U.S. Travelers Can Renew Their Passports Online Starting Today

[SouthBayDem]

Source: Wall Street Journal (gift link)

Travelers who want to renew their passports online can do so starting Wednesday.

Eligible travelers can process their applications without sending everything in the mail and can expect to receive their passport back in six to eight weeks. The State Department tested online passport renewals in 2022, but took the program offline in 2023.

The relaunched renewal program is open to the public, but is in beta, or trial mode, senior State Department officials said. This will allow the department to make changes to the process as it evaluates the process and user feedback.

Under the program, a limited number of people can renew their passports. Each day around 1 p.m. Eastern time, the department will open up a small number of spots for renewal, the officials said.

Read more: https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/travel/passport-renewal-online-appointments-54ba329c?st=m5xur78mgllkseu&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

[Liberty Belle]

1. Long overdue but I just tried at 8am PST and it's already too late for today.

This should be available for everyone ASAP.

I live a few miles from the Mexican border. Until today,to renew you had to mail in your passport and wait weeks or months, meaning you can't travel over the border even to Mexico,let alone to any other country. You can't plan anything,not knowing when the new passport will arrive, nor even have proof it was received. They won't let you keep the old passport until a new one arrives, which would be the logical thing to do.

The only other option is to wait until two weeks before you plan an international trip to apply at a local passport office for an expedited approval--but there is no guarantee that you will get one. And you must show proof of travel plans,such as airline tickets. You can't just say you plan to visit Mexico with friends.

We are hoping to travel internationally next year and in the meantime need to reschedule a winetasting day trip to Mexico that was cancelled due to illness. We don't know the date of the next tour yet. So we are unable to book anything until I can get a passport renewed. And I wouldn't think of booking an overseas trip without passport in hand; mine expires in April.

Imagine paying for international travel only to learn your passport wasn't approved and you lose all that money.

It's a ridiculous system. I'll try getting up in the wee hours to see if I can get the online renewal to work.

Don't suggest contacting my Congressional member for help on this---he's a MAGA nut who I've had a dispute with in the past.