U.S. Passport Processing Time

[island lady]

19 minutes ago, amawells said:

I renewed mine online as they just opened that up again, and I also got it back in two weeks, I did pay for expedited, but I thought that was very fast.

 

Do they use your old picture?  

[amawells]

8 minutes ago, island lady said:

 

Do they use your old picture?  

No, you have do take a new one, but you can do it at home, just follow the guidelines, and they will crop it when it's submitted.

[island lady]

4 minutes ago, amawells said:

No, you have do take a new one, but you can do it at home, just follow the guidelines, and they will crop it when it's submitted.

 

Nice!!  Wondered about that one...thanks!  🤗  Though I wouldn't mind having a timeless picture of my younger self...just wish I could apply that to my current older face.  😮😉 

[TeeRick]

18 hours ago, amawells said:

No, you have do take a new one, but you can do it at home, just follow the guidelines, and they will crop it when it's submitted.

I went to my local Walgreens and got new passport photos.  It was easy and inexpensive.

[TPKeller]

Just submitted my renewal online today, hoping it's just as fast as some of the others have reported!  Their servers had been down when I first started yesterday, so it was very slow and would not go past the "upload photo" step.

 

This afternoon I tried again and could see an immediate difference, everything was much speedier, and the photo did upload, and I was able to complete the submission!

 

A note for those who are considering the online renewal, you will need a JPG copy of your new photo - directly from the camera, no scans of prints, and you have to follow all the same rules for composure, clothing, expression, etc.  They provide the guidelines on the site.  The automatic cropping feature worked fine for me as well.

 

MyTravelGov (state.gov)

 

Theron

Edited October 12, 2022 by TPKeller
add info about photo requirement

[TPKeller]

On 10/11/2022 at 8:35 AM, TeeRick said:

I went to my local Walgreens and got new passport photos.  It was easy and inexpensive.

Just a note, if you are trying to renew online, you will need the JPG files of your photo, directly from the camera, to upload.  They don't want scanned or "pictures of pictures."

 

Theron

 

[CTGirl74]

I renewed online using a picture from my cell phone. I had a coworker take my picture against my blank, bland, off-white office wall. Trying to get the system to accept my photo was a real pain in the neck. Even after making absolutely sure I did everything to the letter, I still got a message saying the photo may be rejected. I then said "screw it" and submitted anyway, letting the chips fall where they may. (Spolier alert:  it was accepted during review!)

 

I applied 09/21 and just got the passort yesterday. I didn't think that was long at all.

[TPKeller]

3 hours ago, CTGirl74 said:

I renewed online using a picture from my cell phone. I had a coworker take my picture against my blank, bland, off-white office wall. Trying to get the system to accept my photo was a real pain in the neck. Even after making absolutely sure I did everything to the letter, I still got a message saying the photo may be rejected. I then said "screw it" and submitted anyway, letting the chips fall where they may. (Spolier alert:  it was accepted during review!)

 

I applied 09/21 and just got the passort yesterday. I didn't think that was long at all.

 

I think the biggest challenge is the shadows.  It's easy enough with cell cameras (no flash) to get a white or off-white background, but if the light is overhead, you end up with shadows on your face from your eyebrows, nose, and chin.  And if you turn on the cell flash, you will end up with shadows on the wall behind from your head.

I ended up using the overhead light for the wall, and a small white-light desk lamp turned up to hit my face to kill the shadows - with no flash from the camera.

 

Theron

Edited October 13, 2022 by TPKeller
Typo

[Z'Loth]

• Mailed From Richardson – August 10th
• Received in Irving, TX – August 11th
• Acknowledgment Of Receipt – August 15th (4 days)
• Passport Book Received – September 22nd (38 days)
• Passport Card Received – September 24th (40 days)

Total Time: 6 weeks and 3 days
 

[iuki]

Hooray!  I just received an email notifying me that my application has been approved and my passport is being printed.  It said I should receive it 10/19/2022!

[iuki]

I received my Next Generation Passport in the mail today, 10/17/2022.

 

My husband received the original style passport.

[TPKeller]

On 10/12/2022 at 2:41 PM, TPKeller said:

Just submitted my renewal online today, hoping it's just as fast as some of the others have reported!  Their servers had been down when I first started yesterday, so it was very slow and would not go past the "upload photo" step.

 

Passport arrived today.  19 days from online submission to delivery.

 

Theron

[KP@Sea]

DH & I received our renewed passports today, in 20 days. However, my picture is on his passport and his on mine. State Department assures me that is impossible.. I actually had to send photos to prove my case 😳

[island lady]

9 hours ago, Winky7650 said:

DH & I received our renewed passports today, in 20 days. However, my picture is on his passport and his on mine. State Department assures me that is impossible.. I actually had to send photos to prove my case 😳

 

Government employees.  😄 

[TPKeller]

On 11/2/2022 at 6:22 PM, Winky7650 said:

DH & I received our renewed passports today, in 20 days. However, my picture is on his passport and his on mine. State Department assures me that is impossible.. I actually had to send photos to prove my case 😳

 

I was reviewing this thread today... was wondering if they fixed your problem?  How long did it take?

 

Crazy!!

 

Theron

 

[CruiserBruce]

Mailed renewal (priority mail, with both DW and my paper in one envelope) Nov 15. Post Office said it would arrive Nov 21, actually arrived Nov 19.

 

My new passport arrived Dec 1, DW's on Dec 2. Old passports returned Dec 7 and 8.

 

Paid standard renewal fee.

[KP@Sea]

3 hours ago, TPKeller said:

 

I was reviewing this thread today... was wondering if they fixed your problem?  How long did it take?

 

Crazy!!

 

Theron

 

We had to contact State Department, and send them photos of the passports because they also said it wasn’t possible for them to make that mistake. 
 

End result, we had to overnight the misprinted passports with new photos and they overnighted them back once they corrected them.  It took about a week total. 

Edited December 28, 2022 by Winky7650
Spelling

[TPKeller]

1 minute ago, Winky7650 said:

We had to contact State Department, and send them photos of the passports because they said it wasn’t possible for them to make that mistake. 
 

End result, we had to overnight the misprinted passports with new photos and they overnighted them back once they corrected them.  It took about a week total. 

 

Ha!  Reminds me of this famous quote:

 

"The Difficult We Do Immediately. The Impossible Takes a Little Longer!"

 

Glad it was resolved!

Theron