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U.S. Passport Renewal - Our Experience!


BocaRoo

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I wanted to let you know OUR experience regarding the processing time for Kevin’s U.S. passport renewal. We mailed his Form DS-82 via USPS Priority Mail and it arrived in Philadelphia on Monday, August 13th. We did NOT request expedited service. We received the passport today, August 29th, so door-to-door it took 16 days! Considering the official website http://travel.state.gov/passport/ stated processing time should be 4-6 weeks, we were really stunned to receive Kevin’s passport so soon. Our cruise isn’t until December 1st, but we were so concerned about the possibility of a snafu, that we decided not to wait!

 

I just wanted to pass this information along to others who might need to renew their passports. There are no guarantees that processing time for others will be this short, but right now, it must not be too busy.

 

Also, I wanted to mention that the passport photo we submitted for Kevin was normal in color, i.e., not too rosy, just normal. Something in the processing of the passport really reddens the skin tone – Kevin looks totally sun burnt on his passport, so be sure not to send in a photo where your skin looks pink or too tan… Same thing happened on my last one, too – too much blush, I guess! Just a heads up!!

 

If anyone has any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask!

 

Jill

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I don;t mean this to be political, but I have dealings other than immigration/border control with the State Dept. and I must say even in my very specialized area, DOS bureaus have accelerated processing - months down to weeks or days.

 

I was told quick turnaround was one of Hillary Clinton's initiatives when she became Sect of State. It seems to be working.

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We just renewed ours. I think we sent them in mid to late July and received our new ones about 3-4 wks later. We sent our old ones and the renewal form by registered mail so that at least we'd have confirmation that they were received and when it was received. The tint is different on the new ones and they look a little grainier then the old ones. No matter.....we've got passports!!

Monika

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I'm hoping that someone on this thread can help me with a minor concern. My Mom will be cruising next August, to Alaska, via Seattle. Her passport expires in December, 2013. How important is the 6-month rule regarding passports on a 7-day cruise that leaves Seattle, and returns to Seattle, about 4 months before the expiration date?

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@Bocaroo - thank you so much for posting. I need to send our passports to Philadelphia to add extra pages. Been reluctant to do it but need to get "a move on" since we will be sending it to a visa service for a China visa in a couple months. You give me hope that perhaps the 4-6 week estimate for processing might be faster. Did you get an email notifying you of the progress or did the passport just arrive without notification? Since you used Express Mail perhaps you had a heads up?

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I'm hoping that someone on this thread can help me with a minor concern. My Mom will be cruising next August, to Alaska, via Seattle. Her passport expires in December, 2013. How important is the 6-month rule regarding passports on a 7-day cruise that leaves Seattle, and returns to Seattle, about 4 months before the expiration date?

 

It shouldn't matter if your ship does not stop in Canada. If it stops in Canada check the US Dept. of State website. I think you simply need to have a valid passport. Not all countries require a 6-month validity period (although some require more).

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Jill (and Kevin)...

Glad to hear it went so smoothly. Ours did as well... about 3 weeks door to door without expedited service. Now you are all set for your cruise in December!! (Or, at least, set in the fact that your passports are all set...:D )

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Hi, Steph27!

 

There is a link on the website "Passport Application Status" where you enter a few fields and see the general status of your application. I checked a few times along the way and saw that Kevin's passport was "being processed." I just checked my saved email: on 8/24 I received an official email stating that the application had been received and was being processed. This was the one and only email I received. I actually went to the link on the website and checked the status myself that day and saw that the application was in final processing!! Today, after the passport came in the mail, for a kick, I checked the website to see if it would state that the passport had been mailed; it stated again that it was in final processing (no mention that it had been mailed), however, an extra line had been added stating it should be received by September 1st.

 

So, in answer to your question, forget about any emails you may receive; the most correct information will be found on the website at the "Passport Application Status" link - and even THAT is a bit fuzzy!!

 

I hope this helps...

 

Jill

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We had similar fast turnaround--in fact, my husband's, a naturalized citizen, was processed a couple of days faster than mine! But he had recently gone through some sort of special background investigation for access to the LA/LB ports.

 

As a retired Federal employee, it is always great to hear when the Federal government is doing something right!

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I'm hoping that someone on this thread can help me with a minor concern. My Mom will be cruising next August, to Alaska, via Seattle. Her passport expires in December, 2013. How important is the 6-month rule regarding passports on a 7-day cruise that leaves Seattle, and returns to Seattle, about 4 months before the expiration date?

 

She'll be fine.

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I wanted to let you know OUR experience regarding the processing time for Kevin’s U.S. passport renewal. We mailed his Form DS-82 via USPS Priority Mail and it arrived in Philadelphia on Monday, August 13th. We did NOT request expedited service. We received the passport today, August 29th, so door-to-door it took 16 days! Considering the official website http://travel.state.gov/passport/ stated processing time should be 4-6 weeks, we were really stunned to receive Kevin’s passport so soon. Our cruise isn’t until December 1st, but we were so concerned about the possibility of a snafu, that we decided not to wait!

 

I just wanted to pass this information along to others who might need to renew their passports. There are no guarantees that processing time for others will be this short, but right now, it must not be too busy.

 

Also, I wanted to mention that the passport photo we submitted for Kevin was normal in color, i.e., not too rosy, just normal. Something in the processing of the passport really reddens the skin tone – Kevin looks totally sun burnt on his passport, so be sure not to send in a photo where your skin looks pink or too tan… Same thing happened on my last one, too – too much blush, I guess! Just a heads up!!

 

If anyone has any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask!

 

Jill

When renewed ours a couple of years ago, we mailed it on Dec. 26 and received it four days after New Year's...Couldn't believe it! During the holidays no less...

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Thanks...

All good to hear...

My current passport would otherwise run out in January, but they tell you they want expiration dates of not less than 6 months after you travel...

While planning our December cruise, I discovered mine was expiring and both daughters' (26 and 28 but we are taking them with us) passports have expired...

I sent mine out Tuesday evening...I've told the daughters not to hesitate--they both have "busy lives" and live 400 miles from us in San Francisco and Sacramento...So I keep worrying about them getting to it...

 

I will feel far more comfortable when I know everyone in the family has an up-to-date passport...

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I'm hoping that someone on this thread can help me with a minor concern. My Mom will be cruising next August, to Alaska, via Seattle. Her passport expires in December, 2013. How important is the 6-month rule regarding passports on a 7-day cruise that leaves Seattle, and returns to Seattle, about 4 months before the expiration date?

 

It shouldn't be an issue, but you have plenty of time to renew if it's a concern.

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Hi All,

 

I renewed my passport Feb 2012. Between vacations and work I travel all over the world. My new passport has 52 pages. My last passport had 48 pages and I was getting down to about 6 pages and a year to go on the passport. I went to our company video center. They took some photos. Then they asked if I travel internationally. I think they asked if I travel to China. I said yes some years 3 or 4 times. So they took photos without my glasses. My glasses are not tinted. When I got my photos I gave them to my OA. I asked about the glasses. I was told when getting a new passport it is best if you dont have glasses on. And that the extra photos for applying for a visa should really be without glasses. Some countries dont like you having glasses on in the photos. Richard

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@Bocaroo - thank you so much for posting. I need to send our passports to Philadelphia to add extra pages. Been reluctant to do it but need to get "a move on" since we will be sending it to a visa service for a China visa in a couple months. You give me hope that perhaps the 4-6 week estimate for processing might be faster. Did you get an email notifying you of the progress or did the passport just arrive without notification? Since you used Express Mail perhaps you had a heads up?
Check when your passports expire mine only had about a year and a half left so I opted for a renewal as extra pages were $80!
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Celebrity's website says that they expect passports valid six months or longer. Whether they always enforce that rule, or monitor it for just when it applies I do not know. But if it were me, I would definitely get mine renewed if it were less than 6 months for that reason alone. Canada is technically not a country that requires the six months, nor does the US, but since the Celebrity website states it, then I would not want to take the risk. All cruises from the US stop in a foreign country (in this case Canada) due to some kind of maritime sailing rules about which I am no expert.

 

When renewing my son's passport recently, the turn-around time was just a couple of weeks. I guess it just all depends on the volume when you submit it. Would like to think it's our government improving processes, but the cynical part of me thinks a better explanation is that since the economy is still struggling fewer people can afford to travel so fewer are applying for passports. I am thankful that despite set-backs we can still fit a cruise or two into our budget (although we are more likely to downsize our cabin choice - sigh.......,)

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Celebrity's website says that they expect passports valid six months or longer. Whether they always enforce that rule, or monitor it for just when it applies I do not know. But if it were me, I would definitely get mine renewed if it were less than 6 months for that reason alone. Canada is technically not a country that requires the six months, nor does the US, but since the Celebrity website states it, then I would not want to take the risk. All cruises from the US stop in a foreign country (in this case Canada) due to some kind of maritime sailing rules about which I am no expert.

 

When renewing my son's passport recently, the turn-around time was just a couple of weeks. I guess it just all depends on the volume when you submit it. Would like to think it's our government improving processes, but the cynical part of me thinks a better explanation is that since the economy is still struggling fewer people can afford to travel so fewer are applying for passports. I am thankful that despite set-backs we can still fit a cruise or two into our budget (although we are more likely to downsize our cabin choice - sigh.......,)

 

 

While I am not recommending travel on passports with less than six months validity, I have used a passport with about five months validity on a Celebrity Med. cruise. It was fine for all of the Schengen countries, as well as Turkey.

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@Bocaroo - thank you so much for posting. I need to send our passports to Philadelphia to add extra pages. Been reluctant to do it but need to get "a move on" since we will be sending it to a visa service for a China visa in a couple months. You give me hope that perhaps the 4-6 week estimate for processing might be faster. Did you get an email notifying you of the progress or did the passport just arrive without notification? Since you used Express Mail perhaps you had a heads up?

 

I just sent in my passport for both extra pages and a Chinese visa. It took 8 days for the pages and 8 days for the visa. I still have 6 years left on my passport, so I opted to get 48 pages added in since it's the same cost as 24 pages. I probably won't need that many, but since I was already sending it, why not?

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I just renewed an expired passport. I mailed it from Albuquerque by priority mail on August 1st, the passport was issued August 20, it was mailed back by priority mail. The old passport was mailed back separately. I was out of town when the passports arrived and picked them up at my P. O. box on August 31.

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  • 4 months later...

If anyone is interested in the current time it takes for renewals...

 

Just renewed my passport in January, Sent it in via "regular" mail on January 8th and received the new one back on January 29th, so about 3 weeks is the current wait time. My old one arrived two days later.

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redcupr-

 

Also sent my husband's the first week of January and we got it back Jan.31. Thanks so much for letting us know the old one will be returned as well. My husband had an international job pre-retirement and was hoping to keep it as memoriabilia for all the countries he traveled to. At one point he had to have pages added because so many were filled with visas. He'll be very happy to know it will be returned.

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