Passport renewal for kids

[mefordis]

We are coming up on our 5 year expiration in May for my two kid's passports. Does anyone know how long I can expect it to take to get the new ones? Do I just go to the post office to renew, like I did to apply for the originals?

Thanks.

 

[Hook326]

We are coming up on our 5 year expiration in May for my two kid's passports. Does anyone know how long I can expect it to take to get the new ones? Do I just go to the post office to renew, like I did to apply for the originals?

Thanks.

yes, for kids you have to apply like it’s brand new. In our area, we have to make an appointment with the post office, no walk-ins. We just redid our younger son’s passport and we got it back very quickly (1 month). I’ve heard it depends on what state you’re in though. Some are taking much longer.

 

[sam_gordon]

We are coming up on our 5 year expiration in May for my two kid's passports. Does anyone know how long I can expect it to take to get the new ones? Do I just go to the post office to renew, like I did to apply for the originals?

Thanks.

First, it's not a "renewal". You're applying for new passports. Yes, it semantics, but if you think about it this way, what they request makes more sense.

We just did this a couple of months ago.
Yes, you can go to your local passport facility with all necessary paperwork.
We went to our County Clerk's office on November 24 and handed everything in.
I got an email that our applications were received by the federal government on 11/30.
We ended up getting them back on 1/10. The birth certificates came 3-4 days later.

This was NOT expedited. Their "official" status is 11-12 weeks I think from when the federal government received them.

 

[Skywalker3]

We're going next Friday to our local PO to get both kids new ones. It was kinda hard to get an appt time here .Will try and let you know how it all goes, how long it takes, etc.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

We went thru this for our daughter last year. Made appointment at local post office. Getting appointment was difficult. They fill up so quickly and only go out so far. We realized quickly that we had to get up early in the morning in order to grab an appointment. When we got an appointment, it was a month out. There is paperwork to fill out ahead of time and they want you to bring a passport photo. Both parents had to be present and I don't remember everything they wanted, document wise, but we did bring her old passport, birth certificate, our marriage license...you name it, I had it. The one thing I do remember they asked for was a photo ID and I was a little surprised at that because it wasn't on the paperwork and my daughter is 16. Luckily, she has a driver's permit and I had that on hand. When we did this is November of 2021, it was all the talk how far behind they are and getting passports is taking a lot longer than usual. On some papers, the lady crossed out the usual time line and put in 10 - 12 weeks. We paid for expedited just in case. I think it came in January 2022, maybe late December 2021. I'm pretty sure they took only a check as payment. Go on line, there's a lot of information there.

 

[bcla]

We are coming up on our 5 year expiration in May for my two kid's passports. Does anyone know how long I can expect it to take to get the new ones? Do I just go to the post office to renew, like I did to apply for the originals?

Thanks.

Not sure how long it takes, as each passport office has a different backlog. For the most part each "acceptance facility" will have an assigned passport office. However, someone noted that theirs was apparently sent from a passport office wayacross the country, which is possible now by just sending all the information electronically.

Has to be done in person and preferably with both parents present. A renewal will be slightly different in that an original citizenship document theoretically isn't needed, as the passport serves as proof of citizenship. Other than that, you'll need a copy of each parent's ID (they want front and back copied on the same side). But you'll probably want at least a photocopy of the birth certificate with the name of both parents (if not a certified copy). Make a copy of everything.

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/need-passport/under-16.html

 

[CaptainAmerica]

We did books and cards around New Year's Day. We had the cards within 3 weeks and the books about 1 week later.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Not sure how long it takes, as each passport office has a different backlog. For the most part each "acceptance facility" will have an assigned passport office. However, someone noted that theirs was apparently sent from a passport office wayacross the country, which is possible now by just sending all the information electronically.

Has to be done in person and preferably with both parents present. A renewal will be slightly different in that an original citizenship document theoretically isn't needed, as the passport serves as proof of citizenship. Other than that, you'll need a copy of each parent's ID (they want front and back copied on the same side). But you'll probably want at least a photocopy of the birth certificate with the name of both parents (if not a certified copy). Make a copy of everything.

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/need-passport/under-16.html

I've never had to bring copies of anything, the library we go to takes care of that for us. I highly recommend a library or other community facility rather than a post office.

 

[bcla]

We went thru this for our daughter last year. Made appointment at local post office. Getting appointment was difficult. They fill up so quickly and only go out so far. We realized quickly that we had to get up early in the morning in order to grab an appointment. When we got an appointment, it was a month out. There is paperwork to fill out ahead of time and they want you to bring a passport photo. Both parents had to be present and I don't remember everything they wanted, document wise, but we did bring her old passport, birth certificate, our marriage license...you name it, I had it. The one thing I do remember they asked for was a photo ID and I was a little surprised at that because it wasn't on the paperwork and my daughter is 16. Luckily, she has a driver's permit and I had that on hand. When we did this is November of 2021, it was all the talk how far behind they are and getting passports is taking a lot longer than usual. On some papers, the lady crossed out the usual time line and put in 10 - 12 weeks. We paid for expedited just in case. I think it came in January 2022, maybe late December 2021. I'm pretty sure they took only a check as payment. Go on line, there's a lot of information there.

There are places that don't require appointments, and even with Saturday hours. The last time we got our child a passport was in a hurry and we got an appointment at the San Francisco Passport Agency, but the first time we did it at the UC Berkeley rec gym. Not sure if this is up to date though since I don't see it listed with the State Dept now.

https://recsports.berkeley.edu/u-s-passports/​

The Customer Service Center at the RSF – an authorized U.S. Government Passport Acceptance facility – offers convenient weekday and Saturday hours as well as all the necessary forms, expedited service, and a friendly staff. No appointment necessary – all requests are handled on a first-come, first-served basis.​

​

Passports services are available to everyone – you do not need to be affiliated with UC Berkeley to take advantage of these services.​

 

[bcla]

I've never had to bring copies of anything, the library we go to takes care of that for us. I highly recommend a library or other community facility rather than a post office.

Really? The first time I did it in at a place that didn't really have all that or where I might need to pay for copies. But it's easy to to make a front-back photocopy of ID with a home copier. I really liked the place I went to because they had Saturday hours without an appointment. I was working at a temporary assignment and couldn't get back except on weekends or weeknights. So the Saturday hours made it perfect for my needs. And it's great when there's no appointment needed.

And I know that getting it in person at a passport agency means they simply won't make copies. They consider that the responsibility of the applicant.

 

[fly girl]

We are coming up on our 5 year expiration in May for my two kid's passports. Does anyone know how long I can expect it to take to get the new ones? Do I just go to the post office to renew, like I did to apply for the originals?

Thanks.

Mine took 11 weeks. Applied in August, received it in October. Non expedited.

The post office here had no appointments available for over a month, so we found an alternative acceptance facility. You can do that on travel.state.gov website. I had to call and make an appointment. Easy.

The website will have all the "fun" paperwork you'll need to fill out and what documents you need to provide. Bring the old passports they will help speed it up. Make sure child documents are original, not copies. Your id and passport will be photocopies. And of course both parents need to be present.

I was so happy it was our last time doing it. I know why it is a hassle, but it still is a hassle.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Really? The first time I did it in at a place that didn't really have all that or where I might need to pay for copies. But it's easy to to make a front-back photocopy of ID with a home copier. I really liked the place I went to because they had Saturday hours without an appointment. I was working at a temporary assignment and couldn't get back except on weekends or weeknights. So the Saturday hours made it perfect for my needs. And it's great when there's no appointment needed.

And I know that getting it in person at a passport agency means they simply won't make copies. They consider that the responsibility of the applicant.

Crazy how different states are. I've never even heard of a "passport agency."

 

[bcla]

Crazy how different states are. I've never even heard of a "passport agency."

There's nothing different about it really. There are 26 different offices around the country, and typically they require an appointment. If you need it really fast (like in less than a week) that's the only way to do it. It's also where most passports (other than mail-in renewals) are printed. If you got a first time passport or renewed through an "acceptance facility" it went through one of these passport agencies. My kid's first one came in an envelope with the San Francisco Passport Agency as the return address. But the first renewal was done right there where we paid an expedite fee and picked it up two days after our appointment. It was in a big room and even though we were late we were still accommodated. The San Francisco one is at one of the city's federal buildings. But we were there for over an hour waiting for our number, and they didn't allow food or beverages. And when I tried to bring a donut in for my kid, a polite (but still strict) uniformed Diplomatic Security Service officer informed us that food wasn't allowed.

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/get-fast/passport-agencies.html

Not sure where you're located, but you can look up the locations in the link and figure out what might be convenient if you're in a real hurry.

 

[Skippy918]

I booked the post office passport appointment about 4 weeks in advance and got lucky that it was over the holiday break. My kids already had previous passports, so we brought those, plus their birth certificates, and copies of all that plus our driver licenses. We got the new ones exactly a month later. Bring your checkbook too!

 

[Colleen27]

I've never had to bring copies of anything, the library we go to takes care of that for us. I highly recommend a library or other community facility rather than a post office.

Our post office handles the copies too. Maybe because it is a small town post office that is never very busy? But for whatever reason, the postal employee who took our applications not only copied our IDs for us, he redid some of the copies I'd made on our black-and-white home printer because he felt color copies would be more legible.

 

[DisneyHardin]

I've never had to bring copies of anything, the library we go to takes care of that for us. I highly recommend a library or other community facility rather than a post office.

I've never heard of a library that did Passport Applications. Where I live, the Post Office is your only choice for getting them, but the PO will do the pictures for you for an additional $15.

 

[easyas123]

Both parents had to be present

What a pain - when my kids were young my husband never had to come along with me to renew the kids passports.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

What a pain - when my kids were young my husband never had to come along with me to renew the kids passports.

Parental abduction is a pretty major problem these days, particularly in the border states.

 

[fly girl]

What a pain - when my kids were young my husband never had to come along with me to renew the kids passports.

Oh no doubt it is a pain, but there is good reasoning behind it as @CaptainAmerica said. Parental abduction.

 

[sam_gordon]

Not sure how long it takes, as each passport office has a different backlog. For the most part each "acceptance facility" will have an assigned passport office. However, someone noted that theirs was apparently sent from a passport office wayacross the country, which is possible now by just sending all the information electronically.

Has to be done in person and preferably with both parents present. A renewal will be slightly different in that an original citizenship document theoretically isn't needed, as the passport serves as proof of citizenship. Other than that, you'll need a copy of each parent's ID (they want front and back copied on the same side). But you'll probably want at least a photocopy of the birth certificate with the name of both parents (if not a certified copy). Make a copy of everything.

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/need-passport/under-16.html

You're usually good with details, but you've missed the mark a couple times...
1) They're not sending the information electronically. Pictures get stapled to the application and they need original birth certificates, and the check gets stapled to the application. That all gets sent physically to whatever office.
2) Both parents do NOT need to be present. However, if they aren't, there's a form that needs filled out so the "missing" parent acknowledges the passport is being applied for. There's also forms if you can't find the other parent and a list of documents you can provide if you're the sole provider.
3) While you can use the previous passport in place of a birth certificate, it (or the BC) needs to be an original or a certified copy. A photocopy is NOT acceptable.

This is all covered in the link you posted.