State Department Expands Online Passport Renewal Access, Hit Digital Transformation Milestone
The U.S. State Department expanded access to online passport renewal to make the process more efficient, easier, and faster.
With this change, millions more Americans can take advantage of the online renewal option, eliminating the need for paper documents and paper checks.
In a statement, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called it an important example of how the State Department is “modernizing government services for the benefit of Americans” and delivering on President Biden’s executive order on transforming the federal customer experience.
Online renewal is generally available to adults over age 25, provided their passport was valid for ten years, is in their possession, and they are physically located in the U.S. or a U.S. territory.
It can’t be used for a passport that expired more than five years ago and cannot be used to change biographical details.
As of now, the online system is not open for children or those who want to expedite their passport, but that may change eventually.
“We will expand this. This is not going to be the last thing that we do,” said Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs Rena 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.”
Secretary of State Blinken noted that this is the next phase in the department’s digital transformation and that the agency will “continue to find ways to reduce administrative barriers and improve efficiency, equity, and accessibility throughout the passport application process.”
Secretary Blinken noted that average passport processing time is much quicker today, taking roughly one-third the time as the same point last summer, often well under the advertised six-to-eight-week processing time.
Americans looking to renew their passports can head to travel.state.gov to fill out an application, upload their passport photo, and pay the necessary fees.
