A woman testing out a new beta online passport renewal system from the U.S. Department of State reports speedy results beyond her expectations—and she’s not alone in that experience.
The happy news about government efficiency comes from New York-based TikTok creator Caneel (@neeliebb). The video got nearly 799,000 views since being posted on Aug. 23. In it, she confesses that she’s been procrastinating to get her passport renewed. Thanks to a new online renewal system she found, she got her new passport in just nine days.
“My fellow Americans, I need everybody to know this tip,” she begins. “My PSA announcement: I’ve been needing to renew my passport since February 2024. It’s currently August 2024; that is how long I’ve been procrastinating.”
She was prepared to go the old-fashioned way: Mailing all the required items in and waiting six to eight weeks for the processing to take place. However, she happened upon the online passport renewal system and tried it.
“You can submit a digital photo of yourself just taken in front of a white wall,” she reports, clarifying, “kind of like a fake ID photo.”
She was impressed to see the new passport come much more quickly than she expected. “Six to eight weeks, my a–,” she remarks. “You can do it all online, all online. Finally, we’re in the 21st century.”
The renewal site does say that this method isn’t to be used for urgent travel or if a travel needs expedited passport processing, but this TikToker isn’t the only one who was satisfied with the speed of the processing.
@neeliebb Breaking news alert
♬ [Raw recording] Record playback noise 01 (3 minutes) – Icy Light
A writer concurs
A writer for The Verge, contributing an account of his online passport renewal experience on July 3, reported, “The State Department tells me it’s not necessarily faster—but anecdotally, my family just had two of the speediest, most painless experiences we’ve ever had with the US government.”
He added, “I applied from my phone, I shot my own digital photo at home—and one week later, I picked up my new passport at the post office. I submitted it on June 15th, my passport was issued on June 20th, and it was waiting for me on the 21st. That’s just six days in total.”
His wife tried it as well, for an incredible five-day turnaround, with two of those five days for its journey through the mail from the passport office to their home.
The article does note, however, that it’s not that fast for everyone, and you might not be able to even get it done this way. “During the beta, the US Department of State is intentionally limiting how many people can apply each day, and Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel tells me that’s why my turnaround time was so quick. The beta has only served tens of thousands of people so far, not millions just yet!”
While it might not be this fast when it gets rolled out on a larger scale, expectations are that it will shave a week to two weeks off the usual time.
Viewers weigh in
A few commenters concurred, having similar experiences.
“YES,” enthused one, adding, “I did this and got it within a week. I was shocked.”
Another said, “If this is real you just SAVED ME. I have everything printed and just ordered my physical photos to mail in.”
Caneel responded to that comment, musing, “I mean … I hope my new passport is real. I’m screwed if not.”
One did warn, however, that they “renewed online in Dec of 2022. Did not get it back until end of March 2023. Late summer seems to be the ideal time to renew since it’s the wind down of travel season.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to the State Department via online contact form and to the creator via online contact form.
Update Sep. 16, 2024:
In an email to the Daily Dot, a State Department spokesperson shared the following:
“Although current processing times for Online Passport Renewal (OPR) are 6-8 weeks for routine service, it’s possible that customers may receive their passports more quickly, whether through OPR or the traditional paper-based method. Customers should expect service through OPR to take a similar amount of time as traditional routine paper applications, at least for the near future.”
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