US passport renewal can now be done online

The U.S. is making passport renewal fully available online, the State Department announced Wednesday, getting rid of the need to print application forms and send a check through the mail.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken called the online passport renewal system “a significant step forward in ensuring that Americans can more easily access passport services.”

“The Department of State is making our new online passport renewal system fully available to the public today, a significant step forward in ensuring that Americans can more easily access passport services,” he said.

Blinken said the online renewal services would allow for passports to be distributed “in roughly one-third the time as at the same point last summer, and well under the advertised six to eight weeks processing times.”

Still, the State Department’s website for online passport renewal recommends not having travel plans within eight weeks when renewing a passport, to allow for processing time. Last year, the department produced 24 million passport products, with about 40 percent of the overall workload being passport renewals.

The State Department estimates that up to 5 million Americans will be able to use the online service, available through travel.state.gov/renewonline, although there are some requirements. The service is available 24/7, a change from the testing period where applications were closed off at a certain time of day. 

Generally, adults age 25 and older can apply online if their passport was valid for 10 years, their passport book is in their possession and they are in the United States or a U.S. territory. 

The online portal cannot be used to update information in a passport, or if it expires in more than one year, or has been expired for more than five years. A full list of requirements are listed on the passport renewal website. 

Online payment is through debit or credit card, and a digital photo is required to be uploaded. 

The agency has been testing a beta version of the online portal since at least June but Wednesday marks its official public rollout.

“We’re starting with renewal for adult passports within the time period and in the geographic limitations that we have, but…we will expand this,” Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs Rena Bitter said in a briefing with reporters.

“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.”