- Hey, what's up y'all.
This is Kim with workhardtravelwell.com
and I'm doing an update to my video,
my previous video called "Passport Renewal Process".
How to renew your U.S. passport
and American passport application.
Basically wanted to give you guys an update.
I did my passport in April of 2021.
So I stated in the video that times may vary.
And also, since it was before summer, I stated
that you should be prepared for these timeframes to change,
especially as more countries are opening up
and also as more people are just feeling comfortable
traveling after they've been vaccinated.
So I wanted to give you guys an update on the passport
renewal process times, the processing times
right now for a U.S. passport.
And if you don't know already where to go
to look at these processing times,
I have the link in the description of this video,
but I'm going to show you really quickly where you can go
to get the newest timeframes on how long it's gonna take
you to renew your passport.
Okay.
So as of July, 2021, the update is
that it may take six weeks from the day you submit
your application until the status says in process.
So even during those six weeks,
your application is delivered to a mail facility,
your payment is processed and your application
is entered in our system.
Even if it says it's not available.
So I get a lot of questions on my previous video
on, I don't see anything on the status.
I would instruct you to of course check
the updates of this system,
but you want to take a look at the tracking number
that you get when you mail it,
because you're supposed to mail it with a trackable USPS,
basically tracking number.
So you want to check that.
When I mailed mine off,
I saw that it was delivered and it made it,
and it was delivered to the location,
but it hadn't shown that it was in process
or anything until weeks later.
So don't panic.
If you have a tracking number,
be sure to check that before panicking.
And then at the time when I did this video
or my previous video, was in April,
it was around, I got it,
I expedited it and I got it in 28 days.
This is a drastic difference.
So right now you see,
and I'll zoom in so you can see it.
Right now it is 12 weeks for expedite
and 18 weeks for routine.
So the reason why I did my passport in April,
is my passport actually was expiring in August of this year.
And it's advised now, if you look at this,
you need to do your passport six to seven months
ahead of time.
So don't wait till the last minute and put yourself
in a panic mode,
try to get ahead of it as much as possible.
And also another good reason to look at things
is there are some countries and I talked about this
in my last video,
there are some countries where you have to have a passport
where it's valid for a six months past your travel date.
So say you go to a destination that has this requirement.
Your passport has to be,
it cannot expire within the six months
after you visit that location.
So you have to have at least six months
past your travel date.
And the way that you are able to find this out
is you can go to the travel.state.gov website
and look at each country information.
So you'll go to international travel,
you'll go to country information.
And I just already put in country
just so that you can see it.
And it talks about travel advisories,
but here is what I'm talking about here.
You see this and I wanted to really just get this out here.
I know it's kind of late.
So I do see some people are watching.
So thanks for tuning in.
Let me know if you guys have heard of this,
if you're new here, be sure to subscribe to this channel,
but this is what I'm talking about here.
Six months validity.
So say I'm going to Ghana on August 15th,
six months past August 15th,
like my passport cannot expire within there.
And I've heard stories of people getting to the destinations
and they actually not able to get in.
So you wasted money, all that.
So make sure you check this as well as give yourself
enough time to get the passport.
You see the dates that I just showed you
right now that as of August 1st, 2021, and this can change.
So I encourage you when you watch this video
to check the links in the description of this video
and make sure you're staying up to date,
do not wait till the last minute.
If you find this video helpful,
be sure to share it and also like this video.
So here's the times again.
And after this video,
if you want to learn the process to actually renew
your passport, it's done by mail only for U.S. citizens.
Check the link in the description of this video.
For that, I go into detail.
I show you screenshots.
I show you what to do with the money order.
I show you how to attach your photo, all of that good stuff.
So check this video,
but I wanted to give you an update because a lot of people
were like, well, you said it took you 28 days.
It's not going to be the same for everyone.
It's going to be a case by case basis.
They're very swamped right now.
Some other questions I just want to make sure
I go over them really quickly that were on a video.
Someone asks, they had a trip coming up in two months,
would they be okay renewing?
Like the time to renew was six months ago.
So make sure you pay attention to this
and let me just make sure there aren't any other questions
that I wanted to address.
Some people have had success.
If you look in the comments of my last video,
where they were able to expedite it after the fact,
there is a process where you can do that,
but there are longer than usual wait times
when you call in to change this.
So that's an option.
If you get in a pinch,
you can pay for an expedite after,
it can be kind of risky because you didn't pay
for an expedite ahead of time, but that is an option.
So just know that I did see someone had success with that
as far as getting their passport.
Let's see what other questions there were.
And if you guys have any questions, pop them in the chat,
I'll try my best to answer them.
But literally this was just a quick video to update you all
with the processing times for the U.S. passport.
If you've had to do this this year,
let me know how your experience was.
If you haven't had to, make sure you check the date
that your password expires,
because we haven't been traveling internationally a lot.
So I was kinda surprised to know mine was expiring
this year in August.
And that's when I immediately got on it,
as soon as I paid attention to that.
But I keep mine in a safe,
so I wasn't aware that it was expiring
and I hadn't traveled in a while.
So make sure you check out your password expiration date
and be sure to check out this link
where it shows you the country specific information.
So check it out for the destination
you're interested in going to,
before you book that ticket and make sure your passport
falls in line with the validity
that's mentioned here as well, as it talks about visa
and all that good stuff.
So this is a site you want to check anyway,
before you book travel,
so you understand what all the requirements are.
Okay.
So any other questions?
Let's see that I want to answer from the last video,
someone asked me, do you take the RD,
staple your money, order to the application?
You do not.
Let's see.
Someone asked if my passport expires on June 8th,
am I still able to renew it?
or I miss the six month window?
And I just, again,
want to stress the fact that the six month window
doesn't mean you can't apply.
It means the six month has to do with how long
your passport must be valid, not expired.
So how long is not expired past the date that you get there
and it can be confusing,
but just think of any country that has a six month validity.
My passport cannot expire within the six months
after the date I plan to travel.
Otherwise I will not be able to get in.
So that is all I have.
Again, my name is Kim and I'm the creator
of workhardtravelwell.com.
If you're new here,
be sure to subscribe and check out the original video
on how to renew your U.S. passport.
Over 8,000 people have watched it and found it helpful.
And so I just encourage you to check it out
and thanks for watching.
And you guys have a good evening.