For those who already have a passport and it needs to be renewed, you could be able to skip the paper documents.
Millions of Americans who need to renew their passports can now do so online instead of mailing paper documents and a check to the State Department. The department announced on Wednesday that its online system is now open after months of limited testing and years of pilot programs.
“We are really excited that we are now making available online passport renewal,” Rena Bitter, assistant secretary for consular affairs, told reporters Wednesday. “This is a new service which will allow Americans to pay, to upload a photo and to apply completely online with no need to appear in person or to send documents through the mail.”
The State Department. estimates that up to 5 million Americans will be able to use the service annually. Last year, the department renewed 9.6 million passports. Currently, the online service is limited to renewals for adults, who’s 10-year passports that have expired within the last five years or will expire in the coming year. The service is not available for those needing expedited service, anyone not living in the United States or people changing details like their name or gender.
“We want to make sure that we get this right, so this is where we’re starting,” she said.
According to Bitter, although the online option is convenient, it won’t expedite the passport renewal process or be cheaper than renewing by mail. Passport processing times increased during the pandemic, but the department now reports processing times of below six to eight weeks.
The department has announced that after months of limited testing, a public beta version of the tool will be rolled out. During the testing phase, the department closed the tool after reaching certain application thresholds and made changes based on customer feedback. In 2022, the state also piloted online applications. The major change now is the tool’s increased capacity to handle applications. In the long term, the department plans to open the tool to more types of situations and people.
“We will expand this. This is not going to be the last thing that we do,” said Bitter. “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.”
The State Department is framing the update as part of its broader efforts to modernize and eliminate administrative barriers for individuals interacting with the department. The shift to online renewals was mandated in a 2021 executive order on customer experience.
“Our goal, of course, is to get away from paper as much as we can, as quickly as possible,” said Bitter. “This is a first step in what we hope will be a much longer-term process to be able to modernize the systems that we’re using.”
