My Online Passport Renewal Experience (October 2022)

[TPKeller]

I read about the new on-line passport renewal Pilot Program and thought it might be worth a try.  You fill out all the forms on-line, and you must upload a current JPG photograph of yourself that meets all the same requirements as a printed photograph.  (Passport photography can be a challenge, and they will reject an application if the photo does not meet the requirements, so make sure you take some time to get that part right!)
 

In mid-September, the State Department web page said they had reached their quota of on-line applications for the month, and to try back in October.  I was able to get in during the October window.  On October 26th, they once again closed the portal for online renewals, indicating they would resume again "later this year."
 

The first step is to create an account on the MyTravelGov website.  They seem to use the date of your account creation to determine eligibility to participate in the test program, so if you are thinking about it, you should probably create your account ASAP.  There is no cost to create an account.  Once my account was established, they were still not taking new applications, so I just kept watching the site, logging in every day or so to see if the "not yet" message was still there.
 

Four days later, they posted a message saying they were once again taking renewal applications on-line.  For the first 24 hours, the servers appeared to be massively overloaded, and they posted messages saying they were down.  The submission process did not work, pages would not load and "Next" buttons would not go to the next page.  About 36 hours later, they were back on line, but it's not the speediest web page, so be prepared to be patient.  The good news: once it was working, it was easy to confirm that each step of the submission process did work properly.
 

The longest wait, and what is probably the only real variable in the total time it takes, was the time between my submission and the review by a State Department employee.  I would assume that is directly correlated to how many applications they have in front of yours at the time you submit.  Once it was reviewed, it shipped in two days, and the USPS transit times were all within expected norms.  I did not request expedited service, nor did I indicate that I had any international travel planned.
 

Overall I was pleased with the process.  The 36 hours of server downtime was frustrating, but once that was resolved everything went smoothly.  My goal was to save a little time as well as the hassle of printing and mailing a paper application, and I think that was a success, as my submission was instantaneously received by the State Department, and did not have to wait for a paper application to be mailed to their processing center and opened / handled by a mail-room person.  They do specifically say that the on-line renewal is NOT faster, but as I said, no front-end mailing was required, so even if the rest of the process is the same, that time is saved.
 

Here is my timeline.  I checked the option to have them e-mail me status changes, which was very helpful and timely!
 

- FRI - 10/7/22 - Created MyTravelGov account - Online renewal quota full for the moment.
       4 days
- TUE - 10/11/22 - Online renewals opened back up - web page overloaded, could not submit.
       1 day
- WED - 10/12/22 - Submitted on-line renewal.  Application submission confirmed by e-mail.
       14 days
- WED - 10/26/22 - Application being reviewed by State Department employee.
       2 days
- FRI - 10/28/22 - Passport has been shipped.
- FRI - 10/28/22 - USPS tracking: in transit from Tucson, AZ 11:46 AM
       3 days
- MON - 10/31/22 - USPS tracking: Delivered at 4:05 PM
 

Time from successful on-line submission to delivery: 19 days

 

Theron

 

[Essiesmom]

I guess it is obvious you do not need to send in your expiring/expired passport?  I am looking at this but I suspect the picture may be my problem.  Can you do the picture ahead of time and just insert when you get to do the form?  Thanks.  EM

[TPKeller]

16 minutes ago, Essiesmom said:

I guess it is obvious you do not need to send in your expiring/expired passport?  I am looking at this but I suspect the picture may be my problem.  Can you do the picture ahead of time and just insert when you get to do the form?  Thanks.  EM

 

Ah, yes, I should have mentioned that!  When you submit your application they are quite emphatic in telling you that your current passport is immediately cancelled and that you may not use it for international travel. But you are correct, you keep possession of it the whole time!

 

And yes on the picture, I would recommend taking the picture ahead of time and studying their passport photograph guidelines to ensure you have it right.  Once you have the JPG file, you're fine, you just "upload" it when you are in the submission process.  There is even an automatic cropping feature, which seemed to work fine.

You have to use a camera from which you can extract the original JPG.  They don't want any scans of prints, so you shouldn't go to a passport photo service and get the prints then try to scan them.  You might get away with it if you have a great scanner and you know what you're doing, but they specifically say that's not acceptable.

 

In my experience, the biggest challenge with the passport photo is shadows.  They don't want any shadows in the background, OR on the face.  So you really need two light sources, one to light up the background and one to kill any shadows on your face.  But a face light can cast shadows on the background, and an overhead light for the background can cause shadows on the face, so it can be tricky!

 

Theron

[capriccio]

My DH's experience (thus far):

 

My husband's passport will expire right before our next cruise in April so he decided to renew on line.  The hardest part for us was related to the photo.  First, finding a white wall (we don't have one) as background for the picture!  Finally we thought of our condo building lobby and that worked perfectly.  Secondly the photo was rejected because the pixel size was too small.  That got too technical for me so I googled how to increase the number of pixels.  A free Adobe App worked fine and the photo was accepted on the first try.  Payment was made via credit card. The renewal was accepted immediately (Sunday, October 23) and the status changed to in process on Monday, October 24.

 

What we like about the process thus far:  acceptance of credit cards, no postage, no trip to the post office to mail it, and no waiting days for the mailed package to be accepted.  I'll update when he receives the new passport.

[VMax1700]

You are making progress over there!

In 2019 I renewed my passport online in little old backward Ireland.

Three days from application to receiving the passport  and this was at the time when many in UK were applying for Irish passports because of Brexit.

Also there is a facility whereby the applicant can use a photo booth for the picture and the images are digitally sent to the passport office, the customer receives a code which they insert in the online application.  This is easier for those who have difficulty taking selfies or getting the image correct.

[Essiesmom]

On 10/31/2022 at 5:21 PM, TPKeller said:

 

Ah, yes, I should have mentioned that!  When you submit your application they are quite emphatic in telling you that your current passport is immediately cancelled and that you may not use it for international travel. But you are correct, you keep possession of it the whole time!

 

And yes on the picture, I would recommend taking the picture ahead of time and studying their passport photograph guidelines to ensure you have it right.  Once you have the JPG file, you're fine, you just "upload" it when you are in the submission process.  There is even an automatic cropping feature, which seemed to work fine.

You have to use a camera from which you can extract the original JPG.  They don't want any scans of prints, so you shouldn't go to a passport photo service and get the prints then try to scan them.  You might get away with it if you have a great scanner and you know what you're doing, but they specifically say that's not acceptable.

 

In my experience, the biggest challenge with the passport photo is shadows.  They don't want any shadows in the background, OR on the face.  So you really need two light sources, one to light up the background and one to kill any shadows on your face.  But a face light can cast shadows on the background, and an overhead light for the background can cause shadows on the face, so it can be tricky!

 

Theron

Do you have to use a digital camera, or can you use the camera on your phone?  The last few years I have used my iPhone exclusively for pictures.  

[capriccio]

2 minutes ago, Essiesmom said:

Do you have to use a digital camera, or can you use the camera on your phone?  The last few years I have used my iPhone exclusively for pictures.  

We used his smartphone without any problem.  I do remember one caution (in addition to those concerning the background, no glasses, and no smiling) in the instructions:  no selfies so you need assistance taking the picture.

[sparks1093]

Thanks all for the great info! I am hoping by the time we have to renew in 2025 this will be the norm.

[TPKeller]

Regarding "selfies..."

 

That is correct, you don't want to do a traditional selfie, because your arms would be in the frame, and you can't get the right crop dimensions.

 

I did take my own photo with my smartphone, I happen to have a smartphone tripod mount, which is balanced enough to simply place upright on a table.  I sat on a small stool that put my head at the same height as the camera, so it was a straight-on, level composition.

 

In any case, if you can prop your phone fully upright and level with your head, the self-timer function should work well enough if you don't have a helper handy.

 

Theron

[ldubs]

5 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

Thanks all for the great info! I am hoping by the time we have to renew in 2025 this will be the norm.

 

X2 - it will be a 2024 renewal for us.  I hope this is up and running.  

[CHEZMARYLOU]

If we went somewhere, say UPS to have the picture taken and they emailed it, wonder if that would work.  We have 9 years so maybe the tech will be higher when we renew.

[capriccio]

1 hour ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

If we went somewhere, say UPS to have the picture taken and they emailed it, wonder if that would work.  We have 9 years so maybe the tech will be higher when we renew.

Here is the section on the passport picture:  https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/how-apply/online-renewal-photo.html

[TPKeller]

3 hours ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

If we went somewhere, say UPS to have the picture taken and they emailed it, wonder if that would work.  We have 9 years so maybe the tech will be higher when we renew.

 

Yes, I believe that would work.  They would be e-mailing you the file from the camera.  I think the State Department just doesn't want people trying to scan a tiny 2x2" photo that you would get from AAA or a drug store print shop.

 

The directions include the minimum pixel size, so you'd just have to ensure that was correct.

 

See capriccio's post just above here!

 

Theron

[Turtles06]

This is a fascinating thread, thanks to all who have contributed. My passport has five years left on it, so like others above, I hope the technology is even better by then. 

[HAL4NOW]

On 10/31/2022 at 8:12 PM, capriccio said:

What we like about the process thus far:  acceptance of credit cards, no postage, no trip to the post office to mail it, and no waiting days for the mailed package to be accepted.  I'll update when he receives the new passport.

Has he received the new passport yet? From October 23, 2022, until now, January 23, 2023, it has been three months (or 13 weeks).

[capriccio]

6 hours ago, HAL4NOW said:

Has he received the new passport yet? From October 23, 2022, until now, January 23, 2023, it has been three months (or 13 weeks).

Yes indeed.  I think I updated a different thread.

 

We were notified on December 20 that it would be delivered on December 23 but it arrived one day earlier on December 22.  It had an issue date of December 15.

[bonsai3s]

TPKeller...thank you for your extremely informative post. 

 

I wasn't worried about renewing my passport...until a few days ago when we purchased airline tickets (online, Singapore Airlines, had to enter passport info) and got a warning that my passport will be within 6 months of expiration.

 

My first reaction was, "It can't be...my passport doesn't expire till Feb 10, 2024". Then I started counting from our return date of August 24, 2023...Oh snap! (learned this expression from the grandkids)...then the realization started setting in...that I may not have enough time in between all our trips to renew my passport.

 

The longest time 7we have in between trips is exactly 2 months, 60 days. We followed your advice and visited the State Department website.

 

We then got a white bedsheet, taped it on the wall, and DW used her Apple Iphone, and just started taking pictures.

* We used the "flash" to eliminate any shadows.

 

We entered the picture on the State Department websits and we did the "auto-crop". Looks good...except my head appears slightly bigger (not much) than the samples shown. (DW may have been standing a foot too close when taking the picture)...Wondering if it will be rejected or simply retake the picture before submitting.

 

Also, with only 60 days, I plan on using expedited service...I don't want to take any chances.

 

TPKeller...thanks again! (I'll take any advice if you can think of anything else.)

 

 

[Cruiser933]

Here is my recent timeline:

- Submitted online renewal 11/6

- Received email that my passport was renewed 1/26

so between 11 and 12 weeks for us, but our timeline included quite a few holidays which I am sure slowed things down.

 

If your picture was accepted by the online renewal system, I think you will probably be okay. The system would have most likely rejected it if it didn’t meet standards. I had several rejected before the system accepted one.

[TPKeller]

On 1/26/2023 at 12:32 PM, bonsai3s said:

TPKeller...thanks again! (I'll take any advice if you can think of anything else.)

 

Very glad to help.  Sounds like your choice to use the expedited service may be wise.  The length of time seems to just be all over the place.  I suppose there must be a reason or reasons why, but the organization is so large and inconsistently disjointed, it's probably impossible to either figure out, or more importantly, rely on what we might think we know, to accurately predict the time for any one person.

 

Good luck!

 

Theron

[TPKeller]

On 1/27/2023 at 9:21 AM, Cruiser933 said:

Here is my recent timeline:

- Submitted online renewal 11/6

- Received email that my passport was renewed 1/26

so between 11 and 12 weeks for us, but our timeline included quite a few holidays which I am sure slowed things down.

 

This is really amazing.  You submitted yours about 3 weeks after I submitted mine.  I got the e-mail that it was being reviewed in 14 days, and shipped 2 days later, for a total of 16.

Then just 3 weeks later, it took yours, as you said, 11.5 weeks!

 

Crazy!  I wonder if they allowed a lot more on-line submissions for your batch?

 

Theron