Renewing Your Passport in the Time of COVID
Time flies. It’s been 10 years and unless I get my passport renewed, I won’t. So what’s it like to renew your passport in the age of COVID-19? In a word? Slow.
UPDATE: 26 days. That’s right. It took 26 calendar days for me to to receive my renewed passport. The State Department deserves a lot of credit of course, but if you make the process as easy as possible for them as well as yourself, you can get a passport turned around in a reasonable time. Even faster than they suggest even. Obviously your milage may vary. My renewal was pretty simple as nothing changed save my photo but taking care to provide professional and acceptable photos and a properly filled and legible application can’t hurt your chances. If you have any questions about how my experience was please feel free to reach out to me.
This is my first time renewing my passport, but after losing track of one its my second time applying for one myself. 11 years ago after misplacing my passport book a couple days before I was going on a cruise it was possible to drive into Philly one night, hit the passport office bright and early, then leave the same day with a brand new passport. This isn’t really feasible right now as those day-of appointments are reserved for life or death situations and not only that, there are far fewer of those appointments even available.
Prior to the pandemic, either new or renewal passports typically took 4 to 6 weeks, including shipping times. My, have times changed. Now, all routine passport processing requires 18 weeks and expedited processing requires 12 weeks.
So what do you need to renew your passport? First you need a DS-82 form. You can use the State Dept.’s filler or you can download and print the PDF and fill it out. You’ll need to submit fresh passport photos. I went to the local CVS and had them taken there for around $10 to $12. There are apps that you can use to take and print your own pictures but I'd prefer a professional took them to ensure they are acceptable so as to prevent delays. If you’re changing your name you also need to submit your certified legal name change documents. Additionally, you’ll need to submit your passport fees in the form of a check or money order. (Put the applicant’s name and DOB on the front of the check.) The fee to renew a passport book is $110. Expedition fee is $60 and expedited shipping is an additional $17.56 at the time of this writing for a grand total of $187.56 to renew your passport with expedited processing and expedited shipping back to you. A point: the State Dept. didn’t actually cash my check they ACH’ed the money from my account instead, which I found interesting. Pack all of these items in an envelop and clearly mark “expedite” on the front if you're choosing that option.
If all goes smoothly you should have a passport back in 6 to 18 weeks depending on expedited processing and shipping shipping. Based on how slowly a lot of things are moving 6 weeks seems reasonable to me. If you're not a procrastinator like I am you’re doing this 6-9 months out from your trip to ensure its there in time.
All told it seems like a lot but it really wasn’t too bad. I completed the entire process in about an hour including driving time and getting pictures taken. As long as you’re prepared you should be in and out in no time.
Now we wait. I’ll be sure to update this article with my experience.