I keep seeing horror stories about lengthy renewal times, and I’m starting to stress out over being without a passport for perhaps several months. Anyone have any recent experience?
A family member just got a passport renewed in six weeks. Happy travels!
Oh, I’d like to hear more stories like that!
So glad I renewed mine during the last Lockdown….
It helps if you can renew during a lower-demand time of the year (not just before the year-end holidays or in late spring / early- to mid-summer).
Another tip I’ve used successfully in the past is, if I’m going to be in one place for a few weeks, to renew at a US embassy while out of the country. I’ve done that twice, and it only took 2 weeks each time (although I understand many people aren’t in position to be able to do that 
.)
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Thanks for the tips! My passport expires in July 2023, which means I’m eligible for renewal in November 2022 – per your advice that’s a bad time to apply, but I have a sit booked in the US from early December until the first week of January anyway, so what the heck.
(I’ll be in Montreal the whole month of November and I like the idea of applying at the consulate there, but I wonder if in this time of plague they’d be able to get it done any faster – I can’t afford to get stuck in Canada waiting for a delayed passport!)
My worry is that I had hoped to travel in January, but I have no way of knowing if I’ll have my new passport in hand by then. I wish we didn’t have to turn in our old one before the new one arrives 
It sounds like you’ll have plenty of time. Routine processing time per the State Dept website is 8-11 weeks, so if you submit within the next week or so you should be fine for Nov travel. People in the travel groups I’m in are saying its more like 6 weeks at the moment.
Oh, no ---- I misunderstood the recommendation to renew 9 months before expiration to be a requirement to renew no earlier than 9 months before! I always thought my reading comprehension was pretty good but I really blew it this time
So I could have done it earlier this year aarrrggghhhhhh. Now I’m out of the country for another 3 weeks, then have to be ready to leave the country again [edit] 2 months after I return. Six weeks would be plenty of time, if there’s no unexpected delay . . .
Expedited processing is listed as 5-7 weeks. I’m not sure how quickly that’s going currently, but, if regular processing is shorter than their standard timeframes, expedited probably is too. 
Here’s hoping the summer rush is over and there will be a lull!
Regular renewal in Canada can take up to 13 weeks right now but if you can prove an urgent need and can apply directly at a major passport centre, you can get it done in 2-45 days.
My US passport was due to expire in December 2022, so after returning from an international sit in April, I had everything ready to send off as soon as I returned. The website had stated it would be 8 to 11 weeks before receiving my new passport. It arrived in more like 5 weeks. I felt very relieved. Now I’m waiting on my global entry interview, which I made last month and it is not until the middle of September.
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I don’t know if it makes a difference - but I had to reapply (rather than renew) because I’d let my lapse for too long. But I went into the post office on June 1, choose standard delivery, and had my passport by June 27.
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