Online passport renewal sounds too good to be true.
Anyone who has a passport probably has nightmares about the thought of having to renew it. Slowly counting down the years until it expires, only to be forced into reliving the long lines, countless forms, and anxiety-inducing wait times.
Well, it seems that is finally at an end with the introduction of an online renewal service.
My current passport. It’s where the magic happens.
Why the need for Online Passport Renewal
Since the start of the pandemic in 2020, many passport offices have closed and staffing cuts at the State Department have caused a backup.
A cut in the number of available in-person appointments has made any options for emergency or last-minute travel documents even more difficult. At one point, wait times for passport renewals hit as many as 18 weeks. That’s more than a third of the year!
While wait times for anyone needing a renewal have improved since early in the pandemic, they still continue to lag.
In the past, routine passport service took as little as six weeks. Currently, it is estimated to take between seven and ten weeks. Expedited service, once the savior to many last-minute people, myself included, took around three weeks before the pandemic. Now even that is estimated to take between four and six weeks.
The thought of paying an additional $60 for expedited service, only to get it in what was once considered to be a standard amount of time is deflating.
And of course the back. Stamp collector? Or sticker collector? Most of them are used by airlines to mark people with the proper COVID documents.
How do you qualify for online passport renewal?
There are a few requirements to meet if you’re hoping to try out the online renewal process:
- Your most recent passport is/was valid for 10 years, and you are age 25 or older.
- That passport was issued between nine and 15 years ago.
- You’re not changing your name, gender, date of birth, or place of birth.
- You are not traveling out of the country for at least six weeks from when you submit your application.
- You’re applying for a regular tourist passport.
- You live in the United States or one of its territories.
- You are still in possession of your passport and it is in good condition, meaning it wasn’t damaged, lost or stolen.
- You are able to upload a digital passport photo (.JPEG file format).
- You are able to pay for your passport using a credit/debit card or an ACH (Automated Clearing House)
The Fine Print
It is important to note that if you apply for online passport renewal, your most recent passport will be immediately invalidated (canceled) when you submit your application. That means you won’t be able to use it for international travel.
You also won’t be getting your old passport back, so if you have any visas that are still active, you may want to stick to the traditional in-person renewal where instead of taking your passport, they’ll punch holes through the cover and personal details. That makes it invalid for travel, but the visas are still accepted as long as you have your new passport as well.
Or you may be a stamp collector like myself and just don’t want to part with it.
Definitely a stamp collector. If the ink looks wet I won’t close my book until it’s dry so I don’t smudge it. Heh
How long does online renewal take?
So how long does it take?
This is where the fourth point above bears notice. “You are not traveling internationally for at least six weeks from the date you will submit your application.”
This means that processing times for the online renewal service will be the same as those for pre-pandemic renewal by mail, with both routine and expedited service.
So while online passport renewal is faster and more convenient, it’s not REALLY fast. It’s just getting times back to what they were pre-pandemic. Three weeks for expedited, six for standard, but with less paperwork and a more streamlined process.
I can’t even tell you how many times I’m at my local post office and there is a line of 10-15 people all waiting for something passport related. My main post office can get extremely busy so it’s not uncommon to be in line for thirty minutes or longer. I’ll get through that entire line while the passport line is still milling around with little movement.
How do you Apply?
At the moment, the process isn’t fully open to the public. That won’t be happening until 2023. You can however take a shot at getting in on the pilot program.
The pilot program has been running sporadically for a few months now, and it has been deemed to be a great success so far.
It is currently open and accepting customers as of October 11 with no word on when it will be closing again, however, it is slated to reopen again in November so that means I’d expect the current window to close sometime before the end of the month.
Old passports that have been invalidated by punching holes through the cover and information page.
The Actual Process
If you meet all of the above requirements and wish to renew online, these are the steps you’ll need to follow:
- Create a MyTravelGov account.
- Click the link in the “account verification” email you will receive after creating your account.
- Wait up to 4 hours for your account to be fully registered.
- Login to your MyTravelGov account and start your application.
If you need support, they can be reached by phone at 855-865-7750 or by email at [email protected] on Mondays through Fridays 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
I’m sure everyone has had the pleasure of waiting on hold with a government agency at least once, so call at your own peril, though you may be waiting that full 18 months again!
Then of course, as always, if you don’t qualify to renew online, you can still renew in the traditional ways, either by mail or in person. To learn more about standard renewals, you can find more information about them here.
As a stamp collector, I can’t say that I’d ever use this online process myself, but if online is something you’re interested in, I hope this helps! Any questions, feel free to ask below!
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