Dear Neighbor,
With summer travel around the corner, our State Department passport offices have been inundated with applications, renewals, and requests for appointments, and our constituent advocates have received an increased number of calls for help in getting passports. Here are some tips and reminders to ensure you have a smooth travel experience.
Check your passports!
- Get out your passport now and check its expiration date. It should expire at least 6 months from the date of your return trip.
- When you check your passport’s expiration date, check your family members’ passport expiration dates as well.
- Remember that even if your family applied for passports at the same time in the past, children’s passports expire in 5 years, and need to be replaced for adult passports when they turn 18.
- To avoid travel delays, do not book your travel without your passport or, if necessary, renewed passport in hand.
Understand the process and processing times.
- Appointments are hard to get right now. This is why it is critical to plan ahead for your passport renewal now. If you do not have an emergent or urgent need for your passport, consider applying for routine renewal now so that those who do have life-or-death emergencies can get appointments.
- Learn about how to apply here.
- Be aware of processing times—and that they are constantly changing. The estimate you may have seen when you first applied is subject to change. The processing time starts when the agency receives your application; not when you apply.
- Consider whether expediting your application is right for you and your family.
- Determine whether your need for a passport is considered “urgent” or a “life or death emergency.” If it is the latter, you must be prepared to provide documentation to prove that it is an emergency.
How can our office help?
- We can send in an inquiry on the status of your passport if it is outside of normal processing times.
- In emergencies, with documentation, we may be able to help get an appointment at a passport office; however, as noted above, very few appointments are available.
- We have a passports page on our website that answers many of the frequently asked questions our constituent advocates receive.
What can you do?
- Be ready: if you believe you have urgent or emergent travel and your passport needs immediate attention, contact the National Passport Information Center (NPIC):
- Be informed: the foremost authority on passports with the most up-to-date information, including processing times, is the U.S. State Department’s Passports page.
- Be aware: know when your family’s passports are set to expire ahead of booking travel and allow enough time for them to be renewed. Track the status of your application on the State Department’s website.
As always, our office is here to help. If you have any further questions about passports not addressed here or on our website, please contact Congresswoman Fletcher or our team via our casework application page or call (713) 353-8680 to speak with a member of the team.
Best wishes for safe travels,
