If you have places to go in the near future, applying for a US
passport renewal can be a little bit nerve-wracking. Weeks crawl by as
you wonder whether or not your passport will ever arrive!
Fortunately, there are only a few reasons that the Department of State would flat-out deny issuing your passport renewal:
-
If you owe more than $2,500 in back child support, you cannot get a
passport until you settle your accounts to the satisfaction of your
state child support enforcement agency. If you try to renew your
passport owing more than that amount, your application will be denied
until you get the problem taken care of.
-
You are probation or parole for a crime, particularly a crime
involving international drug trafficking. The good news here is that
once you have served your sentence and are no longer under supervised
release, you should be able to get a passport without any problems,
though not all countries will allow you to enter.
If your application is filled out incorrectly or you don't include
all of the required paperwork, your application may be delayed until you
resubmit everything again correctly. Here are some of the most common
errors:
- Forgetting to sign your passport renewal form.The signature line is on the second page.
-
You requested a name change without including the required documents
to support it. You must send in an original or certified copy of your
birth certificate, marriage certificate or court order referencing the
name change.
-
You forgot your payment, or you didn't make the check out properly.
-
Your passport is damaged. If your passport has been damaged, you
can't apply by mail and must instead apply in person, just as if you
were applying for the first time.
How long should you wait before you start worrying? It can take 6 weeks or even longer for your US passport renewal to come back if you applied with normal processing. You can check the status on the Department of State's website.
Even if you paid the extra $60 for expedited processing, it could still
take at least 3 weeks. So, take a deep breath and relax...you're
probably just fine!
