Hey all
My passport expires in December, so I decided to give the new online passport renewal program a whirl. I believe it is out of beta testing and going full steam ahead. I applied on October 1st.
You need to have someone take a picture of you that fits their specific parameters - six feet distance from you, white/light background, etc. No selfies or pics of pics. You need room above your head and below your torso so they can crop the pic to fit.
The application was easy enough, you upload your picture, pay and that's it. They quote 6-8 weeks for routine service. They sent emails in the first few days - payment cleared, reviewing documents, etc.
After approval, the wait time went to 2-4 weeks.
My shiny new passport was in the mailbox this morning 10/11, all the way from the Tucson passport office.
So yes, I highly recommend doing your renewal online. Could have been right place, right time with the program rollout, but I'll take it!
.
