Many people renew their passports a few weeks before they expire, hoping to get new ones in time for their trips. But while state passport offices may advertise short waiting times, a lot more goes into printing passports than meets the eye. So, how long does it take to print a passport?
How Long Does It Take To Print a Passport?
Any state office will advertise a passport printing timeline from four to eight weeks. But in recent months, these timelines have increased to ten to thirteen weeks for average seasons and longer for peak seasons. But why does the process take this long?
Passport printing involves several steps as follows:
1. Mailing: When you submit your passport application, it can take up to two weeks before the passport office receives it. In some cases, delays may result in longer waiting periods.
2. Processing: Not all passport applications qualify for passport printing. Officials must assess everything, including the following:
- Your eligibility for a passport, e.g., people facing felony drug charges are usually not eligible.
- If you have submitted the required documents, e.g., name change documents if renewing your passport after changing your name after a divorce,
- If your passport photos meet the set guidelines, and
- If you filled out the correct passport forms.
The passport office can either deny the application or ask you to submit the required documents.
3. Printing: Any application that passes the required tests moves to passport printing. But how long does it take to print a passport after approval? This time depends on the passports in the queue, but the printing time actually takes seconds.
4. Mailing: Once your passport is ready, the passport office sends it to your address, which, again, could take weeks.
Thus, with four processes, it’s easy to see why some passports take months.
Factors Influencing the Printing Period of Your Passport
The passport printing period only takes seconds. But it hinges on other factors, such as backlogs in the passport offices and mailing. Luckily, you can avoid these delays by using TVP’s passport expediting services, guaranteeing you a passport in days!
