International travel is trending higher, which means that processing times for US passport applications are, too. As Americans started to make travel plans in 2023, many were caught by surprise as promised turnaround times for new and renewal passports stretched longer than anticipated.
I had to renew my passport early in 2023. Fortunately, I had a long gap between trips, so I didn’t have to stress too much about it. Nevertheless, I paid for expedited processing. The extra $60 added peace of mind, since I’d already been hearing horror stories of passports taking longer than expected, and standard processing would be cutting it a bit fine. Paying that extra fee ended up being money well spent. I received my passport in the mail at close to what was quoted as the standard processing time. (I assume that standard processing would have taken even longer.)
If you have a similar story of paying for expedited processing of a new or renewal passport, the US Department of State has created an online form that you can use to request a refund of your expedite fee. Here are the details so you can determine if you qualify.
From travel.state.gov:
As of March 24, 2023, our expedited service commitment is to process your passport application within 45 business days. If you applied from February 6 through March 23, it was 35 business days. If you applied before February 6, it was 25 business days. A business day includes Mondays through Fridays, and excludes federal holidays.
Our processing times begin the day we receive your application at a passport agency or center, or from the date you request an upgrade to expedited service. Processing times do not begin on the day you mail your application or apply for a passport at a local acceptance facility.
If the number of business days an agency or center took to process your application is longer than our expedited service commitment, you can request a refund of the $60 expedited service fee. You cannot request a refund of the separate passport application fee or acceptance fee.
If this applies to you, then you can submit your refund request here.
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/get-fast/refund.html
I submitted my refund request on 01 April 2023 and received the refund on 20 June 2023, nearly three months later.
Have you been affected by longer than normal processing times for US passports?
