US citizens can now renew their passports online

If you’ve been through the arduous process of renewing your passport, news that the system is shifting from paper-only to digital will likely come as a relief (unless you’ve just done it, in which case… sorry).

Secretary of State Antony Blinken released a statement on Wednesday announcing that the online passport system is now fully available to the public. The rollout is part of President Biden’s Executive Order to rebuild trust in government by improving customer experiences.

Digital citizens

Modernizing passport processing can’t come quickly enough: the current advertised wait period for a new passport is 6-8 weeks for routine service, having only recently returned to normal-ish levels after years of backlogs, which saw processing times reach up to 18 weeks in 2021.

While wait times are now one-third of what they were at this point last year, the number of requests that the State must process is only increasing, with US passport applications reaching an all-time high of 22 million last year — on top of a record 161 million passports already in circulation in 2023.

Still, there are stipulations to renewing online, including already holding a valid passport for 10 years and not having travel plans within 8 weeks. But, less red tape for applicants might see a similar bump occurring this year as in 2007, when tightened travel restrictions led to a surge in requests.