There is good news for travelers who (like me) tend to put off necessary paperwork until the last minute: Passport processing times are faster than ever.
According to the U.S. State Department, travelers can now expect to wait four to six weeks for routine service, which is down from the previously quoted processing time of six to eight weeks. Expedited passports, which cost an extra $60, will continue to take two to three weeks.
“This announcement comes after months of issuing passports well under the six- to eight-week commitment and showcases our progress to continuously improve the efficiency, equity, and accessibility of the U.S. passport application process,” the agency said in a press release.
Passport processing times had soared during the COVID-19 pandemic; at the height of the backlog, would-be travelers were told they’d have to wait between 12 and 18 weeks to get their travel documents. Even as recently as July 2023, ten to 13 weeks, double the current timeline, was the norm for processing. It wasn’t until December 2023 that the State Department announced that wait times were finally back to the pre-pandemic norms.
Even more helpful for travelers: As of September 18, those who need to renew their passports can do so entirely online, 24/7, skipping the inconvenient mail-in paper application and check-payment process. The news came after several years of more limited trials for the online renewal option.
At the time of the announcement of the online renewal programs launch, Jason Miller, deputy director for management at the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, told Afar that “100 percent of people [currently receive their passport earlier than] that six- to eight-week promise,” but the government couldn’t yet commit to citing a shorter wait period. But, now, it’s official.
To renew their passport online, travelers need to meet certain criteria: be age 25 or older, not have to update any information (such as changing a name), be able to upload a digital photo, and pay the $130 fee with a debit or credit card. Also, the option is available only to those seeking to renew an adult passport that has expired within the past five years or will expire in the coming year; those who have run out of visa pages or whose most recent passport was a child one cannot renew online. However, the State Department estimates that about 5 million Americans will use the online renewal program each year.
It’s worth noting that the new processing times begin when the State Department receives an application, so if you complete the application by mail (a requirement for those applying for the first time), be sure to factor in more time on either end. “It may take two weeks for your application to get to us and two weeks for you to get your passport after we mail it,” the State Department advises on its website.
