I’ve used CVS for my passport photos recently. When travelling, I often carry a few extra to be used as needed. It’s more important in more remote locales.
Yes, as I said a couple of posts up.
I’ve used another drugstore chain for my passport photos. I handled the pictures the same way I do my drivers license pictures. My gf drives me there because I have a few drinks and smoke some cannabis before getting my picture taken. I also muss up my hair.
FedEx/Kinko’s has a passport service. They have the forms, take the pictures and overnight the whole package to the passport agency. One stop shop.
Actually passport processing and many other State Department services (like visas) are fully funded by user fees.
Does that give them flexibility in FTE positions and capital expenses ?
I have no clue how the budgeting works at that granular a level. But as a former Federal employee, I can tell you it takes the Feds FOREVER to hire anyone. It took me several months to be onboarded even as a temp because of the security clearance requirements.
I’ve never understood people that want to have perfect hair and makeup for a passport picture when they are likely to be going through immigration after a long flight in economy where they had to leave the hotel at 3AM to make it to the airport.
My family got new passports this year. Because we’re lazy, my wife and I waited to long to renew our old ones, so we had to apply as if new, and this is the kid’s first. We sent it in early January, the passports were issued at the end of March, and were in our hands in April. We did not pay for any sort of expediting or fast shipping.
As said, they collect all of the stuff and send it off, but more importantly they witness the signing and do other notary kind of stuff.
I did my family’s pictures at home, and printed them at a Walgreens. I think that ended up costing about $1.75. I used an app to crop the picture to the correct size, and make sure the face was in the correct place. The guy at the post office didn’t like the lighting, and in his opinion suggested I let him retake them. I agreed on one of the photos, but let him retake all of them.
I thought the same thing, except it turned out to be a hand held point and shoot camera from anytime in the last 15 years. He had us stand against a wall with a light backdrop hanging on it, took the pictures, then put the card in a computer, used some purpose built software to crop and compose the pictures, and then a little picture printer to spit out some photos. That cost me $100 or something ridiculous.
The other option was redo them myself (which i probably should have done ahead of time), go to a commercial place, which would have still been $80+, or just let the guy in the post office do it.
Okay, I paid for the 2-day mail service. My passport was first marked as In Process June 15. Today, July 29, my new passport was in my PO Box. Pretty darn fast! Not that I ever received the email notifications I signed up for.
Another data point. My status was pending, until it showed up in the mail just this week… only two months from when I sent it in. Then I got my old one days later.
It was so weird to be without a passport. I have a friend who keeps asking me to take off for Europe with him (but only once in twenty years have we actually done it). He was bummed he couldn’t tempt me this summer.
I know, right? I couldn’t get to Saskatchewan to do the quarterly adjustments on the Jewish Space Lasers.
Depends on how much international travel one does.
I do some nearly every week. It’s as much a part of my pocket stuff as is my wallet, driver’s license, and phone. Though I sure don’t carry it around here at home in FL.
OTOH, barely 1/2 of all Americans even have a passport. They have no use for one.
I wondered about that. How do you renew it? You clearly don’t want a gap with no passport, so you can’t mail in your old one even for two months. I guess you have to go in person to a passport center or something?
There’s a special process for aircrew. And I presume for ship crew too. It’s essentially same-day service. I’ll be retired before mine is eligible to renew, so next time I’m stuck with the long delay like everyone else. I’ve forgotten most of the details from the last time I did it as aircrew.
I did not know that. Fortunately we got NEXUS first. It automatically includes TSA pre-clear and Global Entry, and costs less than both of those programs. AND it is good for 5 years. We love our NEXUS cards.
It was a slight PITA to travel 6 hours to Sault Ste. Marie for the original interview, but it was totally worth it. We hung around touring the Soo locks, then spent 3 lovely days on Mackinac Island after.
We renewed our NEXUS cards quite easily some months ago, it took less than two weeks for new cards to arrive.
My daughters are actually hoping that they require interviews with their next renewals. The last renewal (pre-Covid) didn’t need an interview so their pictures are from when they were 5 and 8, they will be 16 and 19 when the cards are set to expire.