​A passport can provide access to the world, for some access to more countries than others. Knowing my passport was going to expire towards the end of the year was a looming concern, but also provided a temporary deadline. The expiry provided a timeline to fulfill my goal to visit all 7 continents before it expired. Luckily, Australia, which was my last continent to visit, provides access to US passport holders as long as the passport is valid at the time of entry.  This provided more time to use my passport than countries that require 3 or 6 months of passport validity remaining to enter.

 

After completing my goal to visit all 7 continents, I was ready to hand over my passport for renewal and hope it would be quick and painless to obtain a new one. I'm happy to report it was, I received my new US passport within 2 weeks of mailing in the application at the end of April 2024 and using the expedited processing and shipping. Given there are a lot of nuances to the US passport renewal process, I wanted to share my insights learned through the process. I also included some interesting Passport Insights and cool Passport Cases linked for purchase, relevant to all. ​​

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Passport Insights

• The word "passport" is believed to originate in Italy from the Italian words passa porto and passa porte, which translates to pass the harbor or gate, according to Wikipedia’s Passport web page.

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• Each country sets its own requirements for passport issuance and having a passport does not guarantee entry into foreign countries. Additional visas may be required and Customs & Border Control Agents have power to deny entry.

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• Each country also sets its own rules whether to stamp the passport upon entry, exit, or at all.  Some countries like Argentina, Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, UAE and Mexico no longer stamp passports at all. Passport stamps can also be in the form of stickers like from Japan, South Korea, and Sri Lanka, both according to Wikipedia's Passport Stamp web page as of July 2024. 

 

• Passport books are only intended for official passport stamps, not souvenir or novelty stamps.  Travel + Leisure ran an article in August 2022 of a British woman ,who was not permitted to board her Qatar Airlines flight from Thailand because of a souvenir stamp from Machu Picchu in her passport and had to obtain an emergency passport to fly out.  So best to obtain those novelty stamps elsewhere for another souvenir keepsake.

 

• Many countries require the passport be valid for at least 3 or 6 months beyond the intended stay or at the time of entry.  A few countries, including Australia, Bahamas, Bermuda, and Canada permit US passport holders to enter as long as the passport is valid at the time of entry and for the duration of the stay. Australia also requires an e-visa for passport holders outside of Australia and New Zealand to enter as of 2024. The passport also needs to be current for reentry into the home country. 

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• Singapore has the top Global Passport Ranking as of 2024 based on access to the most (195 out of 227 travel destinations), according to The Henley Passport Index. The rankings are based on passport access to “travel destinations” without government pre-departure approval (i.e. no visa required or a visa or visitor permit provided upon arrival). France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Spain tie for 2nd. Most of the European Union, plus Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea have a ranking of 7th or better. The US passport comes in at 8th with access to 186 destinations. The lowest ranking country is Afghanistan at 103rd with access to 26 travel destinations.  ​

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US Passport Renewal Process​

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Having recently renewed my US passport, I wanted to share my experience and insights on the renewal process.  Fortunately, the US passport processing centers got caught up from the backlog caused by the pandemic and my renewal process was quick and easy. The US issued a historic amount of passport books & cards in fiscal 2023 at over 24 million, about 15% of the 160+ million of valid US passports, based on data available through the US Department of State’s records.

 

I opted for the expedited processing (2-3 weeks vs. 6-8 weeks for routine processing at the time) and expedited shipping (1-2 day delivery), which as of July 2024 cost an extra $60 and $21.36 respectively, for a total of $211.36, including the standard $130 passport fee for applicants over 16-years-old. Shipping and fees can vary to use the fee calculator on the Travel.State.Gov website for the current applicable fees. 

 

My passport was eligible for mail-in renewal, so I completed the application online, printed it, stapled the 2” square new passport photo that met the requirements, and mailed it through the United States Postal Service (USPS), along with the check for the applicable fees made out to the “U.S. Department of State” and my existing passport. 

 

The expedited processing resulted in my new passport being issued within 10 days of mailing the application at the end of April 2024 and received within 2 weeks. This was on the low end of the 2-3 week processing time compared to the 6-8 weeks for routine processing, plus mailing time noted at the time. Since then, the US Department of State launched a beta online passport processing system on June 12, 2024. The online application system is open for a limited window each day starting at a midday eastern time, which Google results indicate has been 1 pm EST, but could change. 

 

The online renewal system is currently only applicable for eligible applicants that are 25 years or older, live in the US (including territories), with no applicant changes (i.e. name or other personal information), are applying for a regular passport to renew one that was valid for 10 years and issued between 2009 and 2015 (between 9 and 15 years from the application date), and is not traveling internationally within the 8 weeks of applying. The passport also needs to be in the applicant’s possession and not damaged, or previously reported lost or stolen.  Similar requirements apply for the mail-in renewal process as opposed to in-person. The fee is paid online and a digital passport photo is uploaded. 

 

A few other things to note:

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• The application must be mailed through the United States Postal Service (USPS) for those living in the US, not UPS or FedEx, unless renewing online. 

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• ​Only the routine (non-expedited) service is offered for the online renewal process during the limited release and is said to take the same amount of time as renewing by mail, according to the Travel.State.Gov website under the Requirements section as of July 2024. However, the web page later notes that if travel plans change, the applicant may call the National Passport Information Center to request and pay for expedited service and/or shipping.  

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• The existing passport is submitted with the mail application and returned separately after the new passport is renewed.  The existing passport is canceled when the application is submitted for the online renewal process.

 

• A larger passport book with an extra 20 pages can be requested for free by checking the “large book” box on the application, if the standard 32 pages isn’t enough. Many countries require at least one blank passport page for entry.  Each page can typically hold 4 stamps, so theoretically 32 pages could hold 128 stamps for the 10 years a standard adult US passport is active with many countries also transitioning to no physical stamps for entry or exit. 

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• Passport photos have a variety of requirements. Of note, the requirements as of July 2024, noted no eyeglasses or mouth open (neutral or closed smile instead). I opted to have my passport photo taken and printed at Walgreens to ensure the requirements were met, primarily the head size in the photo was correct.  

 

*Disclaimer: This is only intended to provide a limited summary for the standard US passport application and renewal mail-in and online process at the time of writing by a non-US government representative based on the public information gathered mostly from the Travel.State.Gov website. Full current applicable information should still be verified on the Travel.State.Gov website for passports for the application process. ​​

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Passport Cases

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It's a good idea to protect that precious passport, particularly since damaged passports beyond normal wear & tear may not be eligible for mail-in renewal, at least in the US. Like most things, there are a bajillion passport cases to choose from, so I scoured through loads of options to include what I found to be some of the top choices to check out here. 

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