State Department launches online passport renewals

WASHINGTON — The next time you have to renew your passport, you won’t have to go to the post office or even send in a paper form with a check. The State Department has finally moved to online passport renewals.

The department has fully launched an online, secure portal that is said will “save time and effort.”

Not everyone will qualify to use the online system. It is only for adults who are renewing a regular 10-year passport that has either expired in the past five years or that expires within a year. It also only works for people who have an address in the U.S.

To get the process started, and to see if you qualify, visit travel.state.gov. You will click on “Get a U.S. Passport” then click “I’m an adult renewing online.” Then you will go through the steps to confirm that you can renew online and once the renewal is submitted, track the status.

The routine processing time is six to eight weeks, not including mailing times, and expedited service is not available.

“Thanks to increased staffing, technological advancements, and a host of other improvements, the average routine passport is being processed today in roughly one-third the time as at the same point last summer, and well under the advertised six to eight weeks processing times,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a news release.

Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Rena Bitter said that the service may evolve over time.

“This is not going to be the last thing that we do. We want to see how this goes, and then we’ll start looking at ways to continue to make this service available to more American citizens in the coming months and years,” Bitter said, according to CNN.

The system has been in beta testing for the past few months.

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