Why You Should Renew Your Passport Sooner Than Later
Luciana Mangas July 15, 2016
Hand holding U.S. passport
With millions of passports expiring this year, the U.S. State Department advises that the lines to get a new passport may increase this semester.
The U.S. State Department expects to process 17 million new passports this year, Business Insider reports. If you plan on renewing your passport, the time to do so is now before the process time gets longer.
According to the U.S. State Department, the line to get your passport renewed is about to get that much longer, since millions of documents issued in 2006 and 2007 – after the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative was introduced – are about to expire.
The WHTI made it mandatory for travelers to present a valid passport upon traveling between the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean, which caused an influx of new passports back in 2006. With those documents now about to expire — plus first-time applicants trying to get their passports due to the REAL ID Act — the U.S. State Department expects to have a long line ahead.
So if you are planning a trip abroad and still need to get your passport renewed or issued for the first time, keep in mind that the process may take up to six weeks. Depending on where you’re traveling, some foreign countries (common in Asia and South America) may not accept a passport that expires in less than six months. If your passport is already full, you won’t be able to expand it — instead, you are going to have to renew it and choose between a 28 or 52-page document, at no extra cost.
[Photo: Getty]
