ashill

Typically a weekend; drive down to the States after work on Thursday or Friday and back to Canada Sunday afternoon/evening. (Family cabin and inlaws not far south of the border; we live not far north of the border.)

The only passport acceptance locations within 100 miles of us are post offices and county clerks; pretty sure none of them can do same day passports. (Am I wrong?)

Yeah, I called CBSA. They said we need the passport and visitor record but to call Canadian immigration to ask if there's another way. Canadian immigration has such long phone queues that they won't put me in it at all. We'll also ask at the small border station we normally cross at (Oroville WA/Osoyoos BC) next time through.

We may be in Vancouver in August for a few days and could do the application at the Consulate then. But my understanding is that they couldn't return the new passport within a few days there; is that right? If so, we'd still have to stay out of the US until the passport is returned. All of this regular travel is nonessential: if we have to just stay out of the US for six weeks, we will, but it's annoying.

We'll be in a US city with a passport agency for three business days later in July and could try then, but on the phone they said they can't commit to turning a passport around in that timeframe. (We're flying for that trip, so extending the trip if they take a bit longer is not feasible.)

Thanks for the responses; it's helpful to better understand what's involved. It seems like there ought to be an easier way to do this, since driving across the border with a NEXUS card would normally be fine. We're never even in Canada for 180 days at a time anyway. Except for needing the passport book to get back to Canada, submitting the application at a Washington post office would be very easy. It's much easier to plan for the flying trips because we often have multiple months between flights; driving down isn't typically something we plan long in advance.

catocony

The Passport Agency offices can usually get it done same day. Set up an appointment for early morning on your first day in town and you'll certainly have it within 3 days. Usually it's next day at worse.

cafeconleche

If you go to to the passport agency and explain you're driving back to Canada and need your visas, they'll likely do it in a day or two for you. They're pretty understanding.

ashill

I finally got through to the Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada client support line. They said that we can detach the Visitor Record from the passport and the child can enter Canada by land with that document and proof of US citizenship while the passport is being replaced. So we'll apply for the new passport at the nearby US post office when we're down there and won't be flying for 2+ months; that will be considerably less hassle for us than a passport agency.

Thanks again for the help. Good to know that the passport agency would be an option if we had no way around expediting.

phltraveler

The document is supposed to be cancelled at the moment you apply for a new one.

When the State Department did a Q&A on Facebook Live a few months back, they mentioned that if you renewed online (supposed to come later this year, subject to delay and likely to be delayed), they said you will not need to physically send the passport is, but once you complete the online renewal you must not use the old passport. So it's effectively cancelled the moment you finish the online renewal, even if there aren't holes punched into it.

drewguy

In this day and age one would think they could improve this so that the old passport becomes invalid only after the new one has been sent/delivered (e.g., 5 days after it's sent), or even one more entry into US within 60 days of sending application. I realize that years ago a physical passport was the only means to prove your identity for and right to travel, so they couldn't allow people to have two passports that both appear valid, in case one was rescinded. But between electronic/RFID reading of passports. email, etc. it seems that State could modify the existing approach.

catocony

The State Department and DHS would know your old passport is canceled. Most foreign countries would not know.

König

I know I am replying to a very old post, but I would like to share my experience renewing a passport card in June of 2018. Before sending in DS-82, I called the passport agency and specifically asked whether I had to send in my unexpired passport book too. The answer was "Yes". The clerk said that that if I needed the passport book for travel, I could either expedite (+$60) or go to the nearest passport agency in person. I ended up sending both the card and the book with a regular (non-expedited) application but later called and asked if they could return my passport book earlier, and they said "No". The lady, however, again recommended to pay $60, which I did not. However, it seemed that she actually did something on their end because a day later, I received an e-mail stating that my passport card renewal was in the final stage and would be mailed soon.

Hence, the total turn-around time for my non-expedited application was mere 1.5 weeks. Pretty cool if you ask me.

phltraveler

A couple months ago, my processing time for an expedited renewal was the same.

Think it's a matter of workload - if you can't afford to be without the passport in 2-3 weeks then you expedite and know you'll get it back in that time. Non-expedited, could turn around quickly, could take six weeks, won't know until it's done.

König

I agree that it's a matter of workload; however, it still seems more than just a coincidence. Last time I applied for both a book and a card (June 2009), it took 4 weeks to receive them. Besides, I read that because most of the passports received during the WHTI implementation are expiring now, there will be a longer wait for renewing them.

TWA884

Folks,

The topic of this thread is whether a US passport can be renewed without having to send in the old one.

If you wish to discuss the processing times of US passport renewals, please do so in the following thread in the USA forum:
Thank you,

TWA884
Travel Safety/Security co-moderator