# Passport renewal--where to start? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 28, 2010, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passport-renewal-where-to-start/537612 "2010-04-28T11:16:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passport-renewal-where-to-start/537612/1 "2010-04-28T11:16:15Z")
My passport is almost expired, and though I have no immediate plans to travel abroad, I remember from the last time I renewed one that it was a LOT more complicated to do after it had expired. But I’m living in a different place now, don’t remember what sort of place I had to go to last time, and can’t even remember what I had to do to get it renewed. Can you do it by mail? E-mail? Anyone renewed a passport lately? ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passport-renewal-where-to-start/537612/2 "2010-04-28T11:32:43Z")
You can check the State Department website. Most passports are processed via a large local post office, but not all post offices offer this service. I’d check with them first, personally. Here’s a link for you at no extra charge: > **[U.S. Passports](https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports.html/passport_1738.html)** > > How to apply for or renew your U.S. passport if you live in United States ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passport-renewal-where-to-start/537612/3 "2010-04-28T12:23:38Z")
I just went to my local courthouse, specifically the prothonotary office, and picked up an application for renewal by mail. It’s all pretty simple and straight forward. ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passport-renewal-where-to-start/537612/4 "2010-04-28T12:27:07Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > My passport is almost expired, and though I have no immediate plans to travel abroad, I remember from the last time I renewed one that it was a LOT more complicated to do after it had expired. But I’m living in a different place now, don’t remember what sort of place I had to go to last time, and can’t even remember what I had to do to get it renewed. Can you do it by mail? E-mail? Anyone renewed a passport lately? I’m actually going through the process myself right now. If your current passport is undamaged and was issued within the past 15 years, you’re over 16, and you haven’t changed your name (or can document your name change), you can renew by mail. Note that this implies that an expired passport **can** be easily renewed, as long as it’s not “too” expired (U.S. passports for adults are only valid for ten years). See [this page](http://travel.state.gov/passport/get/renew/renew_833.html) for details. Something that’s probably new since the last time you dealt with a passport: there are two kinds of U.S. passports now, the traditional “passport book” and a driver’s-license-like “passport card” that can be used for land & sea border crossings but not air travel. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passport-renewal-where-to-start/537612/5 "2010-04-28T12:51:36Z")
I just renewed my passport a few months ago, and I actually had to go through the more involved process because my old passport had expired 8 years ago (so it was issued 18 years ago). I therefore had to apply as if I were a first-time applicant. Even with the full application and having to go down to the post office to apply in person, it was still relatively painless, except that I had to pay the full fee, not the smaller renewal fee. (The extra $25 is the “execution fee” that goes to the post office.) My old expired passport was all the identification I needed. I didn’t need to resubmit an original birth certificate or anything like that. My old original passport was submitted with the application, and was returned to me a few weeks later, along with the new passport. (Actually, they came in separate mailings.) I also ordered the passport card, because it wasn’t much more money if ordered at the same time as the passport book. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to have an additional government-issued ID with my photo on it. It came in handy because when I went on my recent Caribbean cruise, I left my passport book in the cabin safe, and took the passport card with me on shore to get on and off the ship. If that card had been lost or stolen while in the Caribbean, I still had my passport book. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passport-renewal-where-to-start/537612/6 "2010-04-28T13:11:34Z")
> [@robby](#): > > My old original passport was submitted with the application, and was returned to me a few weeks later, along with the new passport. (Actually, they came in separate mailings.) You get your old passport back? That is great. I wasn’t sure, and would miss having the old one. ---
**Author:** ![Ispolkom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47774/32.png) [@Ispolkom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ispolkom)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passport-renewal-where-to-start/537612/7 "2010-04-28T13:16:34Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I just went to my local courthouse, specifically the prothonotary office, and picked up an application for renewal by mail. To quote Harry S Truman, “What the hell is a prothonotary?” ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passport-renewal-where-to-start/537612/8 "2010-04-28T13:21:17Z")
> [@Ispolkom](#): > > To quote Harry S Truman, “What the hell is a prothonotary?” hehe. I actually said something like that to the woman who waited on me. And now I know _waaaay_ more about the office than I ever cared to know (including the fact that there is a songbird called the prothonotary warbler).😃 ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passport-renewal-where-to-start/537612/9 "2010-04-28T14:06:12Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > You get your old passport back? That is great. I wasn’t sure, and would miss having the old one. Yeah, but it probably won’t come back in the same envelope with the new one. I just renewed mine a few months ago, and the old one showed up under separate cover a week or so later. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passport-renewal-where-to-start/537612/10 "2010-04-28T14:10:30Z")
Aren’t too many prothonotaries left except in Pennsylvania - when Truman made his remark he was being introduced to the then-prothonotary of Allegheny County. Allegheny County no longer has a prothonotary - the office was merged with Clerk of Courts and Register of Wills into a single Department of Court Records office. Makes better sense - unless you want to fill more posts with elected officials, which is why some counties haven’t changed. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passport-renewal-where-to-start/537612/11 "2010-04-28T14:12:46Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > You get your old passport back? That is great. I wasn’t sure, and would miss having the old one. You should do, partly since there may be visas in the old passport that are still valid. (Some visas are multi-entry visas that last a lot longer than a single visit to the country). ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passport-renewal-where-to-start/537612/12 "2010-04-28T14:20:10Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > You get your old passport back? That is great. I wasn’t sure, and would miss having the old one. My recollection is that they punched a hole in my old one, presumably to make it clearer on inspection that it was expired (and more difficult to refashion as a fake passport). ---
**Author:** ![Skara\_Brae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Skara\_Brae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skara_Brae)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passport-renewal-where-to-start/537612/13 "2010-04-28T15:35:53Z")
I did the process my mail too. It was easy. The hardest part was finding a place to take my photo. When I got my old passport back, there was a hole in it as well. Also, oddly, my extra picture which I had sent in (you have to send in 2) was stapled to it. I guess they did not need it… ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passport-renewal-where-to-start/537612/14 "2010-04-28T15:38:03Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > My recollection is that they punched a hole in my old one, presumably to make it clearer on inspection that it was expired (and more difficult to refashion as a fake passport). They punched a hole in my old one, too. Expired passports used to have some uses, such as being a valid ID for proving employment eligibility when starting a new job, for example. However, as of last year, expired documents apparently can no longer be used for this purpose, per the revised I-9 form that was made mandatory as of April 3, 2009. Prior to this change, I was able to use my expired passport to prove employment eligibility at several new jobs. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passport-renewal-where-to-start/537612/15 "2010-04-28T17:12:02Z")
> [@robby](#): > > They punched a hole in my old one, too. > > Expired passports used to have some uses, such as being a valid ID for proving employment eligibility when starting a new job, for example. However, as of last year, expired documents apparently can no longer be used for this purpose, per the revised I-9 form that was made mandatory as of April 3, 2009. > > Prior to this change, I was able to use my expired passport to prove employment eligibility at several new jobs. I used to be able to use an expired passport to get into Canada. I don’t think I can anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Dahnlor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dahnlor/32/533_2.png) [@Dahnlor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dahnlor)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passport-renewal-where-to-start/537612/16 "2010-04-28T20:00:50Z")
My passport expired more than 10 years ago (originally issued in 1989), and I just had it renewed earlier this month. As described above, it was very simple, and getting the passport photo was the only thing that I had to figure out on my own (I eventually got that at CVS). The only difference between renewing a recently-expired passport versus one that’s been expired for more than (I think) 5 years was that I needed to submit the application and corresponding documentation in person at the post office (the government site will help you find the closest location with that service). Otherwise I could have mailed it in, but I might add that the guy at the post office was extremely helpful. I expedited it since I had less than 6 weeks before my trip, and it took less than a week for the new passport to arrive (the old one and other stuff came in the mail about a week later). D ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passport-renewal-where-to-start/537612/17 "2010-04-28T20:17:16Z")
> [@Dahnlor](#): > > I expedited it since I had less than 6 weeks before my trip, and it took less than a week for the new passport to arrive (the old one and other stuff came in the mail about a week later). I just did the routine non-expedited application last Fall, and had my new passport in less than two weeks. I was pretty surprised at how fast it came. The government website will tell you what the current processing time is here: > **[U.S. Passports](https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports.html/get/processing/processing_1740.html)** > > How to apply for or renew your U.S. passport if you live in United States It’s saying 4-6 weeks right now for routine applications. Expedited service is 2-3 weeks door-to-door, but it costs a lot more. If necessary, you can get it even faster if you schedule an appointment at a regional office: > **[U.S. Passports](https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports.html/fri/schedule/schedule_852.html)** > > How to apply for or renew your U.S. passport if you live in United States ---
**Author:** ![Plynck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Plynck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plynck)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passport-renewal-where-to-start/537612/18 "2010-04-28T21:39:48Z")
Wow, I just went through this too. And filling out the application on line is a snap if you have a good printer. > [@Skara\_Brae](#): > > I did the process my mail too. It was easy. The hardest part was finding a place to take my photo. A friend had to tell me this, but if you’re a AAA member, you can get free passport photos once a year, and extras for very little more. And even if you also get the passport card, two photos is sufficient for your application. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passport-renewal-where-to-start/537612/19 "2010-05-10T09:25:46Z")
> [@Plynck](#): > > Wow, I just went through this too. And filling out the application on line is a snap if you have a good printer. > > A friend had to tell me this, but if you’re a AAA member, you can get free passport photos once a year, and extras for very little more. And even if you also get the passport card, two photos is sufficient for your application. The local AAA office took the photos for cheap, but it wasn’t free: five bucks and change for two photos. Just FYI. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passport-renewal-where-to-start/537612/20 "2010-05-10T13:19:35Z")
Most Walgreens drugstores do passport photos. They aren’t the big deal they were 30 years ago. They use a digital point & shoot, then print it off their photo printer. 5 minutes, 10 dollars, done. As others have said, the rest of the process is dirt simple and totally painless. Go online, display the PDF & fill it out, print the filled form. Then mail the form, your photos, your old passport and a check to the address on the form. The new PP comes back in \<2 weeks by priority mail & the old one comes back via first class a week later with a hole punched in it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passport-renewal-where-to-start/537612.md?page=2)