Passport Applications

[kelkel2]

I need to send in renewals for my husband and I as we both have expired passports, and my twins need to be issued passports as they’ve never had them. Can we mail all of it together? All 4 applications? 

[Philob]

35 minutes ago, kelkel2 said:

I need to send in renewals for my husband and I as we both have expired passports, and my twins need to be issued passports as they’ve never had them. Can we mail all of it together? All 4 applications? 

If your twins are minors you'll have to apply with them in person, with both parents/guardians present. Check if you have a passport service center in your area or some post offices will do this.

 

I just checked, if this is the twins first passport, regardless of age, then they must apply in person.

 

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/need-passport/apply-in-person.html

Edited April 29, 2021 by Philob

[kelkel2]

1 hour ago, Philob said:

If your twins are minors you'll have to apply with them in person, with both parents/guardians present. Check if you have a passport service center in your area or some post offices will do this.

 

I just checked, if this is the twins first passport, regardless of age, then they must apply in person.

 

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/need-passport/apply-in-person.html

Thank you!! Then I’ll do that and hopefully they can send our renewals in at the same time! 

[Ashland]

Agree with the above about first time passports.

For renewals you can download the application, send it in with your old expired passports and new picture, and payment's   ( would probably paper clip each application and attach separate checks with info they ask to be written on them) all in one envelope I think would be fine.

 

Our whole process recently took about 3 weeks.

[Ashland]

7 minutes ago, kelkel2 said:

Thank you!! Then I’ll do that and hopefully they can send our renewals in at the same time! 

Hopefully they will.....But make sure everyone has a new picture...no glasses.

[All That Jazz]

Going right to the source:

https://www.us-passport-service-guide.com/can-i-put-2-passport-renewals-in-the-same-envelope.html

 

To sum up: place all the documents for each adult application in separate envelopes. Then put those two envelopes into a larger envelope for mailing.

[BoozinCroozin]

Since the twins need first time passports, just take everything with you to a post office that does passports. They will handle everything from there with you all present. We did this and it was a simple procedure even though it took about 45 minutes. I guess the benefit of a small country USPS office that does passports helped at the start of covid March 2020.

[ovccruiser]

20 hours ago, Ashland said:

Hopefully they will.....But make sure everyone has a new picture...no glasses.

Never understand this, if you normally wear glasses should they not be on your passport picture? In the UK they are, strange old world 😄

 

[capriccio]

2 hours ago, ovccruiser said:

Never understand this, if you normally wear glasses should they not be on your passport picture? In the UK they are, strange old world 😄

 

 

When that became the rule in 2016 the explanation was that glare on eyeglass lenses was one of the top reasons that passport photos were rejected by the Passport Agency.

 

The increasing use of biometric data is also a reason. Glasses make facial recognition more difficult.

[capriccio]

Here are some sites I recommend for tracking your passport processing:

• USPS - sign up for Daily Informed Delivery and you will be notified when your new passport is en route to you (in addition to receiving info on mail and packages being delivered that day).  This is a free service:  https://www.usps.com/c360/images/informed_delivery/Informed Delivery Sign Up Guide Jan 2020.pdf
• Sign up for email status notifications from the Department of State (DoS):  https://passportstatus.state.gov/
• Check the status of your passport processing on the DoS website:   https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/need-passport/status.html.

 

I applied for a new passport in late January.  The timeline was:

• renewal mailed (via certified mail for tracking purposes; costs about $4) on January 20
• received at the DoS Texas facility on January 25 (as estimated by USPS and confirmed by USPS tracking)
• notified by DoS e-mail that the renewal application was being reviewed on January 28
• notified by DoS e-mail that the renewal was approved and being printed on February 21
• notified by USPS that the estimated delivery date for the new passport was February 25
• passport arrived February 24
• received my canceled old passport on February 27

The State Department has a a number of passport processing facilities.  Applications are mailed to one of three (if I remember correctly) central locations and then disbursed to processing facilities throughout the country.  In my case, the application and old passport were mailed from Florida to Texas, the new passport was processed in Arizona, and the canceled passport was returned to me from a facility in Louisiana.