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New Program to Renew Eligible U.S. Passports Online

1/11/2023

In August 2022, the U.S. State Department introduced a pilot program to allow eligible applicants to renew U.S. passports online. Later, the State Department opened two additional rounds of online applications in September and November 2022. Although an exact date has not been announced, the State Department has stated that it intends to implement a permanent launch in the first quarter of 2023.

In anticipation of this new system, the State Department has established the eligibility criteria and process for renewing a U.S. passport online. Applicants will create an account on MyTravelGov, complete and submit the application online, upload a digital passport photograph, and pay the fee. Applicants will also be able to select the preferred service (routine or expedited), preferred delivery service (1-2 day shipping), and will be able to track the progress of their applications.

To renew a U.S. passport online, applicants will need to meet the following criteria:

Your most recent passport is/was valid for 10 years, and you are age 25 or older;
Your recent passport was issued over 9 years but less than 15 years from the date you plan to submit your application. (Your passport can be expired);
You are not changing your name, gender, date of birth, or place of birth;
You are not traveling internationally for at least six weeks from the date you will submit your application;
You are applying for a regular (tourist) passport. A special issuance (diplomatic, official, service) passport cannot be renewed online;
You live in the United States (either state or territory). Applicants who live in a foreign country or have an Army Post Office (APO) or Fleet Post Office (FPO) address do not qualify to renew online; and
You have your passport in your possession, it is not damaged or mutilated, and you have not previously reported it as lost or stolen.

Applicants who do not qualify for an online renewal may renew via mail or in person at a Regional Passport Agency or Acceptance Facility. Processing times and fees for the online renewal service will be the same as those for renewal by mail and in person.

It is important to remember that the current (most recent passport) will be canceled immediately once a renewal application is filed online, and it cannot be used for international travel, even if it is still valid. Once the new passport is received, applicants should retain the previous passport, place a sticker on it as a reminder that it cannot be used for international travel or identification purposes, and store it in a secure location for safekeeping. Do not send the old passport to the State Department unless you are requested to do so.

Applicants with urgent international travel who need a U.S. passport for travel may still apply at a Regional Passport Agency by calling 1-877-487-2778 to schedule an appointment at any Regional Passport Agency. Evidence of international travel within two weeks of the appointment is required when applying in person at a Regional Passport Agency.

Wait times for all passport applications have slowly improved since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Routine passport service is currently taking approximately 6-9 weeks. Routine expedited service for applications submitted by mail and online are currently taking approximately 3-5 weeks.

Briefly in Russian:

В первой половине 2023 ожидается, что можно будет подать на продление американского паспорта онлайн!

Условия: это продление/renewal (а не первый паспорт), для лиц старше 25, находящихся в США, имеющих старый паспорт на руках, старый паспорт был выдан в пределах 9-15 лет назад, паспорт может быть уже истекшим, не меняющих имя или фамилию или пол, обычный туристический паспорт, и нет оcобой срочности и т.п.

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Issuance of the U.S. Passports is Temporary on Hold Because of COVID-19

5/21/2020

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The U.S. State Department temporary stopped issuing passports to the U.S. citizens due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with narrow exceptions for people who have a “qualified life-or-death emergency.”

In a statement published March 27, 2020, the State Department advised Americans to avoid all international travel due to the spread of COVID-19, unless someone is experiencing an emergency and needs to travel within 72 hours.

Situations that qualify as “life-or-death emergencies” include serious illnesses, injuries or deaths among members of a person’s immediate family that requires travel outside of the U.S., according to the statement.

Briefly in Russian:

Выдача американских паспортов приостановлена из-за коронавируса. Только в исключительных обстоятельствах паспорт может быть выдан.

Official U.S. Dept of State Passport Office site: posted more details here.

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Federal Government Shutdown: Agency-by-Agency Update

1/7/2019

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The partial federal government shutdown that began at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, December 22, 2018, continues as of today, January 7, 2019.

USCIS remains open and mostly operational during this government shutdown. USCIS announcement is here.

Several other departments have issued related announcements about the specifics of which immigration services have closed and which remain open:

Department of Labor. DOL’s announcement here refers people to its extensive contingency plan here.
Department of Justice. DOJ released the following statement: “Due to the lapse in appropriations, Department of Justice websites will not be regularly updated. The Department’s essential law enforcement and national security functions will continue. Please refer to the Department of Justice’s contingency plan for more information.” The contingency plan, dated September 2018, is here.
Department of State. DOS announced on December 22, 2018, that scheduled passport and visa services in the United States and at U.S. embassies and consulates overseas will continue “during the lapse in appropriations as the situation permits.” The agency said it will not update its website until full operations resume, with the exception of urgent safety and security information. The National Visa Center, National Passport Information Center, and Kentucky Consular Center will still accept telephone calls and inquiries from the public.
All passport agencies and centers and acceptance facilities (such as U.S. post offices, libraries, and county clerk’s offices) are still accepting applications for U.S. passport books and passport cards during the shutdown, and passports can be renewed by mail, DOS said. Processing times remain the same: four to six weeks for routine service and two to three weeks for expedited service.
Those who have scheduled appointments at a DOS passport agency or center should plan on keeping their appointments, the agency said. Those who need to cancel their appointments at those places may do so by calling 1-877-487-2778 or visiting the Online Passport Appointment System here. Those who have scheduled appointments at a passport acceptance facility and need to cancel should contact the facility directly; see https://iafdb.travel.state.gov to search for a local facility.
The DOS passport notice is here.
Executive Office for Immigration Review—immigration courts. With respect to the operating status of immigration courts during the shutdown, EOIR said that detained docket cases will proceed as scheduled. Non-detained docket cases will be reset for a later date after funding resumes. Immigration courts will issue an updated notice of hearing to respondents or, if applicable, respondents’ representatives of record for each reset hearing.
The EOIR notice is here.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS said that the shutdown does not affect USCIS’s fee-funded activities. USCIS offices remain open and all applicants should attend their interviews and appointments as scheduled, the agency said. The lapse in government appropriations does not affect Form I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification requirements. Employers must still complete Form I-9 no later than the third business day after an employee starts work for pay, and comply with all other I-9 requirements.
USCIS noted that several USCIS programs have either expired or suspended operations, or are otherwise affected, until they receive appropriated funds or are reauthorized by Congress. The program-specific announcements are summarized below:

EB-5 Immigrant Investor Regional Center Program. The EB-5 Immigrant Investor Regional Center Program expired at the end of the day on December 21, 2018, due to a lapse in congressional authorization to continue the program. All regional center applications and individual petitions are affected. USCIS will not accept new Forms I-924, Application for Regional Center Designation Under the Immigrant Investor Program, as of December 21, 2018. Any pending Forms I-924 as of that date will be put on hold until further notice. Regional centers should continue to submit Form I-924A, Annual Certification of Regional Center, for fiscal year 2018. USCIS said it will continue to receive regional center–affiliated Forms I-526, Immigrant Petition by Alien Entrepreneur, and Forms I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status. USCIS has put unadjudicated regional center–affiliated Forms I-526 and I-485 (whether filed before or after the expiration date) on hold for an undetermined length of time. All Forms I-829, Petition by Entrepreneur to Remove Conditions on Permanent Resident Status, filed before or after the expiration date will not be affected by the expiration of the program. USCIS said it will provide further guidance if legislation is enacted to reauthorize, extend, or amend the regional center program.

The announcement about the EB-5 program is here, in English with a link to a PDF in simplified Chinese.

E-Verify. Services are unavailable due to the shutdown, USCIS said. Employers’

E-Verify accounts are also unavailable, so employers will not be able to enroll in E-Verify; create an E-Verify case; view or take action on any case; add, delete, or edit any user account; reset a password; edit company information; terminate an account; or run reports. Also, employees will not be able to resolve E-Verify Tentative Nonconfirmations (TNCs). E-Verify said that the agency understands that E-Verify’s unavailability may have a “significant impact on employer operations.” To minimize the burden on both employers and employees, the agency has implemented the following policies:

The “three-day rule” for creating E-Verify cases is suspended for cases affected by the unavailability of E-Verify.
The time period during which employees may resolve TNCs will be extended. The number of days E-Verify is not available will not count toward the days the employee has to begin the process of resolving a TNC.
USCIS said it will provide additional guidance regarding the “three-day rule” and time period to resolve TNC deadlines once operations resume.
Employers may not take adverse action against an employee because the E-Verify case is in an interim case status, including while the employee’s case is in an extended interim case status due to the unavailability of E-Verify.
Federal contractors with the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) E-Verify clause should ask their contracting officer about extending federal contractor deadlines.
MyE-Verify accounts are unavailable and employees will not be able to access their accounts to use self-check, self-lock, case history, or case tracker.
Upcoming webinars are canceled.
Telephone and email support for Form I-9, E-Verify, and MyE-Verify is unavailable.

The E-Verify announcement is here.

Conrad 30 waiver for J-1 doctors. This program allows J-1 doctors to apply for a waiver of the two-year residence requirement after completing the J-1 exchange visitor program. The expiration only affects the date by which the J-1 doctor must have entered the United States; it is not a shutdown of the Conrad 30 program entirely.

More information about the Conrad 30 waiver program is here.

Non-minister special immigrant religious workers. This category allows non-ministers in religious vocations and occupations to immigrate or adjust status in the United States to perform religious work in a full-time, compensated position. The EB-4 non-minister special immigrant religious worker program expired due to a lapse in congressional authorization to continue the program. USCIS will reject any Form I-360 Special Immigrant petitions for Non-Minister Religious Workers received on or after December 22, 2018. Petitions received by USCIS before that date but not issued a final decision before December 22, 2018, will be placed on hold in case the program is reauthorized.

More information about the special immigrant religious workers program and expiration is here.
The USCIS announcement is here.

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Starting January 01 2016, the U.S. DoS will stop adding pages to the US passports. Instead, a new 28 or 52 pages passport will be issued.

11/20/2015

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The U.S. State Department said Thursday, November 19, 2015, that it is ending the practice of adding new pages to existing passport books.

Starting Jan. 1, 2016, US citizens running out of space for new visas in their 28-page passports will have to pay $110 for a new passport of either 28 or 52 pages. Until the end of 2015, they can still pay $82 to have an extra 24 pages stitched in. The prices are slightly lower for minors.

The US State Department said the decision to stop adding pages was made for security reasons.

Anyone applying to renew a passport will get the old one back. Though the passport will be canceled, any valid and unexpired visas in the old book will still be valid, and can be used for travel.

Currently, more than 124 million U.S. passports are in circulation, up from 14 million in 1991. About 38 percent of American citizens have passports.

As reported here.

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How to renew your US passport in less than 24 hours.

10/2/2015

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You've been asked to travel to a foreign country on business the next day, but your passport has expired. Don't panic.

It's surprisingly easy to get a US passport renewed in 24 hours.

Here's how.

The Expedited Fee is required for each application submitted in person at a Passport Agency or Center. Some Passport Agencies and Centers require proof of international travel within two weeks, or proof of need to obtain a foreign visa within four weeks. Check the individual agency/center pages for additional details.

An appointment is required to apply at a Passport Agency or Center. Call the National Passport Information Center 24/7 at 1-877-487-2778 to schedule an appointment.

Find the closest Passport Agency to you. Don't make the mistake of using special, non-government agencies that charge up to $500, and ultimately just go through the Passport Agency. Not near an agency? Check whether there’s a Passport Acceptance Facility nearby, or call the National Passport Information Center to see what else can be done.
Have imminent travel plans and be able to prove it. Most (though not all) agencies will need proof that your trip is scheduled within two weeks in order to make an appointment, or that you need to submit your passport for a visa within 28 days.
Call to make an appointment, or just walk in to the agency, but be ready to wait in long lines with a number, DMV style.
If your passport was lost, have a copy of your birth certificate with you. In some cases, an iPhone photo of it will suffice.
Bring a new passport-size photo with you to the agency. Surprisingly, passport agencies will not have an area in which to do this.
Fill out the DS-11 application for a U.S. passport, or the DS-82 to renew it.
Be ready to pay a $60 expediting fee, as well as the standard $135 application fee for a new passport, or $110 if you're renewing an expired one.
Wait. It will will take around three to five hours to actually make a passport, so take that into consideration when making your appointment. You can either sit tight at the agency, or leave and come back — they will give you an estimated window of time they're expecting your passport to be ready.
Pick up your passport. as seen at http://www.businessinsider.com/

List of Passport Agencies.

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New Program to Renew Eligible U.S. Passports Online

Issuance of the U.S. Passports is Temporary on Hold Because of COVID-19

Federal Government Shutdown: Agency-by-Agency Update

Starting January 01 2016, the U.S. DoS will stop adding pages to the US passports. Instead, a new 28 or 52 pages passport will be issued.

How to renew your US passport in less than 24 hours.

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