More than two years after first setting the goal of bringing the mail-in process for renewing a passport into the 21st century, online passport renewal is finally an option. And if my recent experience is any indication, it’ll be a game changer.
The U.S. State Department rolled out its latest public beta test of online passport renewal in June, opening it up to an undetermined number of applicants each weekday afternoon. It's not at 100% just yet, but with my passport set to expire next spring, I figured I’d give the new online option a whirl, submitting an online renewal application (in about 20 minutes) in mid-July.
Lo and behold, my brand-new passport arrived in the mail last week … a total of 13 days after I applied. That’s right: Renewing my passport took less than two weeks from application to arrival, and that's without adding expedited service or rush delivery.
Online passport renewal is no joke:
Applied Thursday, July 18.
Received it in the mail yesterday, Wednesday, July 31.
Under two weeks! No expedited service, no rush shipping.
(Pro tip: Get the large passport book with 52 pages vs 28 at no extra cost!)https://t.co/4T8tQJL7bz pic.twitter.com/lHfTLtGjgk
— Kyle Potter (@kpottermn) August 1, 2024
That’s pretty incredible, a fraction of the six-to-eight-week timeline the federal government currently lists for first-time and renewing applicants. Consider this: Just a year ago, Americans were waiting three-plus months, often enlisting help from elected officials to get their passports back before jetting off for an international trip.
The State Department has insisted that passport processing times are back on track – and that they've solved many bugs with previous online renewal pilots that led to even longer waits. Of course, as the government opens up this online renewal process to more and more Americans, it might not be so quick in the future.
But a convenient and speedy way to renew your expiring passport … all without needing to mail your current passport in? Yes, please.
Here’s how it works.
Who Can Apply for Online Passport Renewal?
Want to get your passport renewed online? First things first: You need to get in the door.
Online passport renewal is still technically in a beta testing period, and the State Department is limiting how many applicants they're taking each day. And that will continue for “several months,” a State Department spokesperson previously.
The window to apply for online passport renewal opens at 1 p.m. Eastern each and every day (including weekends). A limited number of online applications will be accepted each day, though it's unclear exactly how many they'll accept.
And not everyone is eligible, either. To submit an online application, you must meet the following criteria:
- Your most recent passport is/was valid for 10 years and you are 25 or older.
- Your most recent passport was issued over nine years ago, but less than 15 years prior to the date they plan to submit their online application (i.e., most recent passport was issued between 2009 and 2015). The most recent passport can be expired, however.
- You are not changing your name, gender, date of birth, or place of birth.
- You are not traveling internationally for at least eight weeks from the date you will submit their application.
- You are applying for a regular (tourist) passport.
- You live in the United States (either state or territory). Applicants do not qualify to renew their passport online if they live in a foreign country or have an Army Post Office (APO) or Fleet Post Office (FPO) address.
- You have your passport in your possession; it is not damaged or mutilated, or has been reported as lost or stolen.
- You can pay the passport application fees using a credit or debit card or bank transfer.
Lucky for me, I fit the bill. With my own passport expiration looming next April, I decided to pull the trigger and apply for online passport renewal on July 18 – and not right when the window opened at 1 p.m. ET, but later in the afternoon.
I got in on the first try. And the application took about 20 minutes or so total.
How to Apply for Online Passport Renewal
I'll be honest: I was (pleasantly) surprised at just how easy and fast it was to submit an online passport renewal application.
With my current passport in hand, the entire process took about 20 minutes from start to finish. And thanks to plenty of guidance from the State Department on exactly how to snap a picture and an improved tool for processing images, even taking and uploading my own passport photo was a breeze.
Step 1. Sign up for a MyTravelGov Account
First things first: You'll need to sign up for a MyTravelGov account.
This is the online platform that the State Department uses to handle online passport renewal applications (among other services). After creating an account and verifying your email, you'll need to fill out a full profile with all the basics, including your address. And it requires multi-factor authentication with a phone number
Once you're signed in, head back to the main MyTravelGov site and click the option to renew your passport online.
Step 2. Start Your Application
The State Department says it takes roughly 40 minutes to renew a passport online. That seems like a stretch.
So long as you've got your previous passport in hand and a photo ready (more on that soon), the entire application process shouldn't take more than 15 minutes or so. The State Department does say, however, that you'll need to finalize and submit your application within 30 days of starting – otherwise, you'll have to start from scratch.
To start, you'll have to confirm you meet all those eligibility requirements we listed above. Most notable: Your current passport must be no more than 15 years old and set to expire in less than a year; you don't need to change the name on your passport; and you live in the U.S. with a valid physical address.
There's all the usual personal information you need to fill out, including your Social Security Number.
You'll also need to select whether you're renewing a passport book, a passport card, or both. And, of course, you'll need to enter all the details about your current (or recently expired) passport.
That includes your current passport's Inventory Control Number (ICN), located on the back cover of your passport book. In my case, my ICN and passport number were identical.
The State Department will also ask for details on any upcoming international travel plans as a way to ensure you aren't cutting it too close with the renewal. There's a good reason for that: Once you submit your online renewal application, your current passport is void.
Once you wrap all that up, it's time to get a photo ready.
Step 3. Take & Upload Your Passport Photo
Gone are the days of getting passport photos taken at AAA or the closest CVS. Your phone will do.
Uploading your own digital photo is an integral part of the online passport renewal process. And it was one of the biggest hiccups with previous test runs of the online process, with travelers' submissions being rejected.
I uploaded my photo on the first try successfully – largely because the State Department provided a of guidance for exactly what they're looking for.
That's one of more than a half-dozen examples the application provided for how to take a photo correctly – and how you might screw it up. A few major things to keep in mind:
- No selfies! I had my wife snap a quick photo
- Make sure you're in front of a plain white (or off-white) background with no major shadows
- Take a photo straight on from the torso up
- Make sure your photo is at least 600 pixels by 600 pixels and 54KB in size (but no more than 10 MB)
The State Department even put together a full video outlining what to watch for with your photo.
Once you're confident you've captured the right photo, upload it. Don't bother cropping it – the tool will do that automatically.
Step 4. Submit & Pay
You're almost done. Yes, renewing a passport online really is this easy.
After entering everything you need, you'll need to certify everything is accurate.
Then, it's on to pick what you need and any extras. If you're renewing a passport book, you'll have the option of a regular passport book with 28 pages and a large passport with 52 pages … at no extra cost. While many countries no longer stamp passports, I was running dangerously close to running out of empty pages on my old one. So why not get the large passport – better safe than sorry, right?
As of publication, there's no option to expedite processing for an extra $60 with online renewals as you can with new passport application or renewing by mail – though federal officials say that's something they're hoping to offer eventually. But considering I got my passport back in less than two weeks without it, that seems like overkill anyway
You can, however, add express delivery for an extra $21 and change. I skipped it.
Shortly after submitting and paying for my application, I got an email from the State Department noting my payment was pending. Two days later, I got another email with the subject line: “Your Passport Application Status – Received.”
Eleven days after that, my passport arrived in the mail. My jaw is still on the floor.
If I have one critique with the online passport renewal service, it was with a lack of updates on the status of my passport. There's a dedicated Passport Status Checker which I checked a few times. And despite signing up for email updates through that service, I never received another email noting my passport renewal had been finalized nor shipped.
Then again, I can't really complain considering it arrived in under two weeks, right?
Bottom Line
After stumbling last year amid lengthy wait times to get passport, I didn't think I'd say this. But online passport renewal is the real deal – at least in my experience.
Getting my new passport in under two weeks is outstanding, especially considering I didn't pay an extra dime for faster processing or shipping. Odds are, renewing a passport online won't be quite so speedy as it continues to expand.
Until then, here's hoping you gets yours back as fast as I did.
I was fortunate enough to be in one of the testing phases for the online passport renewal in 2022, and it was a game changer for me. Very simple process. The Place I took my passport photos at, actually emailed the picture to me in the correct format and I had no problem uploading it.