PSA: Passport issuance time in the USA is...

[Lanny]

The below was in an email the ACS in the U.S. Embassy in  Bogota sent to those of us in Colombia today.

If anyone is planning to travel internationally and needs a new U.S. Passport, the below is copied and pasted from that email which was sent on 25 May 2021: 

Please be advised that currently, routine passport processing in the United States can take 10-12 weeks.  If you need a passport in less than 10-12 weeks due to international travel plans, you can pay an additional $60 fee to expedite your passport, which will shorten the processing time to 4-6 weeks.

[SKL]

Also, don't send your app by regular mail or priority mail.  Send it priority express.  My application (sent Priority) sat in the Philadelphia post office for weeks before it made it to the passport office.  The processing time advertised begins after they receive the application from the post office.

[Faith-manor]

Thanks for the heads up. We have been renewing here one at a time because it is sop expensive. Since eldest ds expires next year, I think I will aim for August to do that so there is plenty of time.

[Scarlett]

My best friend's DIL paid the $60 extra  and it still did not come in time for a trip they planned.  She had to miss it all together.  

[KungFuPanda]

Future son-in-law has already waited about 10 weeks for his.  Him and Dd are eloping to Europe in October and they applied "early enough' but they'll both feel much more relaxed when he has his passport in hand.  Neither one of them wanted to plan a wedding that included other people during the pandemic because too many friends have had their plans torpedoed.  They've decided to go the low stress route.

[skimomma]

Huh.  We just renewed dd's and it took 4 weeks.  We just got it on Monday.  I was expecting it to take much longer so was pretty surprised to see it in the mailbox.  We did not pay for rush or anything.

[rdj2027]

Two of my children renewed theirs within the last two months.  It took less than three weeks without expediting them.  

[KungFuPanda]

Maybe the excessive wait time is just for brand new passports?  That's what I thought @Lannywas talking about.

[Amira]

All children's passports are technically new passports, even if they've had one before.  They don't renew them.  There are people whose passports are coming more quickly, but the 4-6 timeframe for expedited passports is what you need to plan on right now even though you might get lucky and receive it sooner.