Americans can renew their passports online again

After discontinuing the service for more than a year, the Americans will be able to do that renew their passport online Again, the U.S. State Department said Wednesday. Please note that this service is not available to all citizens, restrictions apply.

The program is not yet fully operational, so the government can only accept a limited number of applications per day from selected individuals. When the threshold is reached, the Online Passport Renewal (OPR) option portal will close until the following afternoon.

“We appreciate your patience as we test our system and prepare for a full launch of the updated online passport renewal system.” The portal is available for “a limited eastern time window in the afternoon each day and will close once we reach our limit for the day,” the Foreign Ministry said.

As we mentioned earlier, not all Americans are eligible to take advantage of this option.

Citizens must have had their passport for at least 10 years and be over 25 years old.

These documents must also be issued less than 15 years from the date of application. In addition, passport holders must live on US soil.

Other important requirements include not requesting a change of name, gender, date of birth or place of birth.

Payments must be made via credit or debit card or an ACH (automated clearing house).

Americans must have their current passport with them and it must not be damaged.

Finally, website visitors should be able to upload their digital passport photos in a JPEG file.

This service is only available for routine passport renewals. Expedited services are not yet available.

If you decide to renew your passport online, it does not mean that the process will be faster. The only advantage is that you no longer have to worry about submitting an application by mail. the agency said.

For this reason, you should not book international tickets for at least eight weeks from the date of application, as your passport may not be ready for that. Travelers can still renew their passports by mail.

It is expected that once the system is fully operational, more than five million Americans will be able to renew their passports online.

As of today, processing times by post will be a maximum of eight weeks. Citizens have the option to reduce this waiting period to three weeks by paying a $60 fee.

Officials have not revealed when this beta rollout will become a permanent option for Americans who need to renew their passports.

For more information, see the step-by-step process of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.