Canada managed to get past this problem a year ago. Turnaround time is 10 business days for in person, 20 days for mail.
This is not true, it’s a rule of thumb. For example, as a Canadian travel to the UK or the US requires a passport valid for the duration of the trip. Travel to the Schengen zone of the EU needs 3 months post departure.
Budget. How many $$ have they been allocated by Congress? That determines the level of service a government agency gives.
Some countries require that your passport be valid at least six months beyond the dates of your trip . Some airlines will not allow you to board if this requirement is not met. - SOURCE (Answer #17)
Want to take that chance at the airport two hours before your flight? Go for it. You (general “you”) are asking for a lot of problems if you try. Not something you want two hours before your dream vacation.
I believe that almost all passports in the US are processed at one location in New Hampshire. I wonder if that’s the problem. Do other countries like Canada have multiple locations to process applications and generate passports?
Yes they do. In person applications are done locally, mail in are regional. I just sent my daughter’s application in about 2 weeks ago and it is being processed in Gatineau, Quebec.
Am I? No, because I am quite anal about checking the requirements. For example, many people are unaware that as of next year, visits to most of the EU (Schengen zone) will require an electronic travel authorization similar to the ESTA most visitors to the US that are visa-exempt still require.
I don’t think that’s true. There are dozens of offices all over the US.
Offices, yes, but I believe almost all passports are actually produced at that one location.
I live in South Africa, whose postal service is hardly a paragon of efficiency, but my UK passport renewal took a mind boggling 10 days - I had to send a bunch of docs as my passport had expired - so given 2 days to get it to London and back, HMPO managed to decide I was OK and print and issue a passport in just 6 days.
Not even business days.
My RSA passport needs renewal, I am expecting 1 month being promised but resigned to the reality that it will probably take 3 months.
My Zimbabwean passport expired about 20 years ago, but the renewal period is a bit longer… I am waiting for regime change for that application to succeed.
My wife and I just renewed our passports, the wait was not near as long as being reported. We sent the renewals in on April 14th, my wife got hers on May 24, I got mine on June 5th. We just sent in our renewals for the TSA precheck, not sure how long those will take. We are not traveling by plane till next June when we go to Kenya for a photo safari.
We sent our renewals to Philadelphia, the new passports arrived with the same location on the return address.
There are two addresses on the form - Philadelphia and Iriving TX.
That should be pretty quick - I renewed on line and got the email confirming the renewal the same day.
My passport is received and in process. Based on the website, I’ll have it by October. I didn’t expedite but did pay for 2-day return. I super-duper don’t like being trapped in the US until it’s returned.
I applied for NEXUS half a year before my Global Entry/TSA Pre is to expire. Turns out you can’t apply for both simultaneously, and must wait until you have conditional approval for one before applying for the other, or sacrifice your fee and start over. I applied on 1 February, at which time 3-4 months was predicted for conditional approval. It’s 5 months later with no progress. My GE/pre expires at the end of this month. If I’d applied in the reverse order, I could show evidence of this and extend my use of the GE for up to 2 years. Now, though, it appears it will expire before I can submit my renewal, which means I lose my GE and my pre. Maddening!
I’ve often wondered how people that travel all the time manage their passport renewals. Since you have to send the old one in, what do they do, just stop traveling? I know that you can visit an agency but those appointments can be difficult to get.
In my town, passport applications are handled by the Post Office. I don’t know what the current rules are, but last time I renewed, you had the option of bringing in your own photograph. I wish I had done so. Postal clerks are even worse photographers than DMV clerks.
You pay to expedite and possibly use an agency. Also, it shouldn’t take 13 weeks, but there you have it.
ETA: Department of State says:
Our passport agencies and centers process routine and expedited applications, and are open by appointment only for customers who have urgent international travel within 14 calendar days or need a foreign visa within 28 calendar days.
As others noted, it’s typically not a long wait. And expedited processing has been a always been an option. I’ve had visas (not a passport, but similar issues) turned around in less than a week when needed. My company paid an agency to walk it through the process.
You can use a PO to put your application together, but they don’t process anything there. It all gets sent out. And I’m pretty sure you could always bring in your own photos. I never had them take it in the PO. But now, it’s just as easy to do everything at home.
It’s currently 13 week wait according to Dept. of State, plus up to 4 more weeks if you don’t pay for 2-day shipping.
You can expited the process by making an appointment in person at the office, or hiring an agency to do so. That should be completed in less than 2 weeks. This is what people who need to travel immediately do. My brother is doing this for his kids right now for a summer trip.
The last time I renewed my passport, I had the photos taken at a Fedex Office location. There are very specific requirements for the passport photos and they had a camera designed for the purpose. I suspect the post office has a similar camera. I think it was under ten bucks for the photo. My mother needs to renew her passport and I think she was going to go to the local AAA location, as it’s free there for members.