time - and likelier to take longer. But at $110, that 6 months just costs $5.00 or so: a small price for certainty.

 

I’ll come back to report exact time the process took.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

same here. Got hubby's renewed passport today.