this post was submitted on 18 Sep 2024

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299

US now allows passport renewals online. (www.voanews.com)

submitted 1 day ago by 101@feddit.org to c/news@lemmy.world

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[–] COASTER1921@lemmy.ml 3 points 17 hours ago

Thank goodness. I've been dreading the renewal process with how spotty usps is at actually delivering mail to my building. I need the visas in it even after I get a new passport as some are valid significantly longer than the passport itself.

[–] deltreed@lemmy.world 11 points 1 day ago

Took them long enough.

[–] Today@lemmy.world 32 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

It said 6 weeks, but mine arrived in 12 days!

ETA- they only take a certain number per day and that number resets at noon Eastern time (I think it's noon, but it might be 11:00 or 1:00. I can't remember.) so if you check right after that you'll likely get in.

[–] tiredofsametab@fedia.io 1 points 18 hours ago

Well, I have "getting up before 2 or 3 (depending on US daylight saving time) to get ready for renewal" to look forward to. I'm not sure if that's better than the time/money to travel to Tokyo.

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

It took about a month for ours when we paid a shit ton of money to have them expedited.

[–] Thassodar@lemm.ee 4 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

I paid to get mine expedited because my then GF was getting a job in the airline business. Then we broke up a week after it arrived.

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 2 points 23 hours ago

Ouch.

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 28 points 1 day ago

That's amazing! Thank you so much for the info!

[–] HonorableScythe@lemm.ee 5 points 22 hours ago

Seriously? I just got mine done using the paper method and it was so annoying! Hope this is still around in 10 years.

[–] CalcProgrammer1@lemmy.ml 13 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I just got my passport photo taken on Monday at Walgreen's and uploaded the emailed copy to the online renewal form. It was denied for being too zoomed in. Ugh! Why do they change the photo requirements for the online form?

[–] CosmicTurtle0@lemmy.dbzer0.com 14 points 1 day ago

You can take your own passport photos. You just need a white background.

https://passportphotoeditor.com/

[–] Bluefalcon@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 1 day ago

Be happy that is only that. My wife is an immigrant and getting her stuff is a fucking nightmare. You will feel like a hostage trying to get your own ransom.

[+] Bakwerk@feddit.nu 15 points 1 day ago* (last edited 7 hours ago) (5 children)

[deleted]

[–] curbstickle@lemmy.dbzer0.com 34 points 1 day ago (2 children)

We don't have a national ID, which is part of the issue. As a result, regular identification is by state depts (motor vehicles).

It also means for passports, you need to either fill out the form and mail it in, or visit a State Dept office for some expedited options (requires specific reasons to do so, requires an appointment).

In recent years, the Postmaster General has royally screwed the post office (that's a whole separate thing, so I won't go into that here. Short answer, Trump). So it runs pretty inefficiently, and that's the main way that people are getting passports.

So... Several reasons why.

[–] BaroqueInMind@lemmy.one 22 points 1 day ago

You forgot the primary reason is Republicans voting against anything that encourages budget increases or improves efficient processes for government agencies.

[–] socsa@piefed.social 6 points 22 hours ago

"Needing to go to the fucking police station" is arguably way more difficult than the US process.

[–] NuXCOM_90Percent@lemmy.zip 14 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

I mean... that IS how you get a passport. Just replace "police station" with "post office".

The issue is that the US is comparable in size to the EU. Even excluding the flyover states, people can spend an entire lifetime just going on domestic trips for holidays and the like.

So the vast majority of Americans see no need for a passport until they have booked their dream trip and realize that France is a different country. Hence the mad rush and expedited processing and so forth.

I personally make life more inconvenient for myself because I refuse to deal with booking time for photos at a post office or pay a pharmacy to do it for me so I end up spending ten minutes in gimp formatting things every N years. But that is very much a stupid me thing.

[–] ravhall@discuss.online -5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

You cannot walk into a post office and leave with a passport

[–] NuXCOM_90Percent@lemmy.zip 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Wait a couple of weeks.

Return to police station, pay the fee, and pick up your brand new ID or passport.

[–] ravhall@discuss.online -4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

It’s about 11 weeks now.

[–] variants@possumpat.io 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

and only four walk-ins a day on certain days of which people show up an hour before the post office opens to try and get one of those spots, then they sit in camper chairs until about 3pm to be seen. and they mail you the passport so you cant just pick it up at the post office. you could also go through a third party to get you a reservation sooner than 6months somehow, they also redo all your paperwork to justify paying them I guess but that quick reservation is the key

[–] evasive_chimpanzee@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago (2 children)

That's how it has been in the US. Now, though, if you already have a passport, you can renew online and take the picture yourself, and get it mailed directly to you.

The thing that makes getting a passport slightly tricky to begin with in some circumstances is needing proper ID. In the US, there's no generalized law saying that you have to have certain forms of ID. Most people use drivers licenses as ID, but obviously not everyone has one (by choice or as a consequence of drunk driving). There are a lot of people without ID, and there are ways to get ID, but they can be difficult for people without resources. A birth certificate is hard to get if you don't have one already, especially if you don't know where you were born.

[–] dhork@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Most states (maybe even all of them by now) offer a non-driver ID, which has just as much validity as ID as a drivers license, but isn't valid for driving.

All that ID does is prove residence, though, it doesn't prove citizenship. Most first-time applicants will also have to submit a birth certificate or other document proving citizenship. The USA has no other national document that proves citizenship. This service is for passport renewals, presumably the first time you apply for a passport you will still need to show up in person, with your documents.

[–] NuXCOM_90Percent@lemmy.zip 4 points 1 day ago

It can be hit or miss with some particularly stupid government workers, but Passport Cards are very much a thing and qualify as Real ID Compliant.

As a passport it is only valid for like Canada and Mexico but it is well worth the extra 20 or 30 bucks when you get a passport. On travel it is a nice ID that you don't REALLY care if it gets stolen (since your Driver's License is back at the hotel). Also incredibly useful when you need multiple forms of ID for something.

But also would not be a horrible choice as a non-driver ID. Just a hassle to get one without a Driver's License because 'murica.

[–] macarthur_park@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

which has just as much validity as ID as a drivers license

Only as valid as the government worker thinks it is. I had one of those and the passport office wouldn’t accept it as proof of identity. I wound up having to get a parent with a driver’s license to vouch for me, in addition to providing a ton of extra id like library card, school ids, etc.

[–] ravhall@discuss.online -3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

You cannot walk into a post office and leave with a passport

[–] evasive_chimpanzee@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

That's exactly how you do it. It's not same-day, but if you really need a passport same day, you probably messed something up, lol.

[–] grysbok@lemmy.sdf.org 1 points 23 hours ago

If you need a passport super short notice (possibly same-day) you can go to one of a few passport offices and hope they can fit you in. I looked into it a few years ago when I lost my passport right before a big business trip. Logistically it wouldn't have worked for me (by the time I even got to the Boston office on that Monday my flight would have left), but yeah. Found my passport a few days later, tucked into a notebook.

[–] QuantumStorm@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

It was similar to that when I got my new passport early this year. Filled out a form online, printed it off, went to the post office, got my Pic taken there, gave them a check and two weeks later my new passport was mailed to me.

[–] Hismama@lemmy.world 4 points 22 hours ago

I just completed mine online a month ago. I had an amazing experience and it took just under two weeks from start to finish. Online submission opens up at 1pm Eastern and I used an image taken from a phone at home.

I can't recommend this online workflow enough for any body that needs to renew.

[–] geekwithsoul@lemm.ee 1 points 1 day ago

I did this while it was a pilot program. Extremely easy and the fastest processing I’ve ever had on a passport renewal.