Originally Posted by
cruisr
So, on my cruise from CPH I went to the US Embassy in Tallinn, Estonia and within 15 minutes had the pages added. No fuss, no muss, no charge. Don't know if they can do renewals but if they can and your current passport is still valid but will expire shortly it may be worth a shot.
That's a good way to get additional pages added. Renewals are not printed in the embassies and consulates any longer. Embassies generally issue only short-term travel documents in travel emergencies and process renewals for printing in the US.
Originally Posted by
kanopemainer
So, why do they wait until the last moment to apply ?
Even years ago, when a passport renewal took about 2/3 weeks, I always applied for the renewal about six months out.
Just don't blame the agency for being slow or understaffed.
Even the few in dire need of travel because of an emergency can not make up the bulk of affected not getting their passport in time and therefore making National News Headlines.
Enlighten me.
As always: I stand corrected.
When the passport agency says that a renewal will take six weeks and you have 15 weeks until travel, I don't consider that waiting "until the last moment". (They have since adjusted those times, but, even so, they aren't consistently meeting them.)
As has already been pointed out, if one travels frequently, one tries to find the international travel lull in their schedule and applies at that point. There is absolutely no reason why State can't process passport renewals in a consistent and timely fashion. More importantly, citizens should be able to expect that the provided time frames accurately reflect actual processing times.
Another reason for all of the frantic stories in the press is that State requires travelers to wait until 14 days prior to travel before speaking with a rep about getting a passport resolution. At that point, things have to happen pretty quickly for anything to happen.