Passport Renewal

[capriccio]

From a story in the Washington Post (https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2023/10/03/us-passport-processing-times/ )

 

"The agency said Monday that it’s shortened their processing times to eight to 11 weeks for routine service and five to seven weeks for expedited service for applications received on or after Oct. 2.

 

The move is a step to get processing times back to levels before the pandemic hit, when applications were fulfilled within six to eight weeks for routine applications and two to three weeks for accelerated service. The department noted it is working to increase staffing levels by 10 percent and modernize its technology to meet processing demand."

Edited October 3, 2023 by capriccio

[sparks1093]

A step in the right direction. 

[Capt_BJ]

I sent my renewal in last month .... routine/normal processing ... had new passport in hand in under 2 weeks. I'm in Florida ... sent to Texas facility. I used priority mail to send it in, and they used same to return (traceable).

Edited October 3, 2023 by Capt_BJ

[CruiserBruce]

42 minutes ago, Capt_BJ said:

I sent my renewal in last month .... routine/normal processing ... had new passport in hand in under 2 weeks. I'm in Florida ... sent to Texas facility. I used priority mail to send it in, and they used same to return (traceable).

I think there is a trend here. We had the same experience last November, except back in our hands in 3 weeks. I think the high demand periods for people seeking passports starts around Jan 1, as people start to think through their summer travel plans for the upcoming  summer. And, thus the Passport office gets jammed in that period of time. If you apply in the "off season"...maybe from Aug 1 to Jan 1, the demand is much lower.

[Honolulu Blue]

14 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

I think there is a trend here. We had the same experience last November, except back in our hands in 3 weeks. I think the high demand periods for people seeking passports starts around Jan 1, as people start to think through their summer travel plans for the upcoming  summer. And, thus the Passport office gets jammed in that period of time. If you apply in the "off season"...maybe from Aug 1 to Jan 1, the demand is much lower.

There might be something to this.  I applied for my passport back (expedited) in December 2021, before the current slowdowns.  I got my new book in 3 weeks.

[Szt]

Maybe there is a difference between renewal and new passport. My son got his first passport last year. He applied in June and just barely got it in time for our Oct sailing. 

[Mike981]

From reading the other thread on passports, it seems that where you send in your renewal also seems to matter. Texas seems to processing faster and that is where we sent ours, it took 8 weeks.

[sparks1093]

Another thing is that the estimate is just that, an estimate. State Dept. likely expects that the vast majority of passports will be processed in a few weeks and that only a small percentage will take the full estimated time of 11 weeks.

[Nebr.cruiser]

Let's hope!  My sister applied for a renewal last December and didn't get it until April!  

 

She was going with us on an extended six week trip to Australia and New Zealand, which included two cruises.  Because of a health problem that popped up she couldn't go anyway, but otherwise would have missed because of no passport.

[ATC cruiser]

All well and good until the next budget showdown in November, then it’s anybodies guess

 

[sparks1093]

8 hours ago, ATC cruiser said:

All well and good until the next budget showdown in November, then it’s anybodies guess

 

Since the passport part of State Department is fee funded I think they will still be open. 

[CruiserBruce]

1 hour ago, sparks1093 said:

Since the passport part of State Department is fee funded I think they will still be open. 

Nope. That is not how it works.

[sparks1093]

15 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

Nope. That is not how it works.

If you are sure Will a Government Shutdown Impact Passport Services? - The Passport Office Blog. (And whether they stay open because they are fee funded or because they are an essential service the critical thing is they remain open, with limited exceptions.)

[CruiserBruce]

1 minute ago, sparks1093 said:

If you are sure Will a Government Shutdown Impact Passport Services? - The Passport Office Blog. (And whether they stay open because they are fee funded or because they are an essential service the critical thing is they remain open, with limited exceptions.)

If they are deemed essential, yes, they stay open. It has nothing to do with being fee funded.

[sparks1093]

49 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

If they are deemed essential, yes, they stay open. It has nothing to do with being fee funded.

Likely a combination of both factors. As I said, the important thing is they are open.

 

Federal Government Shutdown FAQs | Representative Dwight Evans (house.gov)

WILL IMMIGRATION APPLICATIONS STILL BE PROCESSED?

Visa and passport operations are fee-funded and thus are not normally impacted by a shutdown. Immigration court cases on the detained docket will proceed during a lapse in congressional appropriations while non-detained docket cases will be reset for a later date when funding resumes. The Department of Homeland Security estimates that Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement will retain the vast majority of their employees during a shutdown.

 

[ontheweb]

4 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

If they are deemed essential, yes, they stay open. It has nothing to do with being fee funded.

I believe whether something is considered essential has more to do with the employees being paid on time as opposed to having to wait until the government is funded once again.

[capriccio]

20 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

I believe whether something is considered essential has more to do with the employees being paid on time as opposed to having to wait until the government is funded once again.

It actually has to do with what the employee does and if that task is designated essential.  Even then (at least in the past; I've been retired for 10 years) only some people in an office that is essential will be designated as such so the office remains functioning at reduced staffing and output. 

[cruisemom42]

Makes me feel slightly more comfortable about upcoming renewal — I have a window between mid-January and early April. I’ll be springing for expedited service…🤞

[ontheweb]

5 hours ago, capriccio said:

It actually has to do with what the employee does and if that task is designated essential.  Even then (at least in the past; I've been retired for 10 years) only some people in an office that is essential will be designated as such so the office remains functioning at reduced staffing and output. 

And who defines those things?

 

Years ago during a shutdown, we had to loan money to a sister-in-law especially as college tuition was due for her son. She worked for the IRS.

[capriccio]

5 hours ago, ontheweb said:

And who defines those things?

 

Years ago during a shutdown, we had to loan money to a sister-in-law especially as college tuition was due for her son. She worked for the IRS.

In my experience each essential office had to have a shutdown plan (similar to the required disaster, unexpected closure, etc. plans that we always had).  In the case of my office, a great deal of thought went into the planning and, probably not unexpectedly, those with the most experience and expertise were designated essential because they could handle a wide range of office tasks.  Those designated non-essential were assured that it was no reflection on their importance in the normal workings of the office - it was just the necessity of keeping the on-site headcount as low as possible to successfully accomplish essential tasks.  It was a wrenching exercise knowing that everyone (including those making the plans) would suffer monetarily since even those designated essential wouldn't be paid until the shutdown was over and that some would take being designated non-essential personally.  

[leanstostarboard]

I wanted to share our experience with getting our passports renewed.   We mailed the application  on Sept 10  and just received our new passports on Oct 11.  We requested expedited service and paid for priority mail return.   

 

I had heard many comments of 12 to 13 week turnaround and I just wanted to share our experience; we were expecting our renewal passports around Christmas. 

[Tbay]

I am in Canada.  Submitted the passport info thru a Service Canada location.  Expected date of arrival was 4-5 weeks.  Passport arrived in  6  days.  With no special processing fees. Amazing.

[rtdiva]

On 10/3/2023 at 12:24 PM, Capt_BJ said:

I sent my renewal in last month .... routine/normal processing ... had new passport in hand in under 2 weeks. I'm in Florida ... sent to Texas facility. I used priority mail to send it in, and they used same to return (traceable).

Got mine back in three weeks, priority and expedited from somewhere.

[Harry Lake]

I just read today that they're saying the wait time has IMPROVED to 2-3 months 🙂 And you can renew your passport as far ahead as you want.

 

[Underwatr]

 

11 hours ago, Harry Lake said:

And you can renew your passport as far ahead as you want.

Since they terminate the old passport with no time added on to the new one there is a bit of a downside to renewing "too early." In contrast, when I renew my driver's license its expiration is four years after the expiration of the old one, not four years after its renewal.